Black Is the Color (of My True Love’s Hair) is a traditional Scottish ballad probably dating from the 18th century and passed down orally through the generations. The reference to the River Clyde anchors the song in the Scottish landscape and reinforces its contemplative atmosphere.

This song is part of the tradition of melancholic love ballads that express the deepest feelings with simplicity and intensity. It evokes faithful and absolute love, combining admiration for the beauty of the beloved and the suffering associated with distance or separation.

Like many popular songs from the Highlands, it has circulated between Scotland, Ireland, and North America, giving rise to different melodic and textual versions.
In addition, some are addressed to women, others to men, with differences including:

…like some rosy fair… or …like a rose so fair…
…the prettiest face and the neatest hands… or …the sweetest face and the gentlest hands…
…still I hope the time will come… or …some times I wish the day will come…
…you and I shall be as one… or …s/he and I can be as one…

However, here is the most common version:

Black is the color of my true love's hair,
His lips are like some roses fair,
The sweetest smile and the gentlest hands,
I love the ground whereon he stands.

I love my love and well he knows,
I love the ground whereon he goes,
If he on earth no more I see,
My life will quickly fade away.

I go to the Clyde for to mourn and weep,
But satisfied I ne'er can sleep,
I'll write him a letter just a few short lines,
And suffer death ten thousand times.

Even today, this ballad remains a symbol of traditional Scottish love poetry, characterized by a simple melody, great emotional expressiveness, and a strong connection to nature.

Frédéric Cellier

Along his university studies (DEA in musicology, University of Paris IV-Sorbonne), Frédéric Cellier was awarded three first prizes and a development prize at the CNR of Nice and won first prize at the International Competition of Musical Execution - soloist category – of Stresa (Italy).

He is the laureate of the Fondation de France and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and accredited teacher at the CNR of Nice, the CNR of Marseille, and at the CRR Olivier Messiaen of Avignon (France).

Frédéric Cellier is the interpreter of Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for clarinet Bb and piano with Jean-Michel Damase, Jean Françaix or Gabriel Tacchino, as well as his own arrangements for clarinet and harp of Erik Satie's Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes with the great French harpist Elizabeth Fontan-Binoche, and for clarinet, piano, and string orchestra of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in blue for Wynton Marsalis or under the baton of Adrian Gershwin, grandson of the composer.

Founder and artistic director of STRADIVARIUS Editions, he is the author of light music pieces played around the world and a considerable number of arrangements of all styles and for all instruments, acclaimed by many personalities in the music world, including Michèle Auric, Jean Françaix, Adrian Gershwin, Wynton Marsalis, Yehudi Menuhin, Madeleine Milhaud, Manuel Rosenthal, Gabriel Tacchino, and Ornella Volta.

"Frédéric Cellier has produced a number of adaptations of Georges Auric's works with such talent and precision that I consider them a natural addition to his chamber music catalogue."
Michèle AURIC - Georges Auric's widow

"To Frédéric Cellier, excellent musician and tireless arranger."
Jean FRANÇAIX - Composer and pianist

"Arranging a musical work is always a delicate and risky exercise, because it requires both modifying it so that it can be played by the desired instruments and preserving its very essence. But that is exactly what Frédéric Cellier has done, preserving the nuances, subtleties and soul of the original works while breathing new life into them.
His arrangements give all the musicians the chance to perform these compositions specially revisited for their instrument, and make music lovers rediscover them in a new light."
Adrian GERSHWIN - George Gershwin’s grandson

"Congratulations for your beautiful new orchestration and rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue."
Wynton MARSALIS - Trumpet player, composer, bandleader, general and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York

"It is outstanding that Frédéric Cellier has managed to transpose Saxophone Marmalade from the saxophone to the clarinet. I thank him for it and wish its great and deserved success. "
Manuel ROSENTHAL - Conductor, composer and Maurice Ravel’s pupil

"I am very happy to tell you how much I appreciated your transcription of the Capriccio, based on Francis Poulenc's Le Bal Masqué. It perfectly reflects the spirit and verve of the score for two pianos that I had the opportunity to play and record with Jacques Février, and it was a great pleasure for me to premiere it in Montpellier."
Gabriel TACCHINO - Pianist, Francis Poulenc’s specialist

"I must tell you that I really like your transcriptions and that I think the tone of the instruments you have chosen suits perfectly our beloved composer."
Ornella VOLTA - Musicologist, president of the Erik Satie’s Foundation