Fiddle piobaireachd (pibroch) grew out of the centuries-old classical music of the great Highland bagpipes and the clarsach (Celtic harp). The music is embedded in Scotland’s past and reflects a Celtic way of life still surviving today.
Bonnie Rideout is the foremost performer in the world to seriously engage with this repertoire. The first written examples of fiddle piobaireachd are from the early 18th-century, and explore the potential of the fiddle in remarkable ways, with re-tuned strings, double-stops, new bowing patterns, and complex ornamentation similar to that used by pipers and in Gaelic song. Scotland’s Fiddle Piobaireachd Volume 1. is a rare opportunity to experience this unique and beautiful music.
Bonnie Rideout's contribution to the development and sustaining of this remarkable art form is unmatched; and this project is a landmark, not just in the history of Scotland's music, but in the history of music for stringed instruments.
Excellent sleevenotes by world-renowned Scottish musicologist Dr John Purser