HE is regarded as one of the greatest poets Scotland has ever produced; now some of William Soutar’s work has been recreated in a CD of poignant songs.

The music aims to both celebrate Soutar and bring his early 20th century works into the 21st century with renewed meaning and strength.

A leading figure of the Scottish literary renaissance, Soutar, from Perth, died of tuberculosis in 1943 after many years of ill health. He was 45 years of age.

His biographer Alexander Scott later said: “His poetry was the prize wrested from a battle against death and despair which he fought for half a lifetime.”

The production of the new CD and an accompanying songbook is the culmination of the In A Sma’ Room project which began in 2012 with a commission by the Friends of William Soutar.

Initially a music and theatre performance integrating songs with a script written by another Perth-based creative, Ajay Close, it introduces characters from Soutar’s life through the concept of a medium. The performance was part of the prestigious Made in Scotland Showcase at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The songs were written by Perth-based singer, songwriter, composer, and arranger Debra Salem, with Paul Harrison and Kevin MacKenzie, and the CD has five new songs that were not part of the original theatre performance.

The music is influenced by the folk, jazz and classical backgrounds of the three composers, and the recording ensemble includes the composers themselves, along with percussionist Signy Jakobsdottir, bass player Andrew Robb and Perth’s own string guru Patsy Reid, who was part of the original four-piece band from the performance.

Salem said they had always wanted to record the songs.

“Each time we performed the show at the Made in Scotland showcase, someone would always ask if the music was available to buy,” she said. “Kevin, Paul and I had always hoped we would get the opportunity to record the songs at some point along with [the] other five songs that we couldn’t fit within the live performance.

“About two years ago, we finally started to make it happen, which is when we also started to think that it would be great to produce an accompanying songbook incorporating the sheet music so others can take these songs, which are in English and Scots, and make them their own. This is our way of championing the beautiful poetry of William Soutar and sharing his words through music with audiences old and new.”

Interest in Soutar’s work in Scots and English, and for adults and children, has revived considerably in recent decades. Composer Benjamin Britten set 12 of Soutar’s poems for tenor voice and piano in 1969 and in 2014 he was the subject of a BBC radio programme by Liz Lochhead called The Still Life Poet.

The In A Sma’ Room recording and songbook project was funded in part by a Kickstarter campaign along with support from the Andrew Tannahill Fund for the Furtherance of Scottish Literature.

Both the CD and book can be obtained from debrasalem.co.uk, Amazon and Tippermuir Books, with the music downloadable from most music streaming sites including Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify and Bandcamp.