Bottled at Source

Original music, poetry and traditional songs from many countries – Rudsambee’s own compositions and settings

Rudsambee’s third collection is even more our own work than our previous CDs. All the songs are written or arranged by ourselves (with the exception of I knew, which we include in memory of Fedora Turnbull). The words of some are also original; most of the others are settings of favourite poems. We recorded the CD locally and designed and produced it ourselves. It is in every way fresh from the original source. We hope it reaches you in the same condition that it left us.

Wind, water and landscape, dreams, loneliness and love are recurring themes. Some you may recognise – Ae fond kiss, Fhir a’ bhata and Amazing Grace are familiar traditional Scottish tunes. Others will be completely new to you – The optimist’s song and To music. The midgies descending was written in anticipation (amply fulfilled) of our 1999 tour of the West Highlands and our persecution by the local wildlife.

When our founder Sheena Phillips moved to America at the beginning of 2000, she began a career as a full-time composer by setting words by the American poet Emily Dickinson and we include two of those. We would like to dedicate this CD to Sheena, whose music remains an essential part of our repertoire.

Track list

1. Vårvindar Friska [1m49s] Trad Swedish, arr: Sheena Phillips
2. Hungry Waters [0m37s] Words: Hugh McDiarmid (1892-1978), Music: Frances Cockburn
3. He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven [2m35s] Words: W B Yeats (1865-1939), Music: Frances Cockburn
4. Amazing Grace [2m38s] Words: John Newton (1725-1807), Music: Sheena Phillips
5. I Knew . [1m10s] F Turnbull (c. 1895-1985)
6. The Lyke Wake Dirge [3m19s] Trad. Yorkshire, arr. Peter Hill
7. Wild Nights [1m3s] Words: Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), Music: Sheena Phillips
8. Ae Fond Kiss [2m57s] Robert Burns (1759-1796), Tune: trad. arr Frances Cockburn
9. To My Mountain [1m29s] Words: Kathleen Raine (b.1908), Music Michael Buck
10. The Midgies Descending [1m17s] Hums and Music: Sheena Phillips
11. The Optimists’ Song [1m57s] Words: Peter Hill, Music: Sheena Phillips
12. Regina Coeli [1m48s] Music: Michael Buck
13. All Things Pass [2m8s] 6th century Chinese poem, trans. T Leary (1920-1996), Music: Sheena Phillips
14. Holy Thursday [2m30s] Words: William Blake (1757-1827), Music Sheena Phillips
15. Both Sides the Tweed [2m31s] Dick Gaughan, arr. Frances Cockburn
16. A song (And would ye tak love) [1m0s] Words: William Soutar (1898-1943), Music: Michael Buck
17. The Wee Sma’ Glen [1m38s] Words: Marion Angus (1864-1944), Music: Frances Cockburn
18. Love [1m6s] Words: Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273), translated by Patrick Heavey, Music Michael Buck
19. Fhir a’ Bhàta [4m5s] Trad. Gaelic, arr: Sheena Phillips
20. Everyone Sang [1m27s] Words: Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967), Music: Frances Cockburn
21. Be Like A Bird [1m3s] Anon. arr. Sheena Phillips
22. To Music [1m7s] Words and Music: Sheena Phillips
23. Winter Afternoons [1m53s] Words: Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), Music: Sheena Phillips
24. Day Is Düne [2m30s] Words: William Soutar (1898-1943), Music: Sheena Phillips
25. Puirt a Beul (Bodachan a-ri-a-ro, Nam biodh trì sgillinn agam, Hé Mandu) [3m47s]
    Trad. Gaelic, arr Sheena Phillips, Sheena Phillips, Peter Hill resp.

Playing time c 49 minutes

The singers

Roddy Braggins, Kaye Brewster, Christina Brown, Michael Buck, Caroline Burdon-Cooper, Frances Cockburn, Jenny Fardell, Anne Grindley, Peter Hawkins, Peter Hill, Sari Kontkanen, Anna Partridge, Kay Russell, Sasa Salinasova, Douglas Shaw, Frank Tollick, Suzanna Tybulewicz, John Wexler, Susan Wexler

Directed by Frances Cockburn

Recorded in Dunbar Parish Church, October 2000