Derek Scott, born 1950, Birmingham, has an international reputation as a leading historian of the British music hall and other forms of light entertainment but...

Derek Scott, born 1950, Birmingham, has an international reputation as a leading historian of the British music hall and other forms of light entertainment but he is an outstanding composer in his own right, his music treading a fine line between a very English whimsy and a profoundly felt and natural response to his (often Celtic) subject matter. These works reveal a master craftsman and natural tunesmith, who manages to unite good humor, unerring technique and deep feeling, in music of immediate appeal. Scott's Airs and Dances is a real rarity: a concerto for the Highland bagpipe and orchestra (he plays the instrument himself), a memorable mix of his own melodies and pipe tunes collected on the Isle of Skye, off the West Coast of Scotland.