"I’ve always loved this music. In the early 1980s I began performing and recording Scottish music, since there is a written repertory of Scottish tunes written out for the lute in a number of manuscripts dating from the 17th century. But alas, there is no repertory of Irish lute music. Yet there is an obvious sympathy between the music of Ireland and Scotland, so I undertook to make arrangements of some of my favorite Irish and Scottish tunes that had never quite made it into the historical lute repertory. (An oversight, I’m sure.)
The harp music of Turlough O’Carolan often fits the lute amazingly well, and the traditional Scottish and Irish dance music can also be a good fit, though one needs to choose the tunes with care. The arrangements of Scottish music found in the Balcarres Lute Book (compiled around 1700) make a great example of how to arrange popular melodies and dances for the lute. I used that as my model when I started out on this project."
"The Kid on the Mountain" is a popular Irish slip jig about a young goat on a mountainside. Celtic music aficionados may recognize it from the 1976 album, Old Hag You Have Killed Me, by The Bothy Band.
“Carolan’s Welcome” was originally composed by Irish harper/songwriter Turlough O'Carolan in the late 17th or early 18th century, though it had no known title until it was adapted by The Chieftains in 1979. Ronn has created this all-new arrangement of piece for The Celtic Lute, which includes several other O’Carolan compositions.
