I am Disposed to Mirth – The Fiddle Music of Simon Thoumire by Patsy Reid
Many of the pieces on this album were originally written as part of The Scots Fiddle Collection, which was comissioned by Creative Scotland and premiered at the Scots Fiddle Festival in 2007. That project’s primary vision was to showcase the exceptional virtuosity and artistry of Scotland’s traditional musicians to a global audience, highlighting their technical mastery and interpretative depth that often goes unrecognised beyond traditional music circles. Following in the footsteps of composers like Bartók, Mahler, Dvořák, Kodály, and Beethoven – who drew upon their respective folk traditions – these works expand traditional Scottish dance music beyond its conventional 32-bar structure. The compositions take ancient Scottish tunes as their foundation and develop them into comtemporary concert works, creating a bridge between Scotland’s musical heritage and modern classical composition techniques. Simon’s subsequent works share this ethos, and each composition masterfully maintatins the essential character of traditional Scottish melodies, while allowing the music to evolve in new directions. This album represents a significant contribution to the contemporary Scottish fiddle repertoire, successfully blending traditional Scottish music with classical concerto form, whilst maintaining the characteristic spotaneity and ornamentation essential to Scottish fiddle performance practice.
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Patsy Reid
From Perthshire, Patsy is a much-respected and versatile musician and this is reflected in the variety of work that she carries out as a performer, educator and composer/arranger. Soaking up traditional music as a youngster, whilst simultaneously benefiting from the technical and rigorous aspects of following a classical violin pathway has resulted in Patsy being ideally placed to tackle this kind of repertoire. Her sheer breadth of experience and musicality lends itself perfectly to Simon’s music, and she is proud to shine a light on some of the lessser-played and therefore lesser-known music from Scotland’s rich fiddle tradition.
Patsy plays a James Briggs fiddle (1905) and a Hugh Cooper viola (1907)
credits
released December 5, 2025
Patsy Reid – Fiddle and viola
Jack Smedley – Left-panned fiddle (track 2)
Alice Allen – Cello (tracks 3 & 9)
David Bowden – Double bass (track 3)
Seonaid Aitken – Left-panned fiddle (track 3)
Kristan Harvey – Right-panned fiddle (track 3)
Produced by Patsy Reid
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Stuart Hamilton at Castlesound
Design by Somhairle Macdonald