Music From New Bag End
The main focus of Cetra Records is to make available as much of the vast historical repertoire for the cittern family of instruments as possible, but Cetra Records isn’t only about early music. Despite what a lot of scholars have said, the cittern is a versatile family of instruments, capable of as many colors and moods as its more famous cousins, the guitar family. I hope that this collection of pieces goes some way towards demonstrating that, while giving an overview of the 18c repertoire for cetra (as I like to call the 18c cittern, a.k.a. the guittar or English guittar), as well as some of the other music that suits this “easy and agreeable instrument”.
Falling into two parts, the first half of this album is from what might be called the classical music world, that is, music written by well-known European composers like Bach and Handel, arranged for two instruments tuned a fourth apart, plus music written or arranged specifically for the cetra and published in the second half of the eighteenth century, including two works by Johann Christian Bach. The second part is music by Turlough Ó Carolan and that ilk, again arranged for two instruments tuned a fourth apart. These longer pieces are separated by one each of John Parry’s Twelve Airs for the Guittar, which receives its premier recording here.
Musician
Doc Rossi: Six different Cetre, Corsican Cetera
Other relevant Info
Performed, recorded and mixed at The Studio at New Bag End by Doc Rossi
Mastered by Ian Dean
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The Album in Depth
It is said that if you have to explain a joke, then it isn’t funny. Well, I own up to liking elaborate jokes that might need some explanation after a long telling, and this album and its cover are one of those, in their way. In the autumn of 2019 I bought a small house in northern Portugal. It is partially built into a hill, somewhat like a hobbit hole, so I named the house New Bag End, after Bilbo’s splendid abode. That’s one part of the story. One of my favorite albums is Music From Big Pink, by The Band, which came out at the same time that I discovered Tolkien’s work. That album was born in the house where most of The Band were living at the time, and where they wrote and rehearsed. I live and work at New Bag End, and the album was conceived and recorded in the studio here, so it’s called Music From New Bag End. That’s not all: the cover of The Band’s album is a portrait of the group playing their instruments, painted by their neighbor, Bob Dylan. The cover of my album is a portrait of my good self playing my Valente cetra, painted by my friend and former neighbor, João Paulo Lima. Get it?
01. J C Bach: Sonata Op 5 No 1 (VC & GD)
I remember back in 2001, at the cittern and guitar conference in Evora, Portugal, when Rob MacKillop debuted his discovery of an “unknown” piece for the cetra by Johann Christian Bach that he had found in the Jean Kirkpatrick manuscript, which is held in the library of the Duke of Buccleugh in Drumlanrig castle. I recognized the piece when Rob played it and later told him that it was an arrangement of the right-hand part from the first piece in JCB’s op. 5, transposed from Bb to C. There are a few other differences in the Kirkpatrick version as well, changes to the original that have to do with the range of the cetra. I offer Bach’s piece here in a version much closer to the original keyboard piece than that found in the Kirkpatrick ms. It’s still transposed to C, to accommodate the cetra in C, but in addition I play the left-hand part on a cetra in G, including some of the notes that are unavailable on the C instrument. It’s a lovely suite that is a lot of fun to play.
02. John Parry: Twelve Airs for the Guittar, Air 1st Amoroso (JP)
John Parry’s Twelve Airs for the Guittar is found at the end of his A Collection of Welsh, English and Scottish Airs … To which are added, Twelve Airs for the Guittar (1761). These comprise eight solos and four duets. Rather than playing these as a suite, I’ve decided, as they are all quite short, to use them between the longer pieces. I’ve also filled out the solos, which in Parry’s publication are melodies only. Parry doesn’t give the names of the tunes, but I’ve managed to identify some of them. This one is “Mwynen Môn”, or Mona’s Tune.
03. G F Handel: Gigue (HWV 441) (VC & GD)
More music originally for keyboard, transposed from G to C and played on instruments tuned in C and G. I like this piece because it demonstrates, at least to me, the strong connection between baroque music and traditional dance music.
04. John Parry: Twelve Airs for the Guittar, Air 2nd Affetuoso (LB)
This is “Maldod Argtwddes Owen”, or Lady Owen's Delight.
05. Ann Ford: Jigg & Minuet (1760) (JP & LB)
Musician, singer, composer and, somewhat scandalously, performer, Ann Ford played several instruments and spoke several languages. Her father objected to her public performances and tried to stop her by having her arrested. She escaped and began giving public performances by subscription. These two pieces are from her Lessons and Instructions for Playing on the Guitar.
06. John Parry: Twelve Airs for the Guittar, Air 3rd Allegro (JP)
This is “Glan Feddwdad mwyn”, or Good Humoured and Fairly Tipsy.
07. C F Weideman: Weideman's Favorite Minuet (JP & LB)
Carl Frederic Weideman was a famous London flautist and oboist. He was a member of Handel’s orchestra, and after the death of Giuseppe Sammartini in 1750, gave lessons to the future George III. By 1760 he was employed by The King’s Band of Musicians, and was Assistant Master of the King’s Musick. This minuet exists in solo and duet arrangements.
08. John Parry: Twelve Airs for the Guittar, Air 4th Allegro (LB)
This is “Blodeu'r Drain”, or Briar Blossoms.
09. J C Bach: Sonata for Guitar & Violin (VC & GD)
In the late summer of 1997, when I was continuing my research into the cetra in the British Library Music Room, librarian Bob Parker, who had been helping me with my research over the years, introduced me to a seemingly nearly blind academic who was sitting across from me at our table. It was Ernest Warburton, the general editor of The Collected Works of Johann Christian Bach. When Bob introduced us and told Ernest what I was doing, Ernest told me that JCB could not possibly have written the Sonata for Guitar & Violin, and that it was more likely the work of “some hack like George Rush.” I endeavored to explain to him why I thought it was indeed the work of JCB, and why it was such an interesting piece. A week later, when I was back in Roma, I received a letter from Ernest with a copy of the piece, which, until then, I had only heard on the recording by James Tyler. He told me that my remarks about the quality of the little sonata had encouraged him “to re-think the status of its attribution.”
I first recorded this piece in 2007, playing both parts on cetras, one in the violin octave. For this new recording, I’ve dropped the violin part an octave and play it on my Gibson of Dublin copy. I had played it like this before, when I was studying with Andrea Damiani, who would play the violin part on the baroque guitar or archlute - whichever was handy. I think this arrangement provides a fresh look at the interplay between the instruments and shows the brilliance of JCB’s writing.
10. John Parry: Twelve Airs for the Guittar, Air 5th Largo (JP)
This is “Cwympiad y Dial”, or The Fall of the Leaf.
11. J S Bach: Wachet auf, ruft uns de Stimme (Sleepers Awake) (BWV 645) (VC, CC & CM)
The number of times this piece has been recorded is a testament to its brilliance. It is offered here on three different citterns, weaving around each other in Bach’s magical writing.
12. John Parry: Twelve Airs for the Guittar, Air 6th Allegro (LB)
I haven’t been able to identify this tune.
13. Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine (trad. arr. Rossi) (VC & GD)
If my parents had let me buy a Zuckerman harpsichord kit when I was 13, I may never have played the cittern. I was in love with the sound of the harpsichord, the virginals, and especially the spinet when I has a kid, and I still am. I was also - and still am - in love with baroque music and Irish traditional music, so when my closest friend returned from Ireland with a copy of Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin’s Jockey to the Fair, I was awestruck, and immediately began trying to play his music on my collection of finger-plucked strings. This is my take on the first track of that wonderful album, which is right up there with Ó Riada’s Farewell, another album that continues to inspire me a great deal.
14. John Parry: Twelve Airs for the Guittar, Air 7th Allegro (JP & LB)
This is the well-known “Nôs Galan”, translated as New Year’s Eve, with variations by Parry. I change cetra and technique on the repeats of each variation, first using the Preston, then repeating on the Longman & Broderip, on which I use campanella as much as possible.
15. Turlough Ó Carolan: Sir Festus Burke (VC & GD)
I first heard the music of Carolan through The Chieftains and immediately started working out solo arrangements on the guitar. I find the duet format much more satisfying musically because I enjoy imitation and lines weaving in and around each other. Besides, to paraphrase Chopin, nothing is more beautiful than a cittern, except possibly two.
16. John Parry: Twelve Airs for the Guittar, Air 8th Moderato (LB)
This is “Megen a Gollodd ei gardas”, or Peggy has lost her garter.
17. The Downfall of Paris (trad. arr. Rossi) (LB & GD)
This is another piece found on Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin’s first album, and one that really grabbed my attention. My arrangement is based on his, by way of tribute to a very fine and inspiring musician, composer and arranger. We shared a brief correspondence after I dedicated my arrangement of Lyons’ “Miss Hamilton” to him.
18. John Parry: Twelve Airs for the Guittar, Air 9th Allegro (JP & LB)
Beginning with air number nine, Parry gives us duets. I play the top line on the Preston and the bottom on the Longman & Broderip the first time through, then swap over for the repeats. I haven’t been able to identify the tune, but the bass part is similar to “Hush My Child”.
19. Turlough Ó Carolan: Miss Murphy (CM & GD)
Another favorite piece by Carolan arranged for Corsican Cetera accompanied by the Gibson of Dublin copy.
20. John Parry: Twelve Airs for the Guittar, Air 10th Allegro (JP & LB)
I haven’t been able to identify this tune.
21. Lady Cassille's Lilt (Skene ms arr. Rossi) (VP & GD)
I made a solo arrangement of this tune for cetra about 20 years ago, and dedicated it to Rob MacKillop. I endeavored to imitate the harp in that arrangement, and extend the idea in this duet arrangement for instruments in C and G.
22. John Parry: Twelve Airs for the Guittar, Air 11th Allegro (JP & LB)
This is “Wyt Ti'n Hoffi Dyri' Derwydd”, translated as Do you like Druid’s Tower?
23. The Miller's Dance (trad. arr. Rossi) (VC & CC)
This tune has been in one of my notebooks for years, but unfortunately I didn’t note where I’d first heard it. It sounds 18th century to me, and I’ve arranged it in D for instruments in D and A, with more variations than the ones originally taken down in my notebook.
24. John Parry: Twelve Airs for the Guittar, Air 12th Allegro (JP & LB)
I haven’t been able to identify this tune.
25. Turlough O'Carolan: The Fairy Queen (VC & GD)
The album closes with Carolan’s beautiful variations on The Fairy Queen, adapted to the cetra, and arranged for instruments in C and G.
Instruments used:
Original design Cetra by Diogo Valente, 2021 (VC)
Preston Copy by Diogo Valente, 2019 (VP)
Cetra by John Preston, c1765 (JP)
Cetra by Longman & Broderip, c1775 (LB)
Gibson of Dublin copy by Roberto Gabrielli, 2007 (with restoration by Christian Magdeleine (top and back) and Ian Chisholm (neck) (GD)
Cetra by Carlo Cecconi after Thomas Perry, 2005 (CC)
Corsican Cetera by Christian Magdeleine, 2014 (CM)