linenandlavender.blogspot.com: Scotland

"Music takes us out of the actual and whispers to us dim secrets that startle our wonder as to who we are, and for what, whence, and whereto."~Ralph Waldo Emerson

World Music by Arany Zoltán

An amazingly talented musician, Arany Zoltán was born in 1976 in Debrecen, Hungary. He began to play music at the age of four and later studied cello and guitar. At 20 years of age, he turned to folk and Medieval music.

Besides his native tongue of Hungarian, Arany speaks Spanish and English and sings each song in the original language – Brezhoneg, Turkish, Gallego, Bulgarian, Gaelic, Macedonian, Latin and others. He first played the mandolin and later learned to play the accordion as well as a long list of instruments from cultures around the world:

STRING INSTRUMENTS:

saz (from Turkey)

oud (from Syria)

koboz (from Hungary)

bouzouki (Greece)

banjo

mandolin

ukelele

kazu

BOWED INSTRUMENTS:

fiddle

gadulka (Bulgarian)

medieval fidula (Hungarian)

hurdy-gurdy

Arany Zoltán playing the Hungarian bagpipe or "duda" (made of goatskin)

FLUTES:

low whistle (Irish)

tin whistle (Irish)

furulya (Hungarian)

ney (Turkish)

kaval (Bulgarian)

flauta andina (Andean flute)

kaval (Hungarian)

töröksíp (Turkish)

DRUMS:

bongo

daraboukka

bodhrán

Arany Zoltán playing a bodhrán - Irish drum

VIDEO LINKS:

Irish: Oró sé do bheatha 'bhaile

Celtic Folk Music from Bretagne - Ar soudarded Zo Gwisket E Ruz

Galician Folk Song - Tua Nai e Meiga
World Music - Rumba Moresca
Folk Music from Bretagne - Tri Martolod

To find your favorites among all 103 videos currently available, go here: ARANY ZOLTÁN

To purchase CD's (directly from the artist):

all images via Arany Zoltán videos

linenandlavender.blogspot.com

Enjoy a music-filled day!

visit our new site:

www.linenlavenderlife.com

P.S. While we're on the topic of world music, I want to thank all of you who have let me know how much you enjoy linen & lavender's playlist. I appreciate the feedback!

For those of you not in-the-know, you can find the playlist by scrolling midway down the page (assuming you are reading this on linen & lavender, that is.)

By the way, it's been out for awhile and on the top of the charts, but for whatever reason, I just recently came across "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye from the Making Mirrors album. It's on l&l's playlist so if it's new to you too - be sure to check it out there. The MP3 is available for purchase in the emporium [here.]

Making Mirrors, which received four stars from Rolling Stone, is making waves thanks to its stunning first single "Somebody That I Used To Know" (featuring guest vocals by New Zealand singer Kimbra.) which is currently nestled in the Australian Top 10. Gotye received seven ARIA nominations for his work.

Making Mirrors is pop at its most precise, but also electronic music at its most emotional. The record delves into dub, Detroit-era Motown soul, stadium-size politi-pop, synth-folk and world music on glorious, sprawling, huge-hearted songs. -excerpt artist feature, Amazon

visit our new site:

www.linenlavenderlife.com

Gardener's Cottage, Culzean Castle, South Ayrshire Coast, Scotland

Tricia Rose - http://www.linenandlavender.blogspot.com/2012/01/scottish-rose.html

Meet Tricia Rose.

She's the lady behind the wonderful linen company -Rough Linen- based in San Raphael, California. I happened across Tricia's website not long ago when I was looking for custom linens and I was intrigued with the story of how her company came to be. I identified with her love for rustic linen and how she treasured the simple linen pillowcase made by her great-great grandmother in 1840 Scotland.

Just this past summer I learned that I too have ancestors from Scotland via my maternal grandmother. Previously, I had always heard that my roots were English and Swedish on that side of the family, so the connection to Scotland came as quite a surprise.

Upon receiving the lovely story Tricia had written (see below), I suggested that we locate some images of Scotland and Tricia supplied me with the specific areas her family had lived. On my very first search, a name familiar to me seemed to jump off the screen. Then followed one serendipitous turn after another leading us ultimately to an amazing discovery. . . My family hails from the same region as Tricia's!—Southwestern Scotland in "Burns Country. "

In fact, with my daughter Alex's diligent research (she admits to being quite obsessed now) it turns out that a long line of our ancestors lived in Kilmarnock (Ayrshire) -just 15 miles from where Tricia's grandmother lived in Saltcoats and 17 miles from where her great-great-grandmother lived in Lochwinnoch! Imagine my surprise and delight!

Providence is leading my family to Scotland it seems and

we can't wait to see what she has in store for us there!

Please scroll down to enjoy Tricia's story in her own words...

Ayrshire coastal path

Near Blackwater Scotland, as seen on linenandlavender.blogspot.com: http://www.linenandlavender.blogspot.com/2012/01/scottish-rose.html

"My grandmother lived in a small, solid stone cottage with views of the sea from the back dormer windows, and some of my most vivid childhood memories start there. There was a range in the back room, and built-in "presses" (cupboards), and an old-fashioned built-in bed, cosy on winter nights. We loved staying with her, loved the soups she made, the stories she told, and the songs that were sung around the fire while my grandfather read and my aunts and grandmother sewed and knitted. There was a sense of order and industry in that house, the sweet smell of tea brewing, ticking clocks and the mysterious barometer only my grandfather could fathom. Roses and vegetables grew in the little garden, the shed smelt agreeably of burlap and turpentine and no matter how cold it was, inside we were warm and safe.

I had the task of packing up the house when my aunt died, ten years ago. My brother wanted my grandfather's tools and books, my mother wanted his walking stick and poetry, my younger brother the barometer, all of which I lugged to Australia. What I wanted were the linens, the thick blankets and Paisley shawls.

image via Tricia Rose, Rough Linen - as seen on linenandlavender.blogspot.com - http://www.linenandlavender.blogspot.com/2012/01/scottish-rose.html

In the very back of the big linen press on the landing I found one solitary homespun pillowcase, edged with drawn thread work, and adapted with a casing and drawstring to form a bag. It was the very last of my great-great grandmother's own work, grown on her farm in an era when it was still common to set aside a field for flax for the women to spin and weave in winter - the long northern summer days and reliable autumn dews made a small domestic crop worthwhile, though large scale production couldn't compete with slave-grown American cotton. I brought this bag with me to California and used it to hold my lavender.

I sometimes wonder what conversation I could have with the long line of mothers and daughters who stretch back like popper beads, each utterly familiar and intimate with the next, but unknown by the third or fourth generation. Would my great-great-grandmother be pleased that I treasure her work, or would she be surprised that I value so highly something so basic and functional? How would she regard the linens I make from fabric with the same texture, weight and weave as hers, now unusual and highly sought-after, when to her it was rustic and plain?

linen curtain panel

Rough Linen was born of my own nostalgic appreciation of traditional comforts and crafts. I love it next to my skin, the faint scent like dry hay, the weight and strength of it. I love that I don't have to iron it, but can let the texture be, and I love the soft natural gray-taupe colour, which softens down to a silvery sheen with wear and washing. And I love that at my advanced age I have a new project that has connected me with mills on the other side of the world, and with the women I have taught to sew in my own community, and designers and customers from New York to Sydney, and which satisfies me heart and soul. "

—Tricia Rose