Today is the launch of ‘Astar’, a lovely Royal Scottish National Orchestra CD (see photo) on which I play the piano. ‘Astar’ is the Gaelic word for ‘journey’.
The RSNO’s brilliant idea, funded by Creative Scotland, is to give every child born in Scotland, from October 15 until a year later, the gift of a CD with classical and Scottish traditional music played by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and friends. They anticipate that around sixty thousand families will receive the free CDs, which will be distributed through all 220 Registrar’s Offices in Scotland. By introducing babies to this kind of music right at the start of their lives, the orchestra hopes to nurture a long and happy relationship between Scotland’s children and classical music.
As well as lots of orchestral music on the disc, there are four pieces of piano music played by me: the final movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in G major K453, with the RSNO; some Mozart piano variations on a melody we know as ‘Twinkle, twinkle, little star’; the famous Lullaby by Brahms (in an arrangement by me); and Debussy’s beautiful piano piece, ‘Clair de Lune’.
I can’t hope that the babies will get in touch with me if they like the music, but I’m secretly hoping that one or two of the parents might.
Can I purchase a copy of Astar anywhere?
Good question! I don’t know the answer, but will try to find out and let you know. You could also try to find out via the RSNO publicity department.
Thanks Susan. The reply I got from RSNO:
Thank you for your interest in the RSNO’s ASTAR CD.
ASTAR is an RSNO project funded by Creative Scotland to support the families of new born babies in Scotland over a one year period. This CD will mark the start of an offer from the RSNO to form a relationship with these children throughout the rest of their lives. At the moment we are not in a position to make ASTAR available outside of this remit, however, we are exploring how to make the CD or some of its tracks accessible to a wider audience in the future. Meanwhile, keep up to date with all the latest news by logging on to the ASTAR website http://www.rsno.org.uk/astar
I want one too if only for the lovely illustration on the cover! It appears I shall just have to move to Scotland and have a baby pronto. Talk about limited edition…..
My parents had one or two classical CDs when I was young. My sisters and I played them to death and have all ended up loving classical music. What a great initiative!
Good for you! I think it’s a wonderful idea to take your son to those concerts.
Our 11 month old son jumps around with joy to the first track, the sailors horn pipe. It is incredible to see him react to the music. Thank you RSNO
That is so nice to hear! Thanks for writing. I’m sure the RSNO would like to hear your comments as well.
my son is now 2 and absolutely loves this CD – and I do too. I attach such happy memories to some of the pieces of music and they instantly transport me back to the early weeks and months when we started to play it in the house. His favourites are Twinkle Twinkle -the first song he started to sing along with, and Lullaby, both of which are regularly played in the run up to bed time to help him wind down. It’s a beautiful gift to have been given to mark his birth, and when we moved house recently I made sure it was in my ‘too precious to get lost’ bag which stayed with me instead of being packed!
What a lovely message, Angela. Thank you so much. I’m delighted to think of you having happy memories attached to the CD.