To quote an opera by a rather different composer; “it is a curious story”.  It’s the 1810s and in Edinburgh one George Thomson (not the one who became a European commissioner!) had a cunning plan to get various composers to do settings of Welsh, Scottish and Irish folksongs for the domestic amateur music making market.  One of the composers he engaged was Beethoven (Haydn and Weber were also involved at various times)  and a selection of the songs he produced are recorded on a recently issued Naxos disk.

Continue reading →