The Wilds by Tim Macdonald & Jeremy Ward

"The Scottish Music does no less honour to the genius of the country. The old Scottish songs have always been admired for the wild pathetic sweetness which distinguishes them from the music of every other country."
~William Tytler (1779)


“There is an inherent feeling for wild music in Scottish nature, and there is a definite relationship between the rhythms of reels and the Highland fling and the music I play.”
~Duke Ellington (1933)


WILD. Driving dance tunes, plaintive laments, unusual harmonies, surprising forms, fierce songs. From improvised divisions over a ground bass to tender-yet-untamed slow airs to a sonata based on a ballad, this album showcases the huge range of music played by Scottish violinists in the 18th century (outwith pure imitations of Continental music). The tunes here are different in many ways, but they are united in their wildness and their affective power. Like others before you, we hope that this idiom moves you: at times to dancing, at times to crying, but always to emotion.
Thanks for listening.
—Tim and Jeremy