Glasgow Uni launches online Robert Burns resource

A NEW online resource was launched today to make choral versions of Robert Burns work available to the public for the first time.

The new resource will allow users to access choral versions of the Bard's works. Picture: Complimentary

The Robert Burns Choral Settings website is the result of 12 months of collaboration to record and compile choral versions of 20 of Burns’ most famous works.

Over 200 years after his death, academics and performers have included works such as ‘Ae Fond Kiss’, ‘Ye Banks and Braes’ and ‘A Man’s A Man’ from a range of composers from across Europe, including Ralph Vaughan Williams and Robert Schumann.

Burns’ work was the inspiration for many composers across Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries.

This online resource brings together the most notable of these people for the first time, along with information about each work and its composer.

The selection includes two world premiere performances of pieces music created by renowned Scottish composer Francis George Scott.

Dr Kirsteen McCue, co-director of the Centre for Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow, said: “Because Burns is so central for us we think we know everything about him, but we don’t. Composers and musicians worldwide have found inspiration in Burns’ work and this project presents new information about how influential his song lyrics have been and continue to be.

“Each musical creation has taken the Bard’s work to different places entirely: linguistically, musically, and culturally, and together they reveal the universality of Burns’ poetic and musical voice.”

The Robert Burns Choral Settings website is the result of a collaborative project between the Centre for Robert Burns Studies and the Chapel Choir at the University of Glasgow.

Nick Wade, communications officer at the university, said: “It took a while to get everything together, a lot of the help came from volunteers from the university choir. There will be performances coming up over the next year hopefully, but nothing is scheduled just yet.”

The Centre for Robert Burns Studies was established in July 2007 at the University of Glasgow.