The Saltire Music Group

The Saltire Music Group was a Scottish chamber music ensemble based in Edinburgh and co-founded in 1950 by composer and violinist Isobel Dunlop (1901—1975) and German opera conductor Hans Oppenheim (1892—1965). In 1951, the collective was expanded by a vocal quartet, The Saltire Singers.

The project began under The Saltire Society auspices, a community established in 1936 to disseminate the country's cultural heritage ("saltire" in the name stands for the St. Andrew's Cross, a national symbol on the Flag of Scotland). Isobel Dunlop joined the Saltire Society circa 1948 after serving as the Scottish Arts Council's Assistant National Officer for five years. She soon decided to organize an early music ensemble, and the Society invited a notable opera conductor of Jewish origins, Hans Oppenheim, who has lived in Great Britain since 1934, fleeting Nazi persecution in his homeland Germany.

Following the debut concert series in late 1950 at Gladstone's Land, a 17th-century house in Edinburgh's Old Town and the Saltire Society's headquarters, the Saltire Music Group embarked on the second season. The ensemble featured professional and amateur musicians and performed a broad repertoire, from old English songs to new works commissioned by contemporary Scottish composers, plus vocal and instrumental pieces by Isobel Dunlop. They regularly participated in the Scottish Arts Council and produced several albums on Scottish Arts Council.