by Robert Rollin

Last Saturday night’s Youngstown Symphony concert, billed as “Celtic Glory,” should more properly have been called “Scottish Glory,’ since it presented an interesting program of three very different works, unified only in their connections to Scotland and its music. The term “Celtic” properly refers to modern peoples, descended from the ancient Celts and speaking Celtic languages, including the Irish, the Scots of the Scottish highlands and Hebrides, the Welsh, and the Bretons. Celtic languages and traditions are so varied that conductor Randall Fleischer was wise in limiting himself to music related to Scotland.

The liveliest and perhaps most topical piece was An Orkney Wedding, With Sunrise, by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, the only living composer on the program. [Read more…]