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J. Murdoch Henderson (31 March 1902 – November 1972) was a
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
r, composer, and music critic.J Murdoch Henderson biography
. Accessed 12 April 2013 John Murdoch Henderson was born in
New Deer New Deer () is a settlement in Aberdeenshire, North East Scotland, which lies in the valley of Deer. It is located at the junction of several roads crossing through the Howe of Buchan. It was founded after monks from Deer Abbey, Old Deer, built ...
, Scotland, and became a mathematics teacher in
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
. A childhood accident led to him breaking both wrists and hampered his playing. He took an interest in the interpretation of fiddle music and recorded much of the information he found. He published ''The Flowers of Scottish Melody'' in 1935, which contained 130 tunes, including 40 original contributions. The collection was reprinted by The Buchan Heritage Society in 1986. Later, he edited and published ''The Scottish Music Maker'' (1957), which preserved a number of melodies by
James Scott Skinner James Scott Skinner (5 August 1843 – 17 March 1927) was a Scottish dancing master, violinist, fiddler and composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential fiddlers in Scottish traditional music, and was known as "the Strathspey Kin ...
that may otherwise have been lost (Alburger, 1983). One of Henderson's greatest influences was James F. Dickie, a renowned fiddler from Old Deer. Dickie's son-in-law, James Duncan, was the founder of the Buchan Heritage Society, and was largely responsible for the republication of ''The Flowers of Scottish Melody''. Two of Henderson's best-known compositions are named after Dickie: the
reel A reel is a tool used to store elongated and flexible objects (e.g. yarns/ cords, ribbons, cables, hoses, etc.) by wrapping the material around a cylindrical core known as a '' spool''. Many reels also have flanges (known as the ''rims'') arou ...
''James F. Dickie'' and the strathspey ''James F. Dickie's Delight''.


References

*Alburger, Mary Anne (1983), ''Scottish Fiddlers And Their Music'', Victor Gollancz Ltd., .


External links


The John Murdoch Henderson Music Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, J. Murdoch 1902 births 1970 deaths 20th-century Scottish composers 20th-century Scottish fiddlers British male violinists 20th-century British violinists 20th-century British classical musicians 20th-century British composers 20th-century Scottish musicians 20th-century British male musicians People from New Deer