A set of two beautifully-matched jigs from different Celtic traditions. Da Shaalds O’Foula is a traditional Shetland jig named for the hidden reef that lies off the remote island of Foula, where standing stones mark the midwinter sun and the local dialect speaks out of Old Norse roots. The second tune, Old Favourite, is a traditional Irish jig known by many other names, including the West Clare Jig.
Methera describe themseves as ‘a string quartet with roots firmly planted in English traditional music’ – a music that dissolves the walls we’ve built between traditional and classical. They take their name from the ancient northern English sheep-counting system that begins ‘Yan, Tan, Tethera, Methera…’. (If you feel like a linguistic adventure, you can learn the rest here.)
Methera
Lucy Deakin (cello), John Dipper (Fiddle), Emma Reid (Fiddle), Miranda Rutter (Viola)
The quartet playing for the live recording of their new album Vortex, at a house concert in a gorgeous Suffolk barn, April 2016.
(‘Methera – Da Shaalds a Foula / Old Favourite’, YouTube video, 4:17. Published by Methera 8 Sep 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38cx-FoTBaU)
GIG ALERT!
Methera November Tour 2016
18th: Embleton, nr Alnwick, Northumberland
20th: Lancaster
21st: Riding Mill, Northumberland
22nd: Stoney Middleton, Derbyshire
23rd: Cecil Sharp House, London
24th: Corpus Christi College, Oxford
25th: Ruskin Mill, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire
Details and booking: http://www.methera.co.uk/gigs
ALBUM ALERT!
New album Vortex (and previous albums) available as download or CD on bandcamp
Jenny Glover's FIDDLETAILS 