ROLL OVER Beethoven. The tunes may be German but the voices are distinctly Scottish.

Caledon - the Scottish equivalent of the Three Tenors - may have sung before monarchs and international statesmen but they have never before been described as saviours of a nation's music.

The three kilted Scotsmen are performing German folk songs not given a mass public airing since the Second World War to sell-out crowds at a world-famous Berlin night-club.

The eight-week, 50-performance run is being advertised on 60ft billboards with the singers' kilts discreetly hidden from view to surprise their unsuspecting audiences.

But it's not the traditional costumes of Die Schottischen Tenore that has been impressing the 550-strong nightly crowds - it's their versions of German folk songs.

Leading German music critics have led the praise with newspaper Märkische Oderzeitung saying: "One can never hear these German folk songs sung so beautifully and honestly. These Scots have their own unique style... with charm and ability."

Berliner Zeitung commented: "A full crowd stamped their feet and shouted for more."

Caledon were taken to Germany by Lutz Deisinger, artistic director of Tipi Das Zelt Am Kanzleramt, after an impromptu visit to Scotland to see the trio perform in Helensburgh.

Caledon tenor Alan Beck told Scotland on Sunday: "Our success here has been a total surprise. Since the Second World War, Germans have been afraid of nationalism in any guise, so there is a real appreciation for what we are offering.

"This is a cultured country, which has been unable to express its own love for any sort of folk tradition. They have been unable to sing their own tunes. We are just three men in kilts responding to that."

Fellow tenor Jamie MacDougall, who along with third member Ivan Sharpe makes up the trio, said: "We recorded over four and a half hours of repertoire for Lutz to listen to. He broke that down into what he thought would work for a German audience. It has ended up being a real mix of Scottish classics with three German folk songs mixed in there. It has gone down a storm."

As well as the German songs, Caledon's repertoire includes Amazing Grace, Highland Cathedral, James Bond medleys, Robert Burns, Franz Ferdinand and The Proclaimers.

MacDougall said: "We didn't know too much about the venue before we arrived. When we did our business plan we factored in North America, Australia and New Zealand but never Germany, so the success has been a bolt out of the blue.

"The response has been more positive than we ever could have hoped. The Proclaimers' 500 Miles brings the house down every night, and so far we have shifted over 1000 CDs. We have had to have more sent over to keep up with the demand."

Prior to Berlin, Caledon have enjoyed a variety of high-profile gigs, including a performance of Flower of Scotland to a 55,000-strong crowd at Hampden Park and a stint in front of the Queen at the opening of the Scottish Parliament.

Leading Scottish writer Roddy Martine, who witnessed the trio live in Berlin last week, said the folklore tradition in Germany had been largely hijacked by the Nazis.

"Germans have been turning to Russia and Poland for their musical inspiration," he said. "Caledon have changed that by becoming saviours of the folk tradition. When I saw them perform [last week], the Berliners in the audience were profoundly moved."

The trio have also performed for UN Secretary-General General Kofi Annan, at the inaugural Robert Burns Memorial Lecture at the United Nations headquarters in New York, and have recently completed sell-out tours of North America, Australia and New Zealand.

Scotland on Sunday 19/03/06