The songs on today’s CD – Scottish Songs for William Napier IV – are all okay. None jump out at me.

However, it’s entirely possible that I’m hearing these songs differently because I’m in an emotional funk.

Last night, I discovered that a major film company aired a movie last week with the exact same title and subject matter as a script I had written three years previously. Of course, it’s possible that the uncanny similarities are a coincidence. But now I don’t know what to do. Write off the script as a loss? Re-title it and try again? Pursue legal action?

No matter how I slice it, this turn of events has affected my listening experience this morning, which is an interesting observation. I’ll have to revisit this CD some day, under different emotional circumstances, to see if it sounds better to me.

I did note something regarding today’s folk songs: tenor Jamie MacDougall’s performances out-shined those of soprano Lorna Anderson. For the past few CDs it’s been the other way around. Something about their voices in the selections today flipped that for me.

Haydn CD 77 features the same singers and musicians as on the previous folk-song selections:

Lorna Anderson and tenor Jamie MacDougall, both of whom actually are Scottish. They have fine voices.

Haydn Trio Eisenstadt, which consists of:

Harald Kosik piano
Verena Stourzh violin
Hannes Gradwohl cello

Also, as with the previous CDs of Scottish and Welsh Songs for George Thomson, William Whyte, and William Napier, these were recorded where they were likely first performed, or even composed: Haydn Hall, Esterhazy Palace, Eisenstadt.

The recording is perfect. The musicianship is magical. The entire performance is superb. Typical Brilliant Classics excellence. (Seriously, you really ought to buy box sets from Brilliant Classics. They are first-rate in every way. Here. I’ll make it easy for you. Just click on this link and it’ll take you to the listing on Amazon. Buy the Haydn Edition that I’ve been listening to for 71 days now. You’ll thank me for it later.)

Here’s what I listened to this morning: