Moot Thoughts & Musings

This is my first traditional autumn in four years. The leaves are changing. It's been so long since I've seen the leaves change! They're so beautiful. It's been raining for days. Brown, yellow, red leaves bluster down in the breeze and stick soggily to the streets.

I'll admit, I'm susceptible to the mood a CD puts me in. And on a cold, chili day like today, I'm in the mood for the Baltimore Consort. I'm listening to On the Banks of Helicon: Early Music of Scotland. It's early music with a fun Celtic flair. It makes me feel less guilty to listening Celtic music, which I enjoy, but sometimes feel too faddish to enjoy. (Like that should really matter to me, but, hey, it does.) On this CD there are the fun folksy dances and ballades, but also more studied instrumental pieces.

One of my favorite features of this CD is the fact that all the facets of Scottish history in the 16th c find their place musically in this collection. There are dances from The English Dancing Master, and then there is the French influence. If you remember your 16th c Scottish history, you'll recall that there was a decided French presence/alliance with Scotland. I love how this CD takes the delicate political and cultural interplay of England, France, and Scotland and weaves together an interesting musical collection.