In 1829, at age 20, Felix Mendelssohn walked the Highlands of Scotland from Edinburgh to the Western Islands. At the time, he was still unsure whether to make music his profession. His father hoped he would join the family banking business. His mother saw him becoming a writer. He himself thought he might be a painter. But in seeking artistic inspiration from nature, Mendelssohn’s Scottish adventure would end up deciding his future . . . as a composer.

The fact is, Scotland has exerted a considerable hold on the imagination of many of our musical greats--not only Mendelssohn, but Beethoven, Haydn, Berlioz, Bruch, and Debussy, among others, all the way up to the present day, with composers Malcolm Arnold and Peter Maxwell Davies.

Only some of them actually visited Scotland, yet they all wrote music on Scottish subjects—real or imaginary.

In this hour, a sampling of some of those works, and the surprising stories behind them.

 

FEATURED RECORDINGS

Title	Group/Artist	Catalog #	UPC
Haydn:   Scottish Songs “The Sutor’s Daughter”	Jamie MacDougall, Lorna Anderson, Haydn Trio Eisenstadt	Brilliant Classics 92278	5028421922782
Beethoven: Scottish Folk Songs (“Faithfu’ Johnie”)	Ann Mackay, English Piano Trio	Meridian 84222	723721615628
Mocheles: Anticipations of Scotland	Howard Shelley, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.	Hyperion CDA67276	034571172767
Mendelssohn: Symphonies 3 & 4	London Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti	London (Decca)  414 665-2	028941466525
Berlioz: Overtures (“Rob Roy”)	San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Yoav Talmi	Naxos 8.550999	0730099599924
Debussy: Orchestral Works (Marche Escossaise)	Ulster Orchestra, Yan Pascal Tortelier,	Chandos CHAN 10144	095115114421
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy	Jascha Heifetz,  New Symphony Orchestra of London, Malcolm Sargent,	RCA Victor 09026-61745-2	090266174522
Scottish Overtures (“Tam O’ Shanter”)	Scottish National Orchestra, Alexander Gibson	Chandos CHAN 8379	0951158377924
A Celebration of Scotland  (Maxwell Davies)	Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Peter Maxwell Davies	Unicorn-Kanchana  DKP 9070	053068907026
Kenneth McKellar: Robert Burns, A Tribute (“Scots Wha Hae”)	Kenneth McKellar	Amazon Download	B003H04DTY
The Corries: Flowers of Scotland (“Kelvin Grove”)	The Corries	GB Productions GBPCD005	iTunes download
Earl of Ross March (Roddy MacLeod)		roddymacleodpiobaireachd.com	30-sec sample