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Tracks 1-20 give examples of basic ideas in terms
of speech work, rhythm, pentatonic melody in different keys,
the use of percussion instruments in various ways and the
building of simple forms.
1 Three rhymes are taken from The nursery
rhymes of England, collected by James Orchard Halliwell
and first published in 1842. Come, butter, come
(MM) was used as a charm to make butter come from
the churn. In this version of One, two, buckle my shoe
(MM) alto xylophone and side drum alternate in
echoing the word rhythm of each line, spoken alternately by
solo and chorus. In Solomon Grundy (MM) his
name, spoken by the chorus, alternates like a refrain with
the solo voice that gives the factual details of his short
life.
2 In What's your name? (MM) the
nonsensical answers to everyday questions asked in this old
rhyme are first represented rhythmically by a woodblock
answering the voice of a child. The second time round the
chorus asks the questions and a solo voice sings the
answers. The change from triple to duple time gives variety
and an increase of tension. Fish of the sea
(MM) is a rondo made from the names of fish.
3 There are three Improvisations, in
which the melody instrument uses only three notes over an
ostinato. Instrumentation: i) three tuned glasses
accompanied by alto xylophone; ii) soprano glockenspiel
accompanied by two xylophones; iii) soprano glockenspiel and
alto xylophone. In Peter Peter pumpkin eater
(MM), the vocal line uses the four notes D, F, C and
A and the accompaniment is similarly restricted, with the
note P providing the tonal centre. In The goblin
(MM), a poem by Rose Fyleman, the identical opening
and closing lines are sung on two notes, at the beginning by
a solo and at the end by the chorus. The central lines are
spoken and the short introduction establishes the pitch and
sets the mood.
4 These three song settings of traditional rhymes
all use the four notes D, E, G and A both in the vocal line
and in the accompaniment: Ladybird, The hot pease
man and Jack Sprat's pig
(MM).
5 Two instrumental pieces (I: p.99, no.7;
p.97, no.5): i) two glockenspiels and timpani; ii) tuned
glasses, three glockenspiels, two xylophones, guitar and
violoncello.
6 Wee Willie Winkie (MM) has a
three-note melody accompanied by soprano glockenspiel,
soprano and alto xylophone and woodblock.
7 Three ostinato pieces (I, p. 104,
nos. 15, 16 and 17) are all scored for a glockenspiel and
two xylophones. In the second there is an additional
drum.
8 The barnyard song (MM) is a
well-known cumulative song from North America. Here the full
pentatonic scale is used. My little pony
(I, pp. 14, 72) is first
spoken to a rhythmic accompaniment of body percussion and
then sung to an instrumental accompaniment of glockenspiel
and xylophone, while coconuts and sleigh bells suggest the
sound of ponies.
9 Two ostinato pieces (I: p. 106,
no.20; p. 107, no.22) are for barred instruments and
triangle. Ding, dong-diggi-diggi-dong
(I, pp. 24, 136) is both a vocal and instrumental
canon.
10 Little Tommy Tucker (MM) is a
three-note song. Two pieces (MM) use the
pentatonic scale F-G-A-C-D, but both have D as their key
note, giving the minor form of this scale.
Rub-a-dub-dub (MM) is given an extended
form through repetition and antiphonal effect.
11 Mr Rabbit (MM) comes from North
America and this version uses the pentatonic scale.
First duet for two xylophones (MM) is
in country-dance style, for alto and bass xylophones.
12 Mr Frog's wedding (MM) is a song
that exists in many versions. This one is pentatonic.
Second duet for two xylophones (MM) is
pentatonic, in country-dance style.
13 In the song Unk, unk, unk (I, p.
12) the children mock the witch at the bottom of the well,
who replies to them on a monotone. They take up her story
and repeat it in a three-part chorus.
14 Instrumental piece (MM) is a duet for
glockenspiel and metallophone in C pentatonic:
C-D-E-G-A.
15 Alleluja (I, p. 28), a short song of
praise, is scored for voices, sometimes in two parts, and
for glockenspiels, triangle and timpani.
16 Farewell to the Old Year (I, p.32) is a
four-part canon with a simple accompaniment for
metallophone, xylophones and timpani.
17 Two pieces for recorder (MM). The first
piece is for treble recorder and bass xylophone. The scale
can be described as the 'ray mode' of C pentatonic:
A-B-D-E-G. The second piece is for descant recorder, soprano
and alto xylophones, and is again in the 'ray mode', but
this time of C pentatonic: D-E-G-A-C.
18 Ye banks and braes (MM). The melody of
this well-known Scottish song is introduced by a tenor
recorder. Accompanying instruments are glockenspiels, bass
xylophone, guitar and violoncello.
19 Riddle song (MM) comes from the
Appalachians. It can be described as being in the 'soh mode'
of G pentatonic: D-E-G-A-B. The accompaniment for
glockenspiels, metallophone, guitar and violoncello is based
on the note D throughout.
20 The Two instrumental pieces (I,
pp.118, 123) are both in C pentatonic. The first is for
glasses, glockenspiels and violoncello; the second is a
rondo with main theme for woodblock and soprano xylophone
solos, accompanied by alto xylophone, maracas and sleigh
bells.
Tracks 21-39 enlarge the melodic range to the
seven notes of the major key. The instrumentation of the
song accompaniments is richer, the speech and rhythm work
more sophisticated. The drone bass and ostinato
accompaniments are maintained at first, but give way to the
use of alternating tonic and supertonic triads, and tonic
and submediant triads.
21 There was an old woman (MM). In this
fantastic, cumulative rhyme about the old woman who
swallowed many different creatures, each animal is
represented by its own instrument, with its own specific
rhythm, and these in turn accumulate: woodblock, guiro, drum
with wire brush, drum with hard sticks, cowbell.
22 Three short instrumental pieces (II: p.
9, no. 1. ;p. 10, no. 4; p. 11, no. 6) all use the first six
notes of the major scale. The instrumentation is: i) three
glockenspiels; ii) glockenspiel and metallophone; iii) two
glockenspiels, metallophone and violoncello.
23 Fabian, Sebastian (II, p. 40) is a song
using six notes, this time in C major. The short incitement
to play pipe and drum is followed by a dance-like piece for
descant recorder and glockenspiels, alto xylophone,
triangle, cymbal, bass drum, timpani, violoncello and double
bass.
24 The lively Dance, lassie do (II,
p. 24) uses the first six notes of the scale of D major.
25 Three short ostinato pieces (II: p. 15,
no.4; p. 16, no.5; p. 18, no.8) use the scale of C major
without the seventh. Instrumentation: i) two glockenspiels,
glasses, alto xylophone; ii) treble recorder, two
metallophones and violoncello; iii) two glockenspiels, alto
xylophone and timpani.
26 Old King Cole (MM). This is an
adaptation of the well-known rhyme as it appears in
Halliwell's collection of Nursery Rhymes of England
from 1842. Here King Cole calls for pipers and drummers
as well as for fiddlers. There are solo, tutti and canon
sections, and each verse has a slightly different
accompaniment. A piece for dancing (II, p. 30)
is for xylophones, cymbals, antique cymbals, tambourine,
bass drum, timpani, clappers and stampers.
27 The nursery rhyme Simple Simon
(II, p. 42) uses the full seven-note major
scale.
28 Two short ostinato pieces (II: p. 44,
no. 2; p. 45, no.3) use the full seven-note scale of C
major. In Magpies (MM) the instruments that
precede each speaker have been chosen to provide a suitable
mood, as well as the appropriate number of sounds for each
number of magpies: cymbal, wood-block, triangle, side drum,
glockenspiel, metallophone and antique cymbals.
29 Cradle song (II, p. 12) is in D major
with no seventh. Three blind mice (II, p. 50)
is sung here in D major and is scored for soprano
glockenspiel, soprano and alto xylophones, two different
drums, sleigh bells and violoncello.
30 Two percussion pieces (V: p.77, no.29;
p. 84, no. 80) are rhythmic studies developed from single or
two-part rhythmic patterns which can be 'orchestrated' in
many different ways. Bear dance (II, p.39)
harks back to the days when 'dancing' bears were an
attraction at fairs and circuses.
31 Five fools in a harrow (II, p. 66) is a
riotous song set for soprano glockenspiel, soprano, alto and
bass xylophones, tambourine, woodblock, ratchet, whip,
cymbal, bass drum, timpani, guitar, violoncello and double
bass. Two ostinato pieces (II: p. 46, no. 5;
p. 48, no. 9) are both scored for treble recorder and two
xylophones.
32 Proverbs (MM) are used here in different
ways. The first is heard in canon, the second with a
rhythmically complementary accompaniment. Finally the two
proverbs are combined.
33 Ostinato piece (II, p. 49, no. 10) is
scored for treble recorder, metallophones and timpani.
Gratitude (MM) is a sixteenth-century poem by
an unknown author. In this setting the poem is sung freely,
and the accompanying instrument provides an introduction and
interlude only.
34 Percussion piece (V, p. 84, no. 79) is
for woodblock, claves and bongos. Overheard on a salt
marsh (MM) is a poem by Harold Monro, spoken as a
dialogue over a background of alto metallophone and four
glasses, which are rubbed round the rims with moistened
fingers.
35 Canon for drums (GK). This effective
piece comes from Rhythmische Ubung by Gunild
Keetman.
36 Two pieces (II, pp. 86, 90) are both
based on tonic and supertonic triads. The first uses struck
glasses, two glockenspiels, three xylophones, two guitars,
timpani, violoncello and double bass, and has a middle
section played by descant recorder, glockenspiel and guitar.
The second is for soprano glockenspiel, descant recorder and
guitar.
37 Sumer is icumen in (II, p. 80) The
original manuscript of this song is in the British Museum;
it is probably the oldest known canon. In
Instrumentalpiece (II, p. 94) two pairs - a
sopranino recorder with soprano glockenspiel and a treble
recorder with alto glockenspiel - take it in turns to play
the melody, finally playing it in canon with one another.
The rest of the ensemble consists of glasses, xylophones,
timpani, violoncello and double bass.
38 The solemn processional character of
alternating tonic and submediant triads is particularly
effective in Song for Good Friday (II, p.
101).
39 Instrumental piece (II, p. 102) also
uses tonic and submediant triads for an ensemble of descant
and treble recorders, guitars, tambourine, side drum, bass
drum, sleigh bells, timpani, violoncello and double
bass.
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Tracks 1-16 explore the realm of dominant and
subdominant triads in the major key. The use of these triads
has been implied in many of the exercises in the earlier
songs and pieces, although these were built on drone bass
and ostinato figures. Now the use of dominant and
subdominant is consciously opposed to a drone foundation
without entirely excluding it. A number of songs and pieces
in the minor form of the pentatonic scale (the 'lah mode')
prepare for the various seven-note minor modes introduced in
tracks 17-35.
1 Recorder and timpani (III, pp.12,
109). At each repeat of the melody the recorder improvises
freely to create a different variation, and the five
successive versions are given over the timpani's tonic and
dominant bass that itself varies rhythmically. A refrain
using additional trumpets and xylophones creates a simple
rondo.
2 Piece for solo xylophone (GK,
Spielbuch für Xylophone, III, p. 4) has the
character of an improvisation, with its very free time
structure. It also illustrates considerable variety in its
articulation and dynamics.
3 Dashing away with the smoothing iron
(III, p. 84) is a well-known English folk song, which in
this setting uses soprano glockenspiel, two alto xylophones,
triangle, violoncello and double bass.
4 Two pieces (co,
Klavier-Übung, nos. 17, 34). In country-dance
style, two pieces have been variously orchestrated: the
first for spinet and the second for tenor recorder, sordun,
xylophone, timpani and violoncello. The first piece is then
repeated to give a ternary form.
5 Poor wayfaring stranger (MM) is a
song from North America which uses the 'lah mode' or minor
form of the pentatonic scale: D-F-G-A-C. The setting relies
on the sustained counterpoint of recorders and the drone on
the violoncello. The scoring for alto xylophone and antique
cymbals in the third phrase emphasises the structure of the
melody.
6 The wife of usher's Well (MM) is
also from North America and is here given an entirely vocal
setting that again uses only the notes of the minor form of
the pentatonic scale. With some experience of group vocal
improvisation, it would be possible to improvise similar
accompaniments.
7 Street song (III, p. 48) is based on a
lute piece of 1536 by Hans Newsidler. It has a clear and
characteristic pattern of tonic, subdominant and dominant
chords. The successively increasing instrumentation, using
sopranino recorders, xylophones, castanets, tambourine, side
drum and timpani, shows the abundant variety of tone colour
available from this combination of instruments.
8 In the Piece for two recorders and
percussion (GK) the rich instrumentation of the
accompaniment is based on ostinato patterns. Over this
accompaniment two recorders provide arabesque-like melodic
phrases. The treble recorder comes first, then the descant,
and finally they play together. The three sections are
linked by a refrain for timpani and cymbals.
9 Riddles (III, pp. 45, 46 and MM). After a
dance-like introduction various riddles (different from
those printed in the book) follow one another. A recurring
refrain encourages the listener to find the solutions: i) a
blackberry; ii) the crescent moon; iii) a lane.
10 Rundadinella (III, p. 90). The tune and
words of this rondo date from the seventeenth century. It is
sung by a chorus of boys' and men's voices, and the
attraction lies in the dynamic build-up and relative ebbing
away again of the sound. The direction 'alla marcia' helps
one to imagine an approaching and then departing band
accompanied by dancers with bells on their wrists and
ankles.
11 Two short pieces (GK, Spiclbuch
für Xylophon, III, p. 6, and MS). The first is a
solo for metallophone, in the minor form of the pentatonic
scale, that develops in rhythmically free, overlapping
arabesques. In contrast to the free linear development of
the first piece, the second, a two-part improvisation for
recorders, is built into a rondo.
12 Land of the silver birch (MM) is a song
from Canada, here given a setting for glockenspiels, alto
xylophone and violoncello. The interludes on alto
glockenspiel offer opportunities for melodic
improvisation.
13 The Two dances for three xylophones
(MM) i) Hornpipe; ii) Jig. These two dances
are for soprano, alto and bass xylophones and are based on
the traditional rhythms of the dance forms. Both are in the
minor form of the pentatonic scale: D-F-G-A-C.
14 No, John, no (III, p. 39) is a folk song
from Somerset, set here with an accompaniment for
xylophones, metallophone, timpani, violoncello and double
bass.
15 Festive procession (III, p.70) uses a
twelve-bar melody played three times. The climax is reached
by gradually filling out the accompanying instrumental
parts. It is scored for recorders, glockenspiels, guitars,
tambourine, triangle, four timpani and double bass.
16 Glenlogie (MM). This Scottish song gives
a further example of the minor form of the pentatonic scale:
A-C-D-F-G. It is scored for xylophones and timpani, with
interludes between the verses improvised on descant recorder
to the accompaniment of a tambourine.
Tracks 17-35 explore the Aeolian, Porian and
Phrygian modes. Some accompaniments are founded on a drone
bass, others make use of chords I and VII (tonic and leading
note), and I and III (tonic and mediant). A further
development here is the use of parallel moving triads that
follow the shape of the melody. Finally, there are examples
in which a melody note, particularly the third of the chord,
can begin to develop an independent life of its own until,
with practice, a free style of improvisation over moving
harmonies can be achieved.
17 Three xylophone pieces (IV: p. 6 no. 6;
p. 5, nos. 4, 5) are short duets in the Aeolian mode, for
soprano and alto xylophones in which the soprano instrument
has the melody.
18 Weather sayings (IV p. 15) groups
together various examples of weather-lore, the varied tempo
and settings emphasising the different character of each
saying. The key alternates between C major and the relative
A minor in Aeolian mode form.
19 In Wordless song (IV p. 77, no.
1) a child sings to a simple accompaniment on the alto
xylophone. A treble recorder takes up the melody in the
middle section and at the reprise a gloekenspiel joins the
singer. The piece uses the Phrygian mode.
20 Recorder and drum (IV p. 78). The
opening free arabesques on the descant recorder make a
contrast to the tight rhythm established by the accompanying
bongo in the main part of the piece, and show two styles of
improvisation. It is again in the Phrygian mode.
21 Two xylophone pieces (IV p. 46, nos. 3,
2), in contrasting moods, originally written for soprano and
alto xylophones, are here enriched by additional timpani
and, in the faster second piece in 3/4 time, by
tambourine as well. The first piece is repeated to make a
ternary form. Dorian mode.
22 Yonder sits a fair young damsel (IV p.
62). This folk song in the Dorian mode from Hampshire is
scored for recorders, glockenspiels, xylophones, timpani and
double bass. The text is in the form of a dialogue and the
instrumentation alters accordingly.
23 There are two alternative settings of this
Short piece (GK, Stücke für
Blockflöten, Ia, p. 4) in the Aeolian mode. The
first is a duet for alto sordun and viola da gamba; the
second uses recorders over a viola da gamba drone and has
additional free improvisation on a glockenspiel.
24 Malcolm Laddie (IV p. 100) comes from a
collection of Gaelic folk songs from the Scottish Highlands.
The setting here is for tenor recorder, glockenspiels and
metallophones, humming voices, bass xylophone, guitar,
antique cymbals, violoncello and double bass.
25 This vigorous Dance piece (IV, p.
68) in both Aeolian and Dorian modes is in rondo form. The
main section is scored for recorders, xylophones and
timpani, and the contrasting episodes use woodblocks and
bass drum, with additional stamping feet in the second
episode. In the final repetition of the main section voices
take up the melody.
26 This richly orchestrated Instrumental
piece (IV p. 108) is built upon alternating tonic
and mediant chords in the key of A minor, in the Aeolian
mode. The swing between the two chords gives the piece a
solemn, processional character.
27 The fair lady (IV, p. 104) is one of the
spectral ballads associated with the old town of Edinburgh.
This song is scored for recorders, trumpets, trombone,
xylophones, side drum, bass drum, cymbals, timpani,
violoncello and double bass. It uses the minor mode without
the sixth note, but is given a Dorian setting here.
28 The five Pastoral pieces (IV pp.
50-51) recall the shepherd pastorale of former days. They
are based on parallel moving triads in close and open
positions and are scored variously for recorders, crumborns
and sorduns, bongo, tambourine and sleigh bells. They are in
the Dorian mode.
29 In this lively Dance (IV p. 84)
in the Phrygian mode the melody on descant recorders is
interrupted from time to time by tight rhythmic patterns in
triad clusters on sopranino recorders and soprano
xylophones.
30 Evening prayer (IV p. 80). Just over a
hundred years ago this prayer was said by village children
far more often than the Lord's Prayer. This version comes
from Tavistock in Devon and is particularly interesting on
account of the rarity of English folk songs in the Phrygian
mode.
31 These three Triad pieces (IV p.
117) are in the Aeolian mode. Here there is no alternation
of triads, but a free parallel movement in which the third
of each chord is the melody note. The use of the same melody
in duple and triple time (second and third pieces) was
common practice in the seventeenth century.
32 The poem Mary at the Cross (IV p.
87) was collected in this form in the fifteenth century but
may well originate from even earlier. The author is unknown.
The setting is for glockenspiels, alto xylophone, tenor
recorder and viola da gamba in the Phrygian mode.
33 Malaguena (IV p. 124) is founded upon a
'Malaguena bass'. Using the third of each chord as a
starting point the recorder creates a melody that becomes
more and more decorated as the orchestration increases in
complexity, reaching a final climax.
34 Two pieces for brass instruments (HR,
Bläser-Übung, II: p. 41
no.66; p. 42, no. 71) in the Dorian mode. In the first piece
the moving triads are in root position and the trumpets have
a more prominent role. In the second the darker trombone
colour comes to the fore and the triads are in their first
inversion. The first piece is repeated.
35 The words of Ascension (IV p. 88)
are translated from a sixteenth-century German text. The
scoring is for recorders, trumpets, trombone, glockenspiels,
timpani, cymbals and double bass.
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Tracks 1-13 cover the use of dominant (in both
major and minor forms) and subdominant triads in the minor
key. There are also several exercises in melodic
improvisation over basic harmonic progressions. The more
complex speech and rhythm exercises are complementary to the
simpler forms found on the other two discs.
1 This is the well-known version of the ballad
The wraggle tagglegipsies (V p. 66). It is
scored here for glockenspiels, xylophones, cymbal, bass
drum, timpani, violoncello and double bass.
2 Spanish ladies (V p. 16) is a sailor
song, collected by Cecil Sharp, and in this version has an
accompaniment for xylophones, guitar, tambourine, cymbals,
bass drum, timpani, violoncello and double bass.
3 The melody of Old midsummer dance
(V p. 29) comes from a collection of popular airs
called 'Souterliedekens' that appeared in Antwerp in 1540.
Each repetition of the melody is scored differently: i)
guitar and pizzicato double bass; ii) recorders, guitar,
timpani, double bass; iii) trumpets, trombones,
timpani, cymbals; iv) the same as c, but with recorders.
4 The loyal lover (V p. 42). This song,
from Cecil Sharp's collection, has an accompaniment for
descant and tenor recorders, soprano glockenspiel, alto and
bass xylophones, violoncello and double bass.
5 Decorated thirds (V: p.33, nos. 1, 2, 3;
p. 34, no.6). The melodies in these pieces are centred round
the third of each chord in simple or decorated form, while
the root and fifth, sometimes stationary and sometimes
moving, provide the bass. The cadence points introduce
leading notes in sharpened form. In the last piece the sixth
degree of the scale is also sharpened to avoid the melodic
interval of an augmented second. The practice of decoration
or figuration of the third opens up a wide field for
elementary improvisation.
6 Searching for lambs (V p. 14) was
collected by Cecil Sharp in Somerset and is one of the
best-known examples of an English folk song with a five-time
metre. It is scored for metallophones, xylophones, antique
cymbals, violoncello and double bass.
7 True Thomas (HR) is a setting of the
words of the well-known ballad about Thomas the Rhymer, who
is supposed to have lived in the border country between
Scotland and England.
8 This Piece for percussion (V p.
85, no. 90) is only one of the several rhythmic studies from
Volume V of Orff-Schulwerk. Only the notation is given and
it is for the student to decide how it will be orchestrated.
Here, bass drum, two woodblocks and hanging cymbal combine
to provide a rather mysterious atmosphere.
9 Fog has words by Carl Sandburg, and
Above the dock by T. E. Hulme (HR). In
the settings of these two poems the accompanying instruments
provide a foundation of sound that stimulates the
imagination and supports the voice of the child.
10 Quem queritis in sepulchro? (V p. 122)
is a trupe (a phrase formerly interpolated in different
parts of the Mass) based on Chapter 16 of St Mark's Gospel,
which describes the visit of the three Marys to the
sepulchre. In Orff's setting the text is flexibly declaimed;
the question is stated as an unaccompanied solo recitation,
and the answers are a unison response that is finally given
in parallel fifths supported by trumpets and timpani.
11 The text of Media vita (V p. 123)
is from an antiphon that is known in thirteenth-century
manuscripts in St Gallen, Switzerland, though it had already
appeared in English sources in the eleventh century. It is
now to be found in the Book of Common Prayer, in the
Order for the Burial of the Dead. This setting goes back to
the original form of the antiphon.
12 Chorus from Sophocles' Antigone:
'Wonders are many' (V p. 114). This setting of
a chorus from a Greek play in Gilbert Murray's translation
is scored for two choruses, alto xylophones, two hanging
cymbals, tam-tam, side drum, three timpani and bass
drum.
13 The hymn of praise Incipiunt Laudes
Creaturarum (V p. 68) is usually known
as 'St Francis's Hymn to the Sun'. St Francis is said to
have composed the words in 1224, two years before his death,
and to have dictated them to one of his associates. The text
is given here in its old Italian form. The music, for
unaccompanied choir, is based on Gregorian chant and has
parallel moving parts.
Tracks 14-26 contain settings which are more
complex, while still keeping in touch with the elemental
style of Orff-Schulwerk. Only two of the songs are in major
keys. The rest are modal melodies and include the Aeolian,
Dorian, Phrygian and Mixolydian modes. The transverse flute,
which has not been used so far, plays a role in some
settings, as does the guitar. A violin and viola have been
added to violoncello and double bass to provide a supporting
string sound in some of the accompaniments.
14 The keel row (MM) is a Northumbrian song
that is well known throughout the British Isles, and is sung
here in dialect. This setting for descant recorder,
xylophones and timpani uses tonic, dominant and subdominant
harmony. A short interlude for recorder and timpani links
the verses.
15 There are many versions of the song Y gog
lwydlas (The cuckoo) (OJ), which describes the
cuckoo's habit of getting other birds to rear its young.
This version is from Gwynedd, North Wales.
16 Wrth fynd hefo Deio i Dywyn (Going with
Deio to Tywyn) (OJ). A very popular folk song which tells of
a journey with Deio to Tywyn in Gwynedd, and describes the
various places on the way.
17 In A thousand curses on love
(Mile marbhaisg air a'ghaol) (HR) the second
line of each verse becomes the first of the next. It was
collected by Peter Kennedy in Barra, Outer Hebrides. In this
setting the voice is accompanied by strings and drum.
18 Cwyn Mam-yng-nghyfraith (The
mother-in-law's complaint) (OJ) comes from the Isle of
Anglesey. The combination of 5/4 and 3/4 time makes it a
rather unusual folk song. The nonsensical words describe the
unnecessary use of soap to wash clothes in the river in
which Lewis Morris washes his horses' hooves.
19 Gee' ceffyl bach (Gee, little horse)
(OJ) is a nursery rhyme that is well known to children
throughout Wales. Traditionally it was sung while dandling a
child on the knee as though riding a little horse.
20 An Irish lullaby 'Seo hu leo' (HR).
This song was taken down from a singer who came from
Limerick and it was published by Petrie in his Ancient
Music of lreland in 1855. While appearing to sing a
lullaby, the singer is trying to send a message to her
husband, that he should come and rescue her from the fort
where the fairies have held her captive for a year and a
day. The setting is for flute, metallophone, bass xylophone
and string instruments.
21 Y folantein (The valentine) (OJ) is a
folk song from Aberystwyth in mid-Wales, describing the
awakening of Spring and its effect upon a young man in love.
The singers are accompanied by glockenspiels, xylophones,
timpani, violoncello and double bass.
22 There are many versions of the old song
John Barleycorn (V p. 58). This one was
collected by Cecil Sharp in 1909 in Oxfordshire, The tune is
a variant of the carol 'Dives and Lazarus'. It is scored for
glockenspiel, xylophones, bass drum and triangle, and in
alternate verses trumpets and trombones are added.
23 The fairies' lullaby (HR) was
published by Hornecastle in his Music of lreland
in 1844. As in the other Irish lullaby, no. 20, this one
features an abduction by fairies, this time of a baby. One
of the fairies is singing him to sleep while his sister, who
had believed him to be dead, looks on.
24 The simple little nursery rhyme Yderyn
bach syw (The shy little bird) (OJ) is in the form
of question and answer. The little bird goes out to collect
food in order to keep himself alive.
25 0 whistle and I'll come to you, my lad
(HR). This Scottish air was a great favourite
of the poet Burns, who wrote the words. The voice is
accompanied by flute and guitar.
26 From Somerset comes a slightly less familiar
version of the capstan shanty What shall we do with
the drunken sailor? (IV p. 92), in the Aeolian
mode.
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