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The Oriental Miscellany - Airs of Hindustan
William Halmilton Bird

The Oriental Miscellany - Airs of Hindustan

Jane Chapman

Label: Signum Classics
Format: CD
Barcode: 0635212041529
barcode
Catalog number: SIGCD 415
Releasedate: 24-04-15
The Oriental Miscellany—being a collection of the most favourite Airs of Hindoostan, compiled and adapted for the Harpsichord, &c. by William Hamilton Bird was first published in Calcutta in 1789. It represents the earliest Western attempt to 'notate' traditional Indian music, presenting thirty popular songs in arrangements suitable for the keyboard skills of a nostalgic British gentry. They are here performed by Jane Chapman, along with Bird's Sonata for harpsichord and flute, where she is joined by Yu-Wei Hu to revel in perhaps the first work of East-West fusion.
Harpsichordist Jane Chapman explores The Oriental Miscellany – William Hamilton Bird’s 1789 collection and arrangement of Hindustani airs for harpsichord. Bird’s collection, the first ever publication of Indian music notated for Western instruments, also features his own Sonata, incorporating original Indian tunes with flute accompaniment (here performed by baroque flautist Yu-Wei Hu). “… one of Britain's most distinguished classical harpsichordists, with a repertoire that stretches from early music to contemporary avant-garde…a rule breaker.” (WSJ)