REVIEW FROM www.livingtradition.co.uk

ANDY HORNBY - The Winders Of Wyresdale
Private Label

The four manuscript books presented here are, along with William Vickers' Great Northern Tunebook, some of the most important collections of English tunes of the period.  Dating from the 1780s through to the 1840s, they cover the whole range of dances popular during the period.  This handsome production is more of a performing edition than just a scholarly tome, so the tunes have been arranged by type - Marches, Cotillions, 3/2 Hornpipes etc, in a most practical manner.  

There are a number of articles giving background on the Winder family, the books, the period, the dances and at the end there is a list of useful annotations. The music type is clear and the whole well presented.  Problems?  Not really; I would have liked to have seen those tunes which are described as having “made no sense” (they often give more clues as to performing style than the correct ones!), but the decision to elide them is quite sensible.

The best material gets the briefest reviews and, in short, no self-respecting performer of English dance tunes can afford to be without this volume.

Paul Burgess