Isle of Skye Highland Dance by Doris Gazda String Orchestra - Sheet Music

SKU: CF.CAS54

ISBN 9780825873508. UPC: 798408073503. 8.5 x 11 inches. Key: C major.

A Celtic style original piece from popular composer Doris Gazda, inspired by the Isle of Skye, the largest and most northerly island of the Inner Hebrides Islands of Scotland. The island's center is a mountainous area from which radiate many peninsulas that form a rugged coastline. This work has the lilting flow of an Irish jig, but it contains tuneful original melodies. This is a feel-good piece that students will love to play over and over again. Duration: 2:47.
The Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island of the Inner Hebrides Islands of Scotland. The island’s center is a mountainous area from which radiate many peninsulas that form a rugged coastline. If you like to walk, there are innumerable opportunities for hiking and strolling in the mountains and by the sea. The island has been occupied for thousands of years including a period of rule by Norsemen. The predominant Scottish clans on the island are those of MacLeod and MacDonald. English is the common language on the island, although many residents also speak Gaelic. The old folk tales and stories about the history of Skye referred to as Eilean a’ Cheo (The Misty Isle) are often related in Gaelic. If you travel around Skye you will see many castles belonging to the clans as well as monuments dedicated to folk heroes or to Celtic leaders.The Isle has a strong folk music background in both song and dance. There are rock bands as well as the traditional bands made up primarily of bagpipes.Originally, highland dances were folk dances done to the accompanying music of bagpipes. This form of dancing probably evolved from ritualistic sword dancing dating back to medieval times and before. The version pipers play today dates back to the 16th century. The music itself consists of the melody, which is played on the bagpipe’s chanter, backed up by continuous and unvarying tones from the three drone pipes.The term Highland Dancing is used today to refer to a style of athletic solo dancing which evolved into its current form during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the context of competitions at public events called Highland Games. Highland dancing is a competitive and technical dance form which requires many hours of practice and training over a period of several years to perfect. Dancers of the highland and national dances wear specialized shoes called ghillies. Ghillies are soft shoes made of leather that forms to the foot and use laces which crisscross over the top of the foot tied similar to a sneaker.