Scottish Blog

Scottish Music

At Scottish Heirloom Jewelry we strive to tell you more about various times and periods in Scottish history, such as the Scottish Enlightenment. While covering the major events in and characters in our article, it is easy to look over the lighter side of the matter.

In the case of the Scottish Enlightenment, music and cultural development played as large a role in society as did scientific advancement. Although, music of all types appealed to people throughout the classes of Scottish society, the largest step forward was Scotland’s new found embrace of contemporary music that would now be seen as classical.

In 1728, the Musical Society of Edinburgh was formed, for the purpose of holding weekly concerts. Up till this point there was not solid reliable body which could organize this. In 1762, the Scottish Enlightenment was forwarded with the building of St Cecilia’s Hall, which was a smaller version of the Opera House in Parma. The hall was built by the members of the Musical Society of Edinburgh for the purpose of housing their weekly concerts. People of the time described this achieve as “formed one of the most liberal and attractive amusements that any other city in Europe could boast of”. This was truly a description of the spirit of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Other cities also formed similar musical societies during the Scottish Enlightenment. Of these the Musical Society of Aberdeen is of note. Having formed in 1760, it’s library consisted of mostly contemporary classical works, written largely in the lat 15 years.

To add to and fuel this increased appreciation for music during the Scottish Enlightenment, Scotland also hailed as home for a number of composers of note. Amongst these was Francesco Barsanti, an Italian who settled in Edinburgh, the sixth Earl of Kelly and William McGibbon.

During the Scottish Enlightenment, William Gibson also played a significant role in popularizing Scottish fiddle music. He published numerous folk-tune settings in a strong Scottish flavor. Adam Craig, a Scottish violinist was another character in the Scottish Enlightenment who worked with folk music, in 1730 publishing “Collection of Scots Tunes”.

The various types of music popular in the Scottish Enlightenment, all received greater attention and popularity during the time period. This strong attention served to increase and strengthen the idea of the Scottish Enlightenment acting as a changing force in Scottish society.

Read more: Scottish Enlightenment