Scottish Lieder
New Town Church, Fringe Venue 111, 10/8/2026
Brian Bannatyne Scott (bass), Jamie MacDougall (tenor), Susan Hamilton (soprano), Michal Gajzler (piano)
A gem of a concert over far too soon. This is what I told the four musicians who made this a memorable hour on a Monday afternoon. As they explained with a rapid turnover of fringe performances an hour is all you get in a busy fringe venue. In reality this concert was good enough to get a place and a longer time allocation in the International Festival.
As the excellent programme notes explained the Scottish Enlightenment had produced great works of literature, poetry and song which were influential across Europe and in particular had inspired German romantic song. Of course many of us know that Beethoven and Haydn had loved Scottish poems and song, particularly by Robert Burns, but this concert was a revelation in the extent of the influence. Who knew for example that one of the greatest of all Lieder, Strauss’s ‘Morgen’ was based on a poem written by a Scot, John Henry Mackay! -albeit a half-German long-term resident of Germany, where he was a friend of Strauss. Indeed the influence is still continuing. In 2000 Arvo Pärt arranged Burns’ great song “My Heart’s in The Highlands” (featured in the concert in Schumann’s version), which went on to feature in a fine Italian film, Sorrentino’s ‘The Great Beauty’ (2013).
Delivering this concert were four excellent musicians: our colleague Brian Bannatyne-Scott, whose concert this was, is of course one of the Edinburgh Music Review’s finest critics and a very experienced bass with a long operatic career and a fine Lieder history. Brian showed in his four songs this afternoon that at aged 70 his voice is still in fine form. Jamie MacDougall is probably best known to readers for his broadcasts on Radio Scotland on classical music, or his famous portrayal of Harry Lauder, yet what this concert demonstrated is that he is a very fine tenor who we would like to see in more serious operatic parts rather than the minor comic roles he tends to get. With Scottish Opera. Susan Hamilton is a very fine soprano with a long international career and a co-founder of the Dunedin Consort. Her group Laudonia is developing recordings of Scots songs by Ronald Stevenson, and recordings based on Sir John Clerk of Penicuik’s Grand Tour of Europe. All three were sensitively accompanied by the excellent pianist Michal Gajzler who is on the staff of the Conservatoire in Glasgow.
The composers included here were Carl Loewe with two songs performed by Brian: Fontane’s reworking of a well-known Border ballad, ‘TomderReimer’, and a chilling ballad called ‘Edward’, base by Herder on a Scottish tale. Brian delivered them both with great gusto; we were helped in following the sense by having full translations in the programme. He also sang Schubert’s arrangement of Walter Scott’s ‘Song of the imprisoned huntsman’ and Schumann’s arrangement of ‘The Highlander’s Farewell’ (Burns). Jamie MacDougall sang two Lieder, ‘DasMädchenvonInistore’ by Schubert (Ossian) and a memorable rendering of Strauss’s ‘Heimliche Aufforderung’, based on a poem by John Henry Mackay. Susan Hamilton has a small but perfectly formed voice and sang four songs, including Schubert’s ‘EllensdreiGesänge’, Schumann and Strauss’ ‘Morgen’. They were exquisitely delivered, notably Schubert’s ‘Ellen’s third song’, otherwise known as ‘AveMaria’. Maybe ‘Morgen’ might have benefitted from a bigger voice. Michal Gajzler’s accompaniment was perfect in every way and the concert got a warm reception from the very decent audience in the splendid setting of the New Town Church.
Brian has further concert at this venue at 2.30 pm on Friday August 14th with Beth Taylor the great Scottish mezzo who has just swept all before her in her International Festival debut. Don’t miss it.
