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Neep&Tattie

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What We Do

 

 

Concerts are too often seen as serious events where everyone must keep still and quiet.  The stage is dominated by the able-bodied. Our “kitchen ceilidh” aims to be accessible to all and to bring some of the informality of the folk, both disabled and able-bodied, into the room. Our violinist considers that being blind and autistic is actually an advantage when playing this music!  Having been stigmatized for most of her life,  Susanna, aided by keyboardist Dorothy de Val, aims to bring awareness and inclusivity into the concert hall.  Trust us to enliven your event and bring a smile to the faces of your audience!

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This is music to be danced to, Handed down over generations. Infectious and inspiring, its rhythmic drive and lilt cannot help but lift audiences out of their seats. The tunes represent a history of music that never makes it into the classroom.  But indeed there is a history behind this “old popular” music, and if you want to add an educational angle to your event, we can add a presentation to illustrate or simply add commentary to  our ceilidhs.  We are also happy to run workshops for beginner and advanced fiddlers and keyboardists. in all styles. Our music is often welcome in hospitals, retirement homes and other care facilities.

 

The violin owes much to the voice and Tattie’s abilities as a classically trained vocalist transfer well to traditional song. We feel this brings variety to a concert program, and we can adjust content according to desire. With Neep as a composer and improviser on board, we bring spontaneity to our playing, and as a relatively new convert to composition, Neep is discovering her creative voice. We hope that her work, which is written to be immediately accessible to audiences, will encourage our listeners, especially women, to try being musically creative themselves.

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Neep & Tattie’s Kitchen Ceilidh

 

PROGRAM

 

From Cape Breton

 

My Cape Breton Home.                                                                                    Jerry Holland

The Duchess of Hamilton - Strathspey                                                     John Bowie, 1787

West Mabou   (Old Maids of Galway)                                                          Reel, trad. Irish
 

From Québec

 

Ti’ mé                                                                                                 reel, Marcel Messervier

Dedication à Joe                                                                                        reel, Martin Racine

Reel St-Antoine                                                                                                traditional reel

 

Valse des jouets                                                                                              Michel Faubert

La Bastringue                                                                                                        La Bolduc

 

 

Money Musk Muse                                                                                         Dorothy de Val

 

 

Métis tunes from the West

Caribou Reel                                                                                                    Andy de Jarlis

Hay in the Loft                                                                    Lawrence (‘Teddy Boy’) Houle

           

 

Bacon Ridge Jig                                                                    Lawrence (‘Teddy Boy’) Houle

Gigue des Capuchons                                                        from the playing of Joseph Allard

 

Klezmer Tunes and Dances

 

Gypsy Hora                                                         from the repertoire of German Goldenshteyn

Sher                                                                         from Kostakovsky’s International Hebrew

                                                                                             Wedding Music, 1916

Uncle Max’s Bulgar                                                                                    Sam Musiker, 1952

Tants Istanbul                                                                         Dave Tarras, 1940, transc. Stein

 

 

Tunes from Ireland

Yellow Stockings, c. 1715                                                                                     trad. slip jig

The Arragh Mountains                                                                                     Paddy O’Brien

Dever the Dancer                                                                                       trad. slip jig, 19thc.

 

Planxty Hewlett                                                                                      Turlough O’Carolan

Planxty Irwin                                                                          (blind Irish harper, (1670-1738)
 

 

 

Roll out the Barrel                                                                                                       trad. reel

The Tap Room                                                                                                             trad. reel

Drowsy Maggie                                                                                                           trad. reel

Joe Cooley’s Reel                                                                                                    Joe Cooley

The Wise Maid                                                                                                           trad. reel

 

Autumn Ghosts                                                                                                  Dorothy de Val

 

COVID Quartet for Violin and Piano                                                                Dorothy de Val

            Longing

            Expectation

            Promise

            Hope

 

 

Òrain Gàidhlig                                                                                     trad., arr. Dorothy de Val

            'S ioma rud a chunna mi (What I saw)

Innis dhòmhsa càil thu cadail  (Where do you sleep?

Chuirinn air a’ phìob (I would play it on the pipes)

Ille Chrubaich (Crooked Fellow)

Horo mo bhobag an dram (Horo, my friend the dram)

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