A woman with about a dozen recorders, another one with a viol and a cello and a man on a harpsichord; it just screams 'Renaissance' and 'Baroque', and I'll not be able to get Concerto Caledonia under the Trades Descriptions Act. A concerto by Couperin, a sonata by Handel and pieces with unpronounceable names by people no one has ever heard of, including Scottish music that pre-dated the 'fiddle tradition'. All it needed was a voice-over from Catherine Bott and I'd have been lulled into thinking I was at home listening to Radio 3 in my pyjamas (place phrase at wrong point in sentence or omit punctuation for comic effect). But this is a life of surprises.
An unattended harmonium with no apparent owner; the words 'traditional music' and 'collaborations' in their biography - it didn't register. They left the Muzette from the Couperin concerto, promising to play it later - it still didn't register. Then David McGuinness, the man on the harpsichord, explained everything and introduced a special guest; the harmonium owner, Olivia Chaney. I was expecting some baroque-y soprano-y throat-warble-y rubbish, but I got a folk babe, instead. She even name-checked Alasdair Roberts. I think I'm in love. I wonder what the old duffers of Milngavie made of it.
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