John Muir Mason was the founding Musical Director and Conductor of the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra from its inception in 1980.
It is his musical arrangements and compositions which form the backbone and lifeblood of what the SFO is and stands for.
Since John’s death in 2011, his sons, Rognvald and Jamie (with important help from several other folk), have undertaken the almost endless task of identifying and collating his compositions with a view to publishing them.
As it turns out, the SFO’s repertoire only includes a small fraction of John’s compositional output.
Even then – and even for those who have played in the orchestra for much of its life – many of John’s tunes were only “heard” by the rank and file, as we had only a harmony or accompanying part which we joined in to play on, say, the third time through the piece, after the soloist (or, sometimes, duettists) had performed at the beginning. Whether these were solo slow airs or bouncy duets, we might be able to whistle the melodies or pick them up by ear, but we did not have the written music for them.
Happily, this is all going to change.
Though the details of publication are still not finalised, there are over 750 John Mason compositions which will soon enter the public domain as sheet music at last.
We believe that less than 100 of these are in the SFO’s library of sets and arrangements.
It doesn’t matter how familiar you are with John’s compositions because – by way of introduction or reminder (and certainly celebration) – we have a great offer for you.
We are offering a free opportunity for you to sample some of John’s own compositions that he scored for the SFO, as well as some of his evocative arrangements of compositions by others (and of some traditional melodies).
This is in the form of an email series which will give your ears a weekly John Mason tune/arrangement direct to your inbox, with a link to a recording on YouTube and some information and background about the melody.
We’ll begin with one of John Mason’s best-loved and most-played Marches – Ceud Mile Failte (A Hundred Thousand Welcomes) – which has opened many SFO concerts (and fiddle concerts, generally) over the years.
To get these emails and musical links, here’s what you need to do…
All you need to provide is your email address below.
You’ll then receive an email asking you to confirm that you wish to receive the John Mason Tunes and Arrangements email series (i.e. “double opt-in”).
Once you’ve completed that confirmation, the first email will be on its way to your inbox and further emails will arrive weekly after that.
Each email will contain a link to a YouTube recording of the SFO playing a John Mason composition and/or arrangement.
From Slow Airs to Barndances; from Reels to Polkas; from Jigs to Novelty Tunes. John Mason could evoke pathos and humour via his music and that will all be on display in the coming weeks.
Note that the email sequence to which you can subscribe is set up through AWeber and some of the confirmation emails at the outset of the process will come from them and bear their branding. This is “normal”.
FOOTNOTE: John’s book of tunes has been published on 17 October 2025. Find out more HERE.