Ronn McFarlane: The Celtic Lute

August 19, 2018, 9:00 am

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For ‘The Celtic Lute,’ Ronn McFarlane turns to one of his earliest musical influences, and the music of his ancestors: folk music of Scotland and Ireland. He says, “I’ve had a great love of Celtic music since the 1970s, hearing groups like the Chieftains and The Bothy Band. I was delighted to find Scottish tunes in lute manuscripts from the 17th century. Alas, there is no comparable repertory of Irish lute music. But 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 never quite made it into the historical lute repertory.”