This chart is from the Small Circle Tune Learning Session's old website. The SCTLS, a slow jam that formerly met in Colorado, had some excellent material on trad Irish music -- almost every bit of which also applied to old-time American string bands -- but they stopped meeting and their website went dark several years ago.
I have copied parts of it in the past to Hogfiddle (links below) for non-profit educational purposes. Here is their explanation of the modes most often encountered in trad Irish music:
Jason Amini's chart follows. I can't make heads or tails of it, but I don't understand the Circle of Fifths. If I did, I suspect I'd feel differently. So here it is, for those who relate to that kind of thing:
Other excerpts from the Small Circle Tune Learning Session on Hogfiddle. They overlap, but the context for each is a little different:
http://slowplayers.org/ -- much, much more, including resources copied from SCTLS before its website went dark, BASS (the Bay Area Slow Session) and others at this "on-line tutor for learning to play the traditional music of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Galicia, England, and beyond."
Also parked here, so I won't lose the link and the cite:
What may be a Mennonite hymn "Ubermal der Tag Verslossen" played on a Pennsylvania zither to a variant of a melody by Joachim Neander (at least it sounds like a vernacular chorale variant) ... this YouTube clip was shared on the Nordiska Psalmodikonförbundet's Facebook feed the other day. Like the psalmodikon, the instrument called a "scheitholt" here is played on one string.
Förbundet members, who are knowledgeable about the history of the Swedish instrument, were fascinated with the construction of the Pennsylvania Dutch instrument. (The discussion is in Swedish, but you can get the gist of it by clicking on "Translate All" under the comments.) And there was just enough information about the hymn to whet my interest.
"Ubermal der Tag Verslossen" on ScheitholtPennsylvania folk zither
The scheitholt, a member of the zither family, was brought over to the fledgling United States by German immigrants in the 1700s. Used primarily by the Pennsylvania Germans, the scheitholt soon traveled with them down the East Coast wagon trails as the settlers moved further south and west. That which went into the mountains as a scheitholt later came out as an Appalachian dulcimer through cross-cultural contact between the Germans and Scottish and Irish settlers to the New World.
The instrument in the video is a replica of a scheitholt made by the Mennonite teacher Henry Lapp sometime in the 1870s. (Replica made in 2012 by Ken Koons.) Lapp, who taught English and German in Bucks County, PA, played his scheitholt for classes called "spelling bees" during the day. At night he accompanied himself singing German hymns. His original instrument currently exists in the collection of the Mercer Museum (mercermuseum.org). In the early 1900s, the museums founder, Henry Mercer, interviewed Henry Lapp's son, who remembers his father singing the hymn "Spar Dein Buse Nicht" among others. A convoluted trail led to the melody played in this video. It was fairly common practice to mix and match hymn melodies with hymn texts; the hymn that Lapp played in the 1800s combined the melody here (composed by von Neander in 1680) with the alternative text, "Spar dein Buse Nicht." This performance uses the original hymn text, "Ubermal der Tag Verslossen."
Tracing this hymn melody proved difficult, and we are very grateful to musicologist Mitchell Morris for his help in tracking it down. We are also very grateful to historian Ralph Lee Smith, who has been responsible for piecing together the story of the scheitholt in the United States.
Recorded Aug. 22, 2013 at the World Community Productions Studios.
Recording Copyright (C) 2013 Ken Koons and Ryan Koons.
Another webpage with a clip of the same video, titled "The Scheitholt: An Early Pennsylvania German Instrument," by Mark Hagenbuch on a Hagenbuch family history & genealogy website, says Henry Lapp was a Mennonite. His zither is in the Henry Mercer Museum and is mentioned in Dr. Mercer's 1923 article (for a download, link to http://www.zither.us/?q=zithers.pennsylvania.germans or do a keyword search on the citation: Henry Mercer, "The Zithers of The Pennsylvania Germans" Bucks County Historical Society, 1923).
Mark Hagenbuch has another webpage:
"Music of Andreas Hagenbuch’s Time"
Posted Dec. 2, 2014 on Hagenbuch's website: "Music of Andreas Hagenbuch’s Time" -- speculative, since there is no information about music the family actually listened to in the 1700s, but very informative, with YouTube clips of music of the period. Andreas, 1711-1785, was born in Lomersheim, in in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and settled in Berks County, Pa.
Some excerpts:
Andreas Hagenbuch and his family were Lutherans, as were many Germans in that region [in Baden-Württemberg] after the Reformation. They undoubtedly attended church and were exposed to a vast repertoire of sacred music.
Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676) was a prolific writer of Lutheran hymns. “Put Thou Thy Trust in God” (Befiehl du deine Wege) can be found in a German 1759 hymnal published in Germantown, Pennsylvania. It is likely that the Hagenbuch family heard and sang hymns such as this.
Once the Hagenbuch family left the city [Philly] for the wilderness of Berks County, they would have been in frontier areas primarily populated by Germans. We know very little about the music from here during the early 18th century. Though, Rufus Grider gives us some tantalizing insights from the nearby town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania which was founded in 1741 by Moravian missionaries from Germany.
According to Grider, an attack by American Indians in 1755 was averted by playing a dirge on trombones. Grider also notes that the first organ was installed in a Bethlehem church in 1751. Benjamin Franklin wrote to his wife that “he heard very fine music in the church; that flutes, oboes, French horns, and trumpets, accompanied the organ.”
New Bethel Church – where the Hagenbuchs attended in Albany Township, Berks County – likely began as a log structure and lacked an organ for many decades. As was common during that time, hymns would have been sung without accompaniment.
Additionally, Andreas Hagenbuch’s 1785 will makes no mention of any instruments. Given the value of something like a violin, it is reasonable to assume that if the family owned something like this it would have been listed.
Yet, we know that frontier families had instruments in their possession. Grider describes that Bethlehem farmers as far back as 1746 “…never failed to carry along besides (sic) their sickles, also their flutes (dauces,) and French horns, drums, cymbals, &c.” Even if the Hagenbuch family was without these instruments, they certainly knew people who owned and played them.
The vernacular German box zither from which the Appalachian dulcimer developed has been called the "scheitholt," which means block of wood, since the early 17th century. But the reference is literary, dating to a catalog of instruments compiled in 1618 by the court and church musician Michael Praetorius, and American mountain dulcimer players beg to differ. See, for example, the discussion at:
Consensus in the Appalachian dulcimer community is that the folk instrument in Pennsylvania should be called a "zitter," which is the Pennsylvania Dutch word for a zither.
Holy and Anointed One+Be lifted high(Praise)+Hunter Thompson+Bethel Church
[According to Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethel_Church_(Redding,_California), "Bethel Church is a non-denominational charismatic church that was established in Redding, California, as an Assemblies of God congregation in 1954 and broke with the AofG in 2006. The Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry was founded by the church in 1998." They have an extensive TV ministry.]
This week's email from Michelle:
Greetings, team!
I hope you are all doing well. Here is the music that is planned for this weekend. Pastor Paul begins his interim ministry with us this weekend, and it is Pentecost.
It's all there in the first seven minutes of Donald in Mathmagic Land, a 27-minute film released June 26, 1959. According to Wikipedia, "The film was made available to schools and became one of the most popular educational films ever made by Disney" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_in_Mathmagic_Land). It transports Donald Duck back to ancient Greece, explains Pythagoras' contribution to math and even features Donald jamming with ancient Greek cartoon musicians, as shown above.
I wish they'd had it out when I was struggling with math in elementary school!
Hat tip, BTW, to Göran Carlström of the Nordiska Psalmodikonförbundet in Sweden for getting me off on this tangent by referring to the psalmodikon as the "oldest musical instrument" on Facebook. The psalmodikon, a one-stringed Swedish box zither, is a type of monochord -- and Pythagoras is credited with inventing the monochord. From FB, I Googled the monochord and found a reference to the Disney film.
Something for the futures file? (If so, it better be in the pretty @##%! near future, considering the lead time for an article.) But it might pair up nicely with some of my notes from the Augustana Synod founders' day last year in Andover and that Reformation Cantata that Ernst Olson wrote at Augie in 1917 --
The Lutheran World Federation has a at press release up on Facebook today with a statement by the presiding bishop of the National Bishop Susan C. Johnson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), the Canadian counterpart to ELCA, and -- more importantly? -- links to background on the upcoming Joint Ecumenical Commemoration of the Reformation co-hosted by LWF, the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Sweden in November 2016 in the Swedish cathedral city of Lund.
First, today's press release:
Canadian National Bishop Susan C. Johnson says the October 2016 joint Lutheran - Catholic commemoration of the Reformation “is a wonderful sign of the work of the Holy Spirit… calling us into the unity of the Church.” The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Vice-President for North America spoke to Lutheran World Information about the church’s commitment to sponsor 500 refugees, provide 500 scholarships to schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, plant 500,000 trees, and raise CAD 500,000 [Canadian dollars] for the LWF Endowment Fund in marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.
It's part of the build-up to this year's commemoration of the 499th (!) anniversary of Martin Luther's posting the 95 Theses to the cathedral door in Wittenberg Oct. 31, 1517, which, of course, is in turn part of the build-up to the 500th next year. Most important, to my purposes, it has links to background on the festivities in Lund.
Portal is on the LWF website at https://www.lutheranworld.org/lund2016 under the headline "Event: Joint Ecumenical Commemoration of the Reformation to be held in Lund." LWF's overview:
The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Roman Catholic Church will jointly hold an ecumenical commemoration of the Reformation on 31 October 2016 in Lund, Sweden.
Co-hosted by the Church of Sweden, the event will highlight the solid ecumenical developments between Catholics and Lutherans and the joint gifts received through dialogue, particularly in anticipation of the 500th Reformation anniversary in 2017. It will include a symposium and communal liturgy based on the Lutheran-Catholic dialogue report From Conflict to Communion - Lutheran-Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation in 2017.
The liturgical guide, also known as the "Common Prayer" for the ecumenical commemoration, is the latest outcome of a long dialogue process, and it is now available in English and Spanish. Versions in German and French will become available shortly.
The Lutheran - Catholic dialogue has yielded ecumenical milestone outcomes of which most notably is the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), which was signed by the LWF and Pontifical Council on Christian Unity (PCPCU) in 1999. The JDDJ, affirms the consensus in basic truths of the doctrine of justification.
Another milestone was the 2013 Lutheran-Catholic publication From Conflict to Communion – which is the first attempt by both dialogue partners to describe together at international level the history of the Reformation.
* * *
Links abound, both in the text quoted above [they have been omitted on Hogfiddle] and in several directories below on the LWF page.
Rolling into town with less than a day to go before our first Prairieland Strings session and my head full of Appalachian dulcimer master Don Pedi's fiddle tunes, I decided to introduce one of them. It's called "Down the River I Go," and tab is available on Don's website. Here's a YouTube clip that shows him playing it at a weekly festival in downtown Asheville, N.C. (the second tune is "Rose in the Mountain"):
Don Pedi plays "Down the River" at Shindig on the Green, July 5, 2014
We have two Clayville-Prairieland Strings sessions coming up this week:
From 7 to 9 p.m., Tuesday, May 3, at Peace Lutheran Church (formerly Atonement, Faith and Luther Memorial), 2800 West Jefferson, Springfield.
From 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, May 7, at Clayville Historic Site, Illinois 125, Pleasant Plains. Exact location TBA. Ask around. They'll know where to find us.
I know the tune from Don's dulcimer arrangement in D Mixolydian, which he attributes to the Rev. T.H. Hendricks, of McDowell County, W.Va. If you're not into modal harmony, don't worry about the Mixolydian stuff. If you are, look at all the C naturals in the tab -- or, better yet, listen for them in the video. They're in those flatted, vaguely bluesy "mountain minor" riffs, especially at the beginning, that give the tune its down-home southern Appalachian feel.
But there's also a fine bluegrass version or two making the rounds.
Some YouTube clips:
Foghorn Stringband w/ Hubie King- Down the River [Live at WAMU's Bluegrass Country]. The band, of Portland, Ore., tours internationally (details on their website at http://foghornstringband.com/). WAMU's Bluegrass Country is a member-supported public radio station dedicated to bluegrass and American roots music. 105.5 FM Washington, D.C.; and 93.5 FM, Hagerstown and Frederick, Md.
We Banjo 3 - Down The River I Go Uncle Joe. From a BBC broadcast of the Hebridean Celtic Festival 2014. We Banjo 3 is an Irish band (website at http://www.webanjo3.com/), that according to Wikipedia, "plays a blend of traditional Irish, old time, and bluegrass music they call Celt Grass."
Down the River I Go, Uncle Joe & Big Eyed Rabbit-Medley. The Danish old time band Big Hungry Joe, of Copenhagen, practicing 1. march 2011.
From the left Peter Lorichs on banjo, Jesper Deleuran on guitar and vocal, Lasse Høi on harmonica and harmony, Mathias Enevoldsen on bass and Tobias Enevoldsen on fiddle. (Check out their website at https://www.reverbnation.com/bighungryjoe.)
It's all in the bowin'. -- Don Pedi, mountain dulcimer player, Madison County, N.C.
Gisli Olsen, a psalmodikon player in Sweden and member of the Nordic Psalmodikonförbundet, has put a video up on YouTube demonstrating how he made a kind of psalmodikon that's played by pressing keys, similar to those on a Swedish nyckelharp, on the melody string. Fortunately for us in America, his captions are in English.
It's of special interest to me, because the video clearly shows how he holds the bow. And, as I learned from master Appalachian dulcimer player Don Pedi of rural Madison County, N.C., playing a stringed instrument is all in right-hand technique, it's all in the bowin'. A dulcimer isn't a bowed instrument, of course, but Don's specialty is playing southern Appalachian fiddle tunes note-for-note on the dulcimer.
Here's Gisli Olsen:
Olsen's Facebook post is archived at https://www.facebook.com/gisli.olsen/posts/1040644839340308. Some of the comments are valuable. They're in Swedish, but if you click on the link that says "See Translation," Herr Professor Google will translate it for you!
Playing a Norwegian-style American psalmodikon
For a couple of years now Musicmakers, a luthiers' in Stillwater, Minnesota, has been making psalmodikons adapted from the Norwegian version of the instrument and fitted out with "transposition sticks" so they can be played with a montain dulcimer. (More information on their website at http://www.harpkit.com/ and their YouTube channel, directory of videos at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0mbv9_4M4o).
Psalmodikons by Musicmakers are set up so they can be played with mountain dulcimers tuned to DAA, DGD and other popular dulcimer tunings, and a modified version of dulcimer called a Strumbly. On their YouTube channel, they have an instructional video:
How to Play the Psalmodikon. Some basic tips on how to play the Psalmodikon by Musicmakers.
Buy a Psalmodikon or a Psalmodikon kit at www.harpkit.com.
Chris Miles sings "Farewell to Tarwathie" at Whitby Folk Week in England
By request, we're going to play "Farewell to Tarwathie" at Thursday's session of the Prairieland Strings. It's a song I learned, and subsequently got very, very tired of, when Judy Collins covered it in 1970.
We meet from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 21, at Peace Lutheran Church (formerly Atonement), 2800 West Jefferson, Springfield. Links to sheet music (dulcimer tab with notation and guitar chords) below.
In case you don't remember the song, it's the one where Collins was backed by a pod of whales singing in not-quite-harmony. (Link here to refresh your memory.)
Nothing against whales -- I developed a taste for whale, which tastes like beef, and I even enjoyed muktuk, a Inuit treat of dried whale blubber, when I tried it in Alaska -- but I think animal sounds on musical recordings are distracting and cloying.
But even with the @#$%ed whales chirping and yowling in the background, it's a nice song with a grand melody, and
I found a couple of interpretations on the World Wide Web that I do like. A lot.
One, embedded at the top of this post, is an a cappella performance by Scottish folk singer Chris Miles, a couple of years ago at the Whitby folk festival in England. She's Scottish, and sings in a broad Scots dialect (think Robert Burns), but she has quite a following in Ireland.
"She has been guesting at Derrygonnelly, Slieve Gullion and Inishowen for many years now and has appeared at Ballyshannon Folk Festival on more than one occasion," says her profile on the Innishowen Song Project website maintained by the Irish Traditional Music Association. "Her commanding presence and yet tender rendering of the big Scottish ballads is much loved by all who have had the pleasure of hearing her."
Certainly her style of singing "Farewell to Tarwathie" recalls that of the "big" Irish ballads.
Another is by Mick O'Grady, singing at the Cobblestone Pub in Dublin. His performance is very understated, but I love the way he plays the guitar, finger picking the melody in unison with his voice. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is allowed to get in the way of the music.
If O'Grady plays professionally, I haven't been able to find notice of it on line. But the Cobblestone Pub (more at http://cobblestonepub.ie/ is a fine pub with nightly musicians' sessions in Dublin north of the River Liffey roughly across from Temple Bar.
Dulcimer tab (lead sheets)
Lead sheets in D, with dulcimer tab below the staff and guitar chords above, are available in two locations on the web:
Chris Miles, by the way, is an MBE (Member of the British Empire), an honor she shares with Sir Paul McCartney and the rest of the Beatles, Sir Elton John, Sting and other luminaries. But she received hers primariy in recognition of her career as an educator, as John Moulden, himself a singer and scholar of considerable note at National University of Ireland Galway, reported to the Mudcat Café discussion group:
I'm very pleased to report that the Scottish singer, Chris Miles, from Kirkaldy in Fife, habituée of sessions in Fife, Edinburgh and elsewhere in Scotland, England and Ireland; she has a house near Tobercurry and attends many sessions and festivals in that area, and all over Ireland, has been awarded MBE for services to education and young people. (She was a Nursery School Headteacher [principal] and, until her recent retirement, an adviser to Fife County Council on Nursery Education.)
Vem kan segla förutan vind? är en folkvisa känd från Finlands svenskbygder och det anses att den kommer från Åland. Den går i moll i 3/4-takt. Inledningsraden återfinns i femte strofen i en visa från 1700-talet, "Goder natt, goder natt, allra kärestan min" och i sin nuvarande form publicerades sången första gången 1909. Visan anknyter till en tematik som är vanlig i sjömansvisor – att skiljas från den man har kär.
Andra versradens slutord åror har sannolikt ursprungligen varit årar, bildat till substantivet [en] år, med pluralformen årar, som var vanlig i dialekter under 1800-talet framför allt i Finland.
Who can sail without wind? Is a folk song known from Finnish Swedish settlements and it is believed that it comes from Åland . It runs in the minor in 3/4 stroke . Introduction The line is found in the fifth stanza of a song from the 1700s, "Goder night Goder night, very sweetheart mine" and in its current form was published the song the first time in 1909. The song is linked to a theme that is common in shanties - to be distinguished from the to love.
Other versradens final words oars have probably originally oars, formed the noun [a] years, with the plural form oars, which was common in dialects during the 1800s, particularly in Finland.
According to a Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Music_Experience, the performance was part of a UNESCO-backed concert starring Japanese and international musicians, including Dylan, Jon Bon Jovi, Joni Mitchell and INXS, staged in May 1994 at the eighth-century Buddhist temple of Tōdai-ji, in Nara, Japan:
UNESCO hoped that the event would be the first of seven annual concerts that would take place at some of the world's architectural treasures -- the sites it had in mind included the Pyramids, China's Forbidden City and the Taj Mahal -- but nothing came of the idea. ...
* * *
UNESCO hoped that a series of concerts would be able to use the appeal of rock musicians to widen the audience for the world's cultural heritage. The Tōdai-ji concert would also help to promote traditional Japanese music. It was important for traditional musicians to stand on the same stage with Dylan and Bon Jovi.
A review in Q magazine, paraphrased in the Wikipedia account, adds this:
The star of the show turned out to be Dylan who said as soon as he came off-stage that he had not sung so well for 15 years. Dylan opened with A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall which Q magazine said was "no ordinary version...[he] really opens his lungs and heart and sings, like he's not done for many a year...The only word for it majestic."
Road to Lisdoonvarna/Swallowtail Jig/Tripping Up the Stairs.
Sykes Concert at Dartmouth College Apr. 2009. Clara Chew, Flute;
Sophie Hood, Fiddle; and
David Sicilia, Accordion
Jam Tunes & Resources, Colorado Dulcimer Festival http://www.coloradodulcimerfestival.com/jamtunes/ http://www.coloradodulcimerfestival.com/jamtunes/
Road to Lisdoonvarna / Bonnie Carroll http://www.coloradodulcimerfestival.com/music/lisdoonvarna.pdf
For an authoritative, but rather cranky, discussion by trad Irish authenticity police of whether it is a whether it is a slide (in 12/8 time) or a jig (6/8), go to the Session website at https://thesession.org/tunes/250. Discussion group member PHantom Button says,
"Part of the problem with this tune, (here in the out-back of ITM that is,) is that it was used widely as a beginner tune, over played by a million screeching tin whistles, and dragged through sessions by novices adnauseam. It’s actually a very lovely and danceable slide that suffers from guilt by association."
http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/ROA_ROB.htmhttp://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/ROA_ROB.htm
ROAD TO LISDOONVARNA [1]. Irish, Slide or Single Jig. E Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Silberberg): AABB (most versions). The melody appears in both single jig and single reel versions (see “Road to Lisdoonvarna” [2]). It was popularized in the United States by Grey Larsen & Malcolm Dalglish, who paired the tune with the similar “O’Keeffe’s Slide [1].” Sources for notated versions: Chieftains (Ireland) [Brody]; Laurie Andres [Silberberg]. Lisdoonvarna, County Clare, was formerly a spa town where Victorian society partook of the mineral waters that were thought to have healing properties. It is located north and inland of the famous coastline Cliffs of Moher, in the rocky region called the Burren. The town is more famous now-a-days, particularly for tourists, as the location of an annual match-making festival.
Mark Gilston - The Road to Lisdoonvarna on mountain dulcimer
Editor's Note. Where to begin? I wanted to play this song for Easter, but I couldn't work out dulcimer tab. So I gave up and went on to something else. Then, at the last minute, I found tab for it on Shelley Stevens' mountain dulcimer site. I decided that was a pretty good coincidence, so good it might qualify as a sign or a vision. Especially because there's a messenger angel in the song -- a southern Appalachian sacred ballad called "Christ Was Born in Bethlehem." The upshot: We've got three lead sheets with dulcimer tab for tomorrow's Clayville Pioneer Academy of Music session at Clayville Historic Site.
We've also got a slightly different place -- we'll meet in the Broadwell Inn building across the teardrop drive from the barn where we usually meet.
Coming up in the next week:
From 10 a.m. till noon Saturday, April 2, Clayville Pioneer Academy of Music, in Broadwell Inn at Clayville Historic Stagecoach Stop, Ill. 125, Pleasant Plains.
From 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, Clayville-Prairieland Strings, at Peace Lutheran Church (formerly Atonement), 2800 West Jefferson, Springfield.
Here's the song, as performed by
Norm Williams, Amanda Parker and Bob Mallalieu -- and a butterfly -- Aug. 29, 2010, at the Maidencreek Old Time Music Festival in Blandon, Pa.
Says John Hilderbrand, who put it up on his YouTube channel, "Watch the butterfly and listen to the performers during this clip. It's inspirational and funny!" Please note: No butterflies were harmed in this performance.
Lead sheets with duclimer tab are available at http://shelleystevens.com/. I found it Thursday night when I was trying to download "Plan B" tab for Saturday's jam session -- "Belle of Belfast City" (and "Jamaica Farewell"). At first I couldn't get into Stevens' website and I hit the panic button. Then, I got this message:
THANKS FOR VISITING MY NEW WEBSITE. March! The weather is improving and we may have survived another winter. I was going to use this months song in December as a Christmas song but after reading the lyrics decided that it was more appropriate for Easter. I hope you enjoy this arrangement of
"Christ was Born in Bethlehem" GET TAB
Apparently the website was down for maintenance.
All of Stevens' tab is available there again, at any rate. Look in the
Tab Archives 2005-2010 and 2010-2016 directories. Here are links to the background I posted earlier on both songs:
Since I updated twice, I've just indicated edits with strike-throughs and underlines. It probably reflects my
state of advancing confusion at the time, but if you ignore the parts I've stricken out you probably won't get confused.
Here's a tune we used to enjoy at sessions of the Prairieland Dulcimer Strings. It dropped out of the rotation a couple of years ago, but we had too much fun with it to make that state of affairs permanent.
So let's take a run at it Saturday.
Two sessions coming up in the next week:
From 10 a.m. till noon Saturday, April 2, Clayville Pioneer Academy of Music, in the barn at Clayville Historic Stagecoach Stop, Ill. 125, Pleasant Plains.
From 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, Clayville-Prairieland Strings, at Peace Lutheran Church (formerly Atonement), 2800 West Jefferson, Springfield.
The song is known by two titles -- "Belle of Belfast City" and "I'll Tell Me Ma."
Shelley Stevens has dulcimer tab with chords on her website -- directories at http://shelleystevens.com/ (click on links to "Tab Archives 2005-2010" and "Tab Archives 2010-2016"). "Belle" is in the directory for August 2010 and "Jamaica Farewell" for September 2006. The Internet is acting cranky on me tonight: If you can't open the webpage, I'll have copies available Saturday.
.
"I'll Tell Me Ma" is performed by big-name commercial Irish bands like the Dubliners and the Irish Rovers as a rowdy, hard-driving pub song. It is all of that, but it's also an old, old children's song, first collected during the 1800s in various parts of England, with a lovely melody.
Some interpretations --
Na Fianna. Contemporary Irish band of Laois who got their start in the RTÉ All Ireland Talent Show in 2009–10. Website at http://www.nafiannamusic.com/. Hazel Entertainments presents Laois Band 'Na Fianna' performing 'I'll Tell Me Ma' at the Hazel Hotel, Monasterevin, Co. Kildare.
Hounds of Finn. Folk-rock trio of St. Paul, Minn., a live performance in 2015 that elevates it (IMO) from pub music to a real song. http://houndsoffinn.com/ --
It's been recorded frequently by other artists. Two that stand out in my mind are:
Which brings us to Kirsty MacColl, best known for her association with the Pogues on "Fairytale of New York" but a fine independent artist in her own right:
And the bonus I promised -- while I was looking for interpretations of "I'll Tell Me Ma," I came across a 56-minute BBC documentary:
The Story Of The Pogues & Kirsty McColl Fairytale of new york The full Story 1 of 1
Svenska BarnsångerTV
Svenska BarnsångerTV
Barnsånger på svenska | Björnen sover
Friedmans Apostlar - Gubben Noak
Friedman's Apostles, student choir at the Stockholm School of Economics Friedmans Apostlar Diplomering - Stadshuset Hösten 2015
You will love this video of Keith singing the Easter Song in late 70's -- and his tenderhearted sharing is so candid and encouraging, for anyone struggling, meaning all of us:) Even so, we celebrate the fact that Jesus has Risen! Hallelujah!! Share with your all your friends for Easter.
I never sang it that year.
Recorded on a celebration of St. Michael and All Angels at Church of the Redeemer:
Church of the Redeemer, Kenmore, Washington.
Published on Aug 14, 2012
St Patrick's Breastplate, from the Cantus Christi (Canon Press) sung at the New Saint Andrews College Convocation 20 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Saint_Andrews_College
St Patrick's Breastplate | New Saint Andrews Convocation 2012. 4:24
St Patrick's Breastplate (arranged by Melville Cook), sung by St Peter's Singers of Leeds.
DEIRDRE at 4:00
During his service as Organist and Choirmaster of Leeds Parish Church (as it was then known) from 1937 to 1946, Melville Cook left a number of craftsmanly hymn settings for posterity, most of which survive in manuscript in the Leeds Minster Choir Library. At least one was published and printed locally - a large-scale score of the traditional Irish hymn known as 'St Patrick's Breastplate'. Dr Cook's setting is a real gem, with an organ part of considerably more interest than the 'standard' version by Stanford.
This performance was recorded in Leeds Minster on Sunday 28th April 2013 during the recital of 'Music with Minster connections' sung by St Peter's Singers of Leeds, directed by Dr Simon Lindley. The organist is David Houlder.
Leeds Minster, formerly Leeds Parish Church, has a long and distinguished musical history. The list of organists and past organists of the Parish Church of St Peter-at-Leeds is outstanding. 'Music with Minster connections' celebrated both this heritage and the status of Leeds Minster with music from its famous composers since the consecration of the then-new building on 2nd September 1841, over 171 years ago.
More details about St Peter's Singers, including forthcoming concerts, recitals and liturgical performances, may be found on our website http://www.stpeters-singers.org.uk and on our Facebook group page 'St Peter's Singers of Leeds' https://www.facebook.com/StPetersSing...
UPDATED EDITOR'S NOTE: This post began as an introduction to "Christ Was Born in Bethlehem," which I hoped to introduce April 2 at Clayville. But I put it aside when I realized I wasn't going to be able to tab it out for mountain dulcimer in time. Then, late last night [March 30], I found tab on Shelley Stevens' website and changed my mind for a second time. New links, etc., at http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2016/03/christ-was-born-in-bethlehem_31.html [posted Thursday, March 31, edits from March 29 revisions].
ORIGINAL EDITOR'S NOTE: I decided I'd better learn this song a little better before I try to introduce it at a session, but it's too nice a piece of music to delete. So I'm leaving it up on Hogfiddle, but with edits [posted Tuesday, March 29].
A song I want to introduce at Saturday's monthly jam sessionsooner or later. It's called "Christ Was Born in Bethlehem," and you'd think it's going to be a Christmas carol. But it isn't. Think of it more as a mountain ballad that begins at the stable in Bethlehem but focuses instead on the Easter story -- almost like a southern Appalachian counterpart to Handel's Messiah. It's been around in one form or another for more than a hundred years, and a version got into 19th-century editions of the Sacred Harp. We're doing to do the version that's gotten into the bluegrass gospel repertory.
From 10 a.m. till noon Saturday, April 2, Clayville Pioneer Academy of Music, in the barn Broadwell Inn building at Clayville Historic Stagecoach Stop, Ill. 125, Pleasant Plains.
From 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, Clayville-Prairieland Strings, at Peace Lutheran Church (formerly Atonement), 2800 West Jefferson, Springfield.
Here's "Christ Was Born in Bethlehem" as performed by the Smoky Mountain String Band, the house band at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., for a Christmas program there in 2012:
And here's my favorite YouTube clip, a performance by Norm Williams, Amanda Parker and Bob Mallalieu -- and a butterfly -- Aug. 29, 2010, at the Maidencreek Old Time Music Festival in Blandon, Pa.
Says John Hilderbrand, who put it up on his YouTube channel, "Watch the butterfly and listen to the performers during this clip. It's inspirational and funny!" Please note: No butterflies were harmed in this performance.
The folk festival performance is a cover -- of a very fine arrangement by Tim and Mollie O'Brien. It's also available on YouTube, along with a couple of others, at:
The Corries were a Scottish folk band of the 1970s and 80s. Their version of the song sounds more like the traditional Appalachian ballad.
Based on a hymn by American composer William Howard Doane (1832-1915), it got into the oral tradition in the U.S. and Australia, and it was part of Jean Ritchie's family repertory. (They called it "Down Came an Angel," but it's the same song.) It has been widely collected in southern Appalachia -- including by Cecil Sharp in the 1910s. Richard Chase also collected it, in North Carolina.
The ballad is modal -- I have it from the John C. Campbell Folk School's songbook edited by Betty Smith in D Mixolydian, and it appears elsewhere in other modes. Sometimes, as in Chase's collection, the first verse appears as "Jesus walked in Galilee (or Bethany) ... to save us all from sin," no doubt to get around the Christmas-y title.
As an Appalachian ballad, it would have been sung a cappella. Sheet music is available in an
a cappella SATB choral arrangment by Peter Amidon, in
his book "Fifty-five Anthems for the Small Church Choir." Sound file of a performance by Kari Smith and Fred Breunig, soloists. Says Amidon,
We first learned this beautiful Appalachian ballad from the singing of John McCutcheon. This is really a Lenten-Easter carol; the first verse talks of the birth, but the second verse jumps right to 'Judas he betrayed him...'. There are two harmonizations of the melody in my arrangement. I encourage you to try out different ways of using these harmonizations, as we did on this recording.
Probably because of the Ritchie family's interest in the song, the ballad version has caught on with mountain dulcimer players. Here is YouTube user Darren W. playing Larkin Bryant's arrangement from her dulcimer instruction manual of the 1970s commonly known as "Larkin's Book."
Our regular "third Thursday" session of the Clayville-Prairieland Strings at Peace Lutheran Church falls on St. Patrick's Day. So it's a grand occasion to play some of the Irish songs in our repertoire (and anything else you want to play when it's your turn to call a tune). And I'm linking below to a couple of tunes that have been requested -- or that I've been reminded of.
One, a hornpipe called "The Boys of Bluehill" is traditional Irish. The other, "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," is as American as corned beef and cabbage or pouring green dye in the Chicago River.
Same time, from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, and in the same place -- but with a new name for the church at 2800 West Jefferson. The new congregation is made up of Lutherans from the former Atonement, Faith and Luther Memorial parishes (ELCA) in Springfield.
Here's some background, clips and links to lead sheets, dulcimer tab, etc., on the songs.
"Boys of Bluehill"
Lead sheet with dulcimer tab at http://www.everythingdulcimer.com/files/tab/boys_of_bluehill.pdf pn the EverythingDulcimer.com website.
Nothing I could say about this standard session tune comes near renowned Irish fiddler Kevin Burke's note-by-note breakdown of how to play it, and ornament it, on a fiddle:
"Boys of Bluehill": Fiddle Lesson by Kevin Burke
Here it is in its natural habitat, a pub performance. Says YouTube user belljarbelfast: "Locke 'O the Irish playing a traditional set of hornpipes, Boys of Bluehill, Harvest Home and the Belfast Hornpipe."
Locke 'O the Irish -- Boys of Bluehill/ Harvest Home/ The Belfast Hornpipe
And Ben Seymour, luthier of Tryon, N.C., plays "Boys of Blue Hill" and "Harvest Home" on the dulcimer. Says Ben:
"Two of my favorite Celtic tunes. I play these on my old "warhorse" dulcimer that goes everywhere with me :) I hope you enjoy ..."
"When Irish Eyes Are Smiling"
The Three Rivers Dulcimer Society of Richland, Wash., has dulcimer tab with chords (courtesy of Shelley Stevens) on its website at http://freepdfhosting.com/a322008480.pdf, and Jessica Comeau, a teacher who coordinates the Pensacola Mountain Dulcimer Wildflowers, which she describes as "my volunteer public outreach project for creating awareness about the mountain dulcimer," has a nice finger-picking arrangement at
http://www.jessicacomeaudulcimer.com/lessons-and-tablature.html.
Jessica Comeau and Rhiannon play "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling"
Here is the familiar refrain of "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. The lyrics of the song were originally written by the Americans Chauncey Olcott and George Graff, Jr., and the melody was composed by Ernest Ball. The song premiered in 1912 in a musical called "The Isle of Dreams." I am playing this piece on my new McSpadden dulcimer that I named Rhiannon. :-)
The song needs no further introduction. It's hardly Irish, but it's beloved by an entire generation of Irish-Americans, and musicians who play the tourist pubs in places like Dublin and Killarney learn it rather quickly because it's so often requested. Here's Bing Crosby's version of the Irish Folk song, recorded in 1939.
Instrumentets oprindelse og brug knyttes til Skandinavien i 1820'erne. En dansk 'Lieutnant og Skolelærer' Jens Worm Bruun (1781-1836) angives at have opfundet det.[1] En svensk præst og salmedigter Johan Dillner videreudviklede det og bragte det fra omkring 1830 i anvendelse i menigheder der ikke havde råd til orgel. Også i Norge blev det anvendt til indlæring af salmer efter ciffernotation i skole og hjem.[2] Senere i 1800-tallet vandt harmoniet frem som afløser.
„ Hr. J. W. Bruun, Lieutnant og Skolelærer, har udfundet et Instrument, kaldet Psalmodicon, hvis Hensigt er at yde en sikker Veiledning ved Underviisning i Tonestigen, Accorder, Charole, etc.. Det er simpelt, at enhver Snedker kan forfærdige det, og dog kan derpaa udføres Alt, hvad der kan synges, Alt hvad nogetsomhelst Instrument kan frembringe. Man kan lære at spille det i første Time, og i den anden spiller man fra Bladet. Det kan aldrig forstemmes, thi hvordan det end staar, er det dog altid stemt. Det har kun een Streng men derpaa haves alle høilige Toner lige indtil Fugle- og Musepib. Det vil, siger Proffessor Scholl i sin Anbefaling: som et ubekosteligt Børneinstrument vække Gehører og give en ypperlig Forøvelse til videre Fremskridt i Musiken, hvorfor han ønsker Psalmadicon almindelig bekjendt. (Det faaes tilkiøbs i København hos Musikhandler Lohse for 1 Rdr.-Sølv. Her i Aarhuus kan man faae det at se paa Adressekontoiret). “
— Aarhus Stiftstidende 1824-05-01
The instrument's origin and use attached to Scandinavia in the 1820s. A Danish 'Lieutnant and school teacher' Jens Worm Bruun (1781-1836) is said to have invented it. [1] A Swedish pastor and hymn writer Johan Dillner further developed it and brought it from around 1830 in use in congregations could not afford organ. Also in Norway, it was used for learning hymns by ciffernotation in school and home. [2] Later in 1800 won the harmonium up as a replacement.
"Sir. JW Bruun, Lieutnant and school teacher, has devised an instrument called Psalmodicon whose purpose is to provide a safe veiledning by the teaching of the Tone ladder Accords, Charole, etc .. It's simple that any Snedker can forfærdige it and however, can then be performed Anything that can be sung, All anything instrument can produce. One can learn to play it in the first hour, and in the second to play from the magazine. It can never be detuned, for no matter how it stands, it is always voted. It has only one string but then held all høilige Toner until Birds and Musepib. It will, says proffessor Scholl in his Recommendation as a ubekosteligt Children Instrument wake Gehører and provide an excellent Forøvelse for further progress in music, why he wants Psalmadicon plain known. (It is acquired tilkiøbs in Copenhagen at Music Handler Lohse for 1 Rdr.-Silver. Here in Aarhuus can get it to look at Adressekontoiret). "
Carl Bergman. "Sweden: European Intelligence" Evangelical Christendom. June 1, 1859: 204-205. Google Books
Our Swedish people have in these latter times been, more than formerly, a singing people, and (what is to me more precious) a people who at least sing the Lord's praise. Oscar Ahnfelt has contributed much to this; but an old silver-=haired clergyman, Dillner, near Upsala, had also formerly done much. He has invented a simple musical instrument, with a single string, called the [205] Psalmodicon, and which is played with a fiddlestick, like a violin. Instead of musical notes, he uses only the ciphers, 1, 2, 3, &c. On this instrument, which is used throughout the country, the farm-servant and maid-servant can play any melody they choose, and thus spiritual songs come rapidly into use. It is astonishing that an instrument so simple can have produced so general and astonishing a result. May we not in this trace the Lord's hand, who in these days is pouring out hisHis blessing on the Lands of the North?
Da Ole Andreas Lindemans koralbok ble autorisert til bruk i kirkene 1835, fikk Roverud offentlig støtte til å reise rundt i landet og utbre de nye melodiformene i landets skoler og kirker. Som pedagogisk hjelpemiddel benyttet han psalmodikon, et enstrenget instrument som kunne spilles etter et siffersystem. Instrumentet var lansert av J. W. Brun i København 1823, men ble etter hvert tatt i bruk i alle de nordiske land. Roverud forbedret den danske modellen og utviklet en egen siffernoteskrift. Instrumentet var så enkelt i konstruksjonen at det kunne lages av enhver snekkerkyndig. Psalmodikonet, som fantes i flere stemmeleier (sopran, alt, tenor, bass), ble i løpet av 1830-årene det viktigste sangpedagogiske hjelpemiddelet i skole, kirke og hjem. Roverud sørget selv for å utgi samlinger med sanger og salmer som kunne spilles på instrumentet i en siffernotasjon som gjorde notekunnskap overflødig. 1835–37 og 1841–47 fikk han bevilgninger til kursvirksomhet for skoleungdom, skolelærere, kirkesangere og organister. Undervisningsreisene strakte seg fra Kristiansand i sør til Tromsø i nord.
When Ole Andreas Lindeman's chorale book was authorized for use in churches in 1835, got Roverud public support to travel around the country and propagate the new melody forms in the country's schools and churches. As educational aid he psalmodikon, a stringed instrument that could be played by a cipher system. The instrument was launched by J. W. Brown in Copenhagen in 1823, but was eventually adopted in all the Nordic countries. Roverud improved the Danish model and developed its own digits notation. The instrument was so simple in structure that it could be made of any carpenter. Psalmodikonet, which existed in several voting rents (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), was during the 1830s the most important song teaching aid in schools, churches and homes. Roverud even made sure to publish collections of songs and hymns that could be played on the instrument in a numeric notation did note knowledge superfluous. 1835-1837 and 1841-1847 he received funding for training programs for schoolchildren, schoolteachers, church singers and organists. Teaching trips stretching from Kristiansand in the south to Tromsø in the north.
This morning at Clayville, we played our improvised, all-by-ear version of Pachelbel's Canon in D and it sounded good to our ears -- as it always does. And it reminded me of the time several of my friends got together in a pickup old-time/bluegrass band in grad student days. It lasted a few months, if memory serves, and they got a few gigs playing for drinks and tips at bars around the UT campus. One of their songs was a banjo arrangement of "Jesu Thou Joy of Man's Desiring," the chorale from Bach's cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147.
No doubt it was a desecration, but I was learning to play the dulcimer at the time, and Jesu was one of the first melodies I worked out on the dulcimer -- another desecration, no doubt -- at least the first few measures up to where the melody wanders off into a chord progression the dulcimer can't get to.
All of which got me to thinking -- wouldn't it be fun to play "Jesu" at Clayville?
So here, to add to my ever-growing list of projects I may or may not get around to sometime, are some notes on "Jesu Thou Joy of Man's Desiring."
Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring: fingerstyle guitar -- Joseph Sobol. arranged and played by Joseph Sobol on a custom Fylde Falstaff guitar. Thanks to Daniel Santiago of East Tennessee State University for the videography, and to Roger Bucknall of Fylde for the guitar.
Johann Sebastian Bach: Jesu, joy of man's desiring (BWV 147), The Choir of Somerville College, Oxford
Celtic Woman also have a typically hyped-up schmaltzathon of an arrangement at ... oh, hell, on second thought, if you want to hear it, you can Google it yourself.
• Call to Worship: Made to Worship (Jamie, Adam, & Michele)
• Worship Songs:
You Are Good (we are not going to do the bridge "you are good, all the time" -- sometime we will because it's really cool, but we've not done it before) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUfW3pUUL3E
Mark Gilston - "Planxty Irwin" and "Munster Cloak" (at 1:25) on mountain dulcimer
Blast email sent this afternoon to Clayville and Prairieland mailing lists.
It's (almost) March already, and we have two sessions of the Clayville-Prairieland Academy of Music coming up this week:
-- Tuesday, March 1, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Atonement-Grace-Luther Memorial Church, 2800 West Jefferson.
-- Saturday, March 5, from 10 a.m. to noon at Clayville Historic Stage Coach Stop, Ill. 125, Pleasant Plains.
In addition, our "third Thursday" session, at the church on West Jefferson, will be 7-9 p.m. March 17. That's St. Patrick's Day, and that' s got me thinking about Irish tunes. Let's be thinking of tunes we'd like to play on St. Paddy's (Irish or anything else that strikes your fancy), and make a night of it.
In the meantime, here's a link to "The Parting Glass" in B minor:
Also a standard you may already know by Turlough O'Carolan, called "Planxty Irwin" -- this lead sheet, actually dulcimer tab by Mark Zuckerman) is in D:
(Nobody knows exactly what "Planxty" means. Carolan, the 18th-century harp player who composed it, invented the word in his song titles; it probably means "in honor of," in this case a tune in honor of Col. John Irwin, for whom he composed it.)
Andrea Fanciulli - "Planxty Irwin" -- Celtic finger-style guitar
Mikaela, of HarpKit, plays "Planxty Irwin" on one of their harps
It comes in a poem called "The Old Man Said (One)" by Carroll Arnett, "Gogisgi," a poet of Cherokee heritage who taught creative writing at Central Michigan University for 30 years before his death in 1997. It's the first of several poems distilling Gogisgi's take of the wisdom of the elders -- hence the title. It's short, and to the point.
"[E]very single thing
matters," he says. "And," he adds,
(Hat tip to Chuck Clark, who saw it on YouTube and asked what the odd-looking stringed instrument was.)
Here's the song, from Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite, as arranged by J.L.Lenoir of the French quartet Boann and and performed by Céline Archambeau (on vocals and harp), Lenoir (crwth), Eléonore Billy (hardingfele), and Gaëdic Chambrier (guitar):
Boann is named for a Celtic goddess associated with the River Boyne in Ireland. According to their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/boannquartet/, Boann is "est un quartet dont la musique est tournée vers la mer du nord, à la croisée des cultures scandinaves et celtiques" [a quartet whose music faces the North Sea and the blending of Scandinavian and Celtic cultures]. So "Solveig's Song" is right up their alley.
Solveig, who is named for a Norse goddess, is a character in Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt, a Romantic-era bricolage of trolls, dairy maids and other figures from Norwegian folklore. She is Peer's own true love, with whom he unites at the end of the play, and Grieg's song is especially lovely.
So is Boann's interpretation of it, and the odd stringed instruments fit right in.
The hardingfele, or Hardanger fiddle, looks like an ornate violin, but it is a Norwegian folk instrument with four or five sympathetic, or resonant, strings beneath the four strings of a standard fiddle. Played well, it has a distinctive modal sound that's perfectly adapted to Grieg's melody. The crwth (pronounced "crooth") is Welsh, not Norwegian, but it comes out of that North Sea cultural area that Boann interprets.
According to Wikipedia, which has an unusually detailed article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crwth, the crwth was once played widely in Europe, although it was especially associated with Wales. It is similar to Scandinavian lyres of the Viking and early medieval periods. (See Gjermund Kollveit's article at http://www.musark.no/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/The-Early-Lyre.pdf.) Whatever its provenance, it fits right in backing the other instruments in Boann's interpretation of "Solveig's Song."
There isn't much of a market today for medieval Welsh instruments, but there are people who play replicas. They're especially well suited to playing backup, but English luthier Michael J. King, who makes crwths, plays a simple melody toward the end of a video demonstrating one of his instruments.
Lead sheets are attached. We've done all of these at the blended church except "The Wonderful Cross" (and I just sent that out to those singing and playing for the blended service on the 13th).
An original song spoof of Ammon Bundy and the band of patriots that occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Burns, Oregon in an armed protest about the government, the constitution, ranchers and other things.
Print Email Joseph Rose | The Oregonian/OregonLive
By Joseph Rose | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on February 11, 2016 at 7:27 PM, updated February 11, 2016 at 8:51 PM
The lede:
The Oregon standoff is over, but the surreal cultural zeitgeist born from the 41-day anti-government occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge lives on.
In addition to an Ammon Bundy donut, late-night monologues and thousands of Internet memes, the showdown has inspired a satirical, Johnny Cash-esque ballad.
A group of Portland comedians called "Fit to Print" finished recording the Johnny Cash-esque "Ballad of the Malheur Patriots" on Thursday morning.
Comedians Laura Sams and Garrett Palm perform improv comedy based on news stories at Curious Comedy Theater in Northeast Portland.
Some lyrics:
Patrioooooots, Patriooooooots,
Stormin' a building surrounded by ducks,
They didn't stand down, they vowed to stand uuuuup
Even if they didn't know for what.
Icelandic langspil.
A quick introduction by Chris Foster. He and his partner Bára Grímsdóttir perform as the duo FUNI, have a website at http://www.funi-iceland.com/. They were at Common Ground on the Hill the last time I was there, in 2013.
Michael J. King, luthier of the UK, demonstrates one of his langspils. "This is a little clip of a newer version of the Icelandic Langspil model I make. The melody is tuned to a, the middle drone to f# and the bass to B."
FUNI (Bára Grímsdóttir & Chris Foster) perform an Icelandic love song at the Mystic Sea Music Festival 2012. This song is called Man eg þig mey text by Jónas Hallgrímsson, The tune is a traditional tvísöng melody that would normally be sung by two people singing in parallel fifths. The langspil plays the second voice here.
xxx
Ryan Koons performs the song "Stóðum tvö í túni" on the langspil, a type of zither from Iceland. Langspil built by Ken Koons.
Hildur Heimisdóttir. Langspil and Icelandic Fiðla:
The history, construction and function of the two
Icelandic folk-instruments. Candidate studies in the violincello, 2012, No. 2010122. Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium, Aarhus, Denmark. http://www.musik.is/Paelingin/Langspil_and_Icelandic_Fidla.pdf
Being a string player myself, I thought langspil might be similar to the
cello, my main instrument. I found soon out that there are indeed some things in common but
other things are very unlike. The hand position was the first thing I struggled with. Cello
players use all five fingers on the left hand to press down the strings, and there are no frets to
show the player where the note is. On langspil, the player only uses the left thumb to press
down and the rest of the left fingers support the instrument so it does not move while playing.
The first thing I had to do was to train my left hand and get used to the new position of it.
* * *
After using the chop sticks for a while in my playing, I tried to use my spare cello bow
to play the instrument. That bow is unusually light and has little amount of horse hair, and is
therefore not so good for cello playing but more convenient for the langspil. It was however
difficult to control it, since it is longer than original langspil bows. I personally think the
sound from the pin is more pleasant but I want to be able to play with more variety so I will
focus on getting the right bow technique the next days. The bow grip is different from what a
cellist is used to, since the direction to stroke in is not the same. A cellist strokes the bow to
the left and the right but while playing langspil, one has to stroke forward and back.
Therefore, the langspil player has to hold the bow in a hand position that reminds of how
people hold pencils.
Hildur Heimisdóttir and Júlía Traustadóttir in 2013 put up a Facebook event page promoting a concert in Reykjavik: "Júlía (voice) and Hildur (langspil) will perform their own arrangements of Icelandic folk songs, selected so that the delicate and rare sound of this special instrument can be enjoyed." https://www.facebook.com/events/145257275683034/. Wilfried Ulrich commented, w/ pix of a bowed hummel.
Icelandic-language blurb on the langspil on the website for Iceland's national museum looks like it might have some interesting background on hymns, etc.:
Lang card (A-14545) from pine wood and two on top of each other and the strong and a bottom chord. It is often referred to string instruments is best to have the tape, but may not have been such for all households in the golden age long game (from about the middle of the 18th to the mid-19th century). This string instruments on the other hand no table. Two strings are the frets and frets have a router that is mounted on top of the tree. One "drones" or organ tone string is above the one ómstrengur (resónans or string) as the Hardanger fiddle, Indian sitar or the Norwegian instrument lange game often ribbon with string instruments. It would be possible to play two notes against the note bass, not only as the most long games. Moreover, movable frets that must be considered unique among the instruments that have been preserved. Curved with horse hair and the bow compartment of the instrument. The instrument was struck string as received by the string instruments are said to have either had the horsehair strings, messínstrengi or brass strings.
By the mid-19th century was to string instruments throughout the country, many of them home-and of different types, but in the second half of the century seems Gaming decreased. In the early 20th century was hardly the person who knew how to play string instruments. Play music technology and tradition has not survived and it is impossible to say how the music played on string instruments have sound. Find the Election Ere described this however: "And I have seen such unique people in youth my is played so the string instruments, they were finger play a little back and forth on each note, they supported on, and they called it the" let sound wag ". This meant that the singing of these men became little more than a sincere little rings and small boats. "Perhaps this could be related raddtækni employed in poetry law, but there was talk of style the like jerk, jolt or wiggling which was an important part of the style the that was common in at least introduce the rímur Breiðafjörður early 20.öld.
Maybe people have not even long card fine when new music was emerging. In itself the golden age long game in the middle of the 19th century was the clergy at Thorsnes Thing singing in churches to be lacking and would rather send someone teenage abroad to study, to learn singing and preferably also a musical instrument, "if only string instruments." But nowhere would probably be a better place at the time to study string instruments than here.
Langspilið (A-14545) er úr furu og eru tveir stokkar hvor ofan á öðrum og því sterkur og mikill hljómbotn. Oft er talað um að langspil sé best að hafa á borði, en ekki er víst að borð hafi verið til á öllum heimilum á gullöld langspilsins (frá u.þ.b. miðri 18. til miðrar 19. aldar). Þetta langspil þarf hins vegar ekkert borð. Tveir strengir liggja yfir þverböndin og þverböndin eru með beini sem er fest ofan í tré. Einn „drón“ eða orgeltónsstrengur er ofan við og einn ómstrengur (eða resónans strengur) líkt og á harðangursfiðlu, indverskum sítar eða hinu norska hljóðfæri langeleik sem oft er borði saman við langspil. Því væri hægt að leika tvær nótur á móti bassanótunni en ekki eina eins og á flestum langspilum. Þar að auki eru þverböndin færanleg sem verður að teljast einstakt meðal þeirra hljóðfæra sem varðveist hafa. Boginn er með hrosshárum og er sér hólf fyrir bogann á hljóðfærinu. Hljóðfærið var strenglaust þegar tekið var við því en langspil eru sögð hafa ýmist haft hrosshársstrengi, messínstrengi eða látúnsstrengi.
Um miðja 19. öld voru til langspil um allt land, mörg hver heimasmíðuð og af ýmsum gerðum, en á seinni hluta aldarinnar virðist spilamennskan hafa dregist saman. Á fyrri hluta 20. aldar fannst varla sú manneskja sem kunni að spila á langspil. Spilatæknin og tónlistarhefðin hefur því ekki varðveist og ómögulegt er að segja hvernig tónlist spiluð á langspil hefur hljómað. Finnur á Kjörseyri lýsti þessu þó þannig: „Þannig sá ég t.d. einstöku menn í ungdæmi mínu er spiluðu þannig á langspil, að þeir létu fingurinn leika lítið eitt fram og aftur á hverri nótu, er þeir studdu á, og kölluðu þeir það að „láta hljóðið dilla“. Af þessu leiddi, að söngurinn hjá þessum mönnum varð lítið annað en einlægir smá ringir og trillur.“ Kannski gæti þetta tengst raddtækni sem beitt var í kvæðalögum, en þar var talað um stílbrigði eins og rykk, hnykk eða dillandi sem var mikilvægur partur af því stílbrigði sem tíðkaðist í rímnakveðskap a.m.k. á Breiðafirði snemma á 20.öld.
Kannski hefur mönnum ekki þótt langspilið fínt þegar ný tónlist var að ryðja sér til rúms. Á sjálfri gullöld langspilsins um miðja 19. öld þótti prestum á Þórsnesþingi söng í kirkjum vera ábótavant og vildu helst senda einhvern ungling erlendis í nám til þess að læra söng og helst einnig á hljóðfæri, „þó ekki væri nema langspil.“ En hvergi hefði líklega verið betri staður á þeim tíma til að læra á langspil en hér á landi.
Ríó Tríó, Icelandic pop group, has this background --
Sprengisandur is remote part of the Highlands of Iceland between the glaciers Hofsjökull and Vatnajökull. Sprengisandur is a very old connection between the north and the south of the island. It has been known since the times of first settlement. But it always had a rather bad reputation. People had to cross the desert fast with their horses, to "spring" over it, so as to get new grass and water for themselves and the animals. There has also been a lot of superstition about it. Stories about bad ghosts and criminals were told and the old tracks fell out of use for some time.
Here is their arrangement, of two related melodies for the song. (Picture on video shows a man playing a fiðla, another Icelandic bowed folk instrument):
Other arrangements --
By the Icelandic rock band Pelican (note singer riding push broom like a horse:
By a school choir:
By German band "Savoy Truffle," after a lengthy intro in German. (Music begins at 1:00):
The bodhran is a little hyped up (IMO), but soloist Mark Waters has the style and intonation of traditional Irish sean nos singing.
Published [to YouTube] on Feb 5, 2016
Traditional Irish arr. Desmond Earley
Text by Seán Clárach Mac Dómhnaill
From the album ‘Invisible Stars – Choral Works from Ireland and Scotland’
The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin
Artistic Director: Desmond Earley
Solo: Mark Waters
Bodhrán: Tristan Rosenstock (track) / Brian Garvin (visual)
Released on Signum Records
Available to order on Amazon and iTunes
The UCD Choral Scholars released their debut international recording on Signum Records on 11th December 2015 (USA and Canada – 12th February 2016). The disc, entitled Invisible Stars is an enchanting collection of traditional and contemporary choral music from Ireland and Scotland and features arrangements and new compositions by some of Ireland’s most celebrated composers for choir, including Michael McGlynn, Brendan Graham, Ivo Antognini, Bill Whelan and the group’s artistic director, Desmond Earley.
A song and a schedule for the Prairieland-Clayville Academy of Music jam sessions in February --
Here's our schedule (please note I have to change the date of our third meeting from the third Thursday to Tuesday, Feb. 16, in order to accommodate another meeting at the church -- hope it doesn't inconvenience you). So the revised schedule is:
-- Tuesday, Feb. 2, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Atonement-Faith-Luther Memorial Church, 2800 West Jefferson, Springfield.
-- Saturday, Feb. 6, 10 a.m. to noon, Clayville Historic Stagecoach Stop, Ill. 125, Pleasant Plains.
-- Tuesday, Feb. 16, 7-9 p.m. at the church.
Last spring Dan brought us lead sheets for an old gospel song called "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms," and we played it a couple of times. Let's play it again to kick off Tuesday's session, then go around the circle calling tunes.
The video features Bill & Gloria Gaither performing "Leaning On the Everlasting Arms" (joined by Buddy Greene on harmonica, Jeff & Sheri Easter and Charlotte Ritchie).
"Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" has become a bluegrass gospel standard, but it has quite a pedigree -- it dates back to the very beginnings of gospel music in the 1800s. According to the fount of all human knowledge (Wikipedia), it was published in 1887 with music by Anthony J. Showalter and lyrics by Showalter and Elisha Hoffman. Showalter Music Co., of Dalton, Ga., was a major publisher of "new book" shape-note gospel tunebooks that shaped the emerging genre well into the 20th century -- and, some would argue, beyond. Adds Wikipedia:
Showalter said that he received letters from two of his former pupils saying that their wives had died. When writing letters of consolation, Showalter was inspired by the phrase in the Book of Deuteronomy 33:27 "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."
For all of that, as the Gaithers' session attests, it is not a dirge.
There's something really very cool that didn't make it into the written dulcimer tab. As you listen to the group on the Gaithers' show again, notice how some of the vocalists are singing "Leaning on Jesus, leaning on Jesus" while the others are singing "Leaning, leaning" in half-notes. That kind of thing is sometimes called Arkansas counterpoint, and a lot of people like to sing it that way, especially down South. We can do it too.
