Music of Scotland: Canaries II; David Tayler, archlute

You can purchase our latest album of Scottish Music here (actual CD): Or find us on CDBaby, Amazon, iTunes and Google Play The second Canary Dance from the Straloch lutebook, performed on the archlute by David Tayler. The Canary dance (“Il canario“) was a popular dance dating from the mid-sixteenth century, reputedly based on dances found in the Canary Islands. One of the first mentions of the dance is in Pisador’s “Libro de música de Vihuela“ of 1552, and the Spanish lexicographer Sebastián de Covarrubias Orozco described it in 1611 as a “saltarelo gracioso.“ This Canary dance starts out with a sprightly tune over a pedal point, then moves quickly to G minor from B Flat, where the harmonies move back and forth between the G and F pattern from Canary I that is still used in Scottish music today. The concluding section is formed by arpeggios on a simple stepwise sequence. Archlute by Andreas von Holst; tuning: quarter comma meantone. Canary I is