The concept of folk song originated in the 19th century as a
description of songs that were learned by rote, and the author and composer
were usually unknown. It was sometimes thought of as songs of the lower
classes, as opposed to art songs. But in the 20th century, there was a folk
song revival, and especially after World War II, people began
deliberately writing songs in imitation of folk music, artists such as Bob
Dylan, Jerry Garcia, and Bruce Springsteen. Such music is called
contemporary folk music.
Some of the songs are built on modal scales. In the renaissance
there were eight modes, but most of them passed out of use in classical
music, except in folk songs. Modes made a comeback in the last half of the
20th century. The modes used in this concert are Ionian (the same as the major scale),
Aeolian (the same as the minor scale), Dorian (the scale you would play on
the white keys of a keyboard, from D to D), and Mixolydian (the scale you
would play on the white keys from G to G).
Irish
Danny Boy is a song written in 1910 by Fred Weatherly and set to
the tune Londonderry Air in 1913. The tune comes from County Londonderry (or
County Derry) in Northern Ireland, but is of otherwise unknown origin, and
was first published in 1855. The song has become an unofficial anthem of
Northern Ireland, played at sporting events. It is also frequently sung at
funerals. The tune has been used for many
other lyrics over the years, including hymns.
Down By the Sally Gardens is a song by William Butler Yeats, based
on a song he heard sung by a woman in County Sligo. The poem was set to music by
Herbert Hughes using the traditional air The Moorlough Shore. The
arrangement is by David Lantz III.
Sally, or (as Yeats wrote), Salley, is a form of sallow,
a standard English word for a tree of the genus Salix. It is close in sound to the Irish word
saileach, meaning willow.
A weir is a catch dam, often built to make a pond for fishing
I Will Arise and Go is a setting of the poem “The Lake Isle of
Innisfree” by William Butler Yeats, first published in 1890. The music is
by Shawn Kirchner. The Concert Singers sang the world premiere performance
on March 25, 2012, of our own Peter Bird’s setting of the same poem.
Innisfree is an island in Lough Gill, in County Sligo, Ireland,
where Yeats spent some of his childhood summers. The inspiration for the
poem came to him one day while walking down Fleet Street in London
feeling homesick. He imagined himself living like Thoreau on Innisfree.
(Inis is an Irish word for island.)
A wattle is a construction of branches and twigs woven together to form a wall, barrier, fence, or roof.
(Wiktionary)
A linnet is a kind of finch native to Europe, western Asia, and north Africa.
’Tis the Last Rose of Summer is a song by Thomas Moore, written
in 1805; the setting is by Richard Alfred
Milliken from about the turn of the 19th century, based on a folk tune, and arranged
by David Lantz III, 2007. The traditional tune has been set by such
composers as Beethoven, Flotow, Mendelssohn, Gounod, Hindemith, Reger, and
Britten.
Shule Aroon (Siúil a Rún) is an Irish folk song about the feeling
of a woman lamenting, yet supporting, her lover in military service. The
chorus is in Irish and the verses in English. A song in two languages like
this is called macaronic. The song has been recorded many times, including
several times by Celtic Woman.
Siúil, siúil, siúil a rún.
Siúil go sochair agus siúil go ciúin.
Siúil go doras agus éalaigh liom.
Is go dté tú mo mhúirnín slán.
Go, go, go, my love.
Go quietly and go peacefully.
Go to the door and fly with me.
And may you go safely, my darling.
English
Scarborough Fair is an English folk song, which describes how true
love can be tested by impossible tasks. (In this setting, the tasks are not
stated, such as “Tell her to make me a cambric shirt/Without any seam or
needlework.”) It was famously sung by Simon and
Garfunkel with their anti-war canticle. (Arr. Stephen DeCesare) The song is in Dorian
mode.
What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor? (Arr. David Eddleman) This is a
sea shanty, more precisely a stamp-and-go shanty, which would be sung during
tasks that required a brisk walking pace, similar to a capstan shanty. This
type of action could only be performed on ships with large crews, such as
warships. The song is in Dorian
mode.
In the days of sail, a ship would carry many boats for different
purposes. The longboat would usually be manned by 8 or 10
sailors, two across, and was primarily used for pulling, for instance,
if the ship was becalmed.
On a ship, scuppers are openings in the sidewalls of a deck to
allow ocean or rainwater to drain off.
Hosepipe is another name for a hose to convey water, chiefly
used in Britain, South Africa, and the southern United States.
Scottish
Loch Lomond is one of the most famous of Scottish folk songs. The original
lyric has been lost, which was thought to be a lament after the 1746 Battle
of Culloden. There are several possible meanings to the words. The “low
road” may refer to the legend that Scots that die outside their homeland
would underground, whereas the living would have to hike over the mountains,
the “high road.” Another is to be executed would then have their heads
displayed on pikes on the main road from London to Edinburgh, the “low
road,” whereas those not executed would be paroled, and would have to hike
back to Scotland on the “high road.”
The Skye Boat Song describes a supposed escape by Prince Charles Edward Stuart
(“Bonnie Prince Charlie”) from Uist to the Isle of Skye in 1746 after
his defeat in the battle of Culloden in the Jacobite rising of 1745 (“The ’45”). There is no evidence that he made such
a trip. The words were written by Sir Harold Boulton in the 1870s, over 100
years after the event. The tune is an air collected by Anne Campbelle
MacLeod when she was on a boat trip, and the rowers broke into a Gaelic
rowing song. The song sounds so much like an old folk song that people
learning it for the first time somehow “remembered” hearing it in their
childhood! The arrangement is by Darmon Meader.
The Jacobites were (and are) supporters of the return of the
House of Stuart to the British throne. In the Glorious Revolution of
1688, King James II (VII of Scotland), a Roman Catholic was driven from
the throne, and it was offered to his Protestant daughter Mary and her
husband, William of Orange. Those who continued to support James were
called Jacobites, from Jacobus, the Latin form of James.
James died in 1701, and his claim was continued by his son James, called
the Old Pretender. There were three serious attempts to regain the
throne: 1715(“The ’15”), 1719 (“The ’19”), and 1745-6 (“The ’45”).
The Old Pretender died in 1766, and his son Charles
continued the claim. When he died in 1788, the claim was taken by his
brother Henry, who had become a cardinal. Although Henry continued to
claim the throne, he made no attempt to gain it. He died in 1807, and
with him the House of Stuart. Jacobites then recognized the House of
Savoy, and today the Duke of Bavaria. None of them has asserted a claim
to the throne.
Skye is the largest and northernmost of the islands of the
Inner Hebrides of Scotland, and is the second largest island in all
Scotland (after Lewis and Harris, which is so big it needs two names!).
The lad who was born to be king was Prince Charles Edward Stuart (full name: Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart
[31 December 1720 – 31 January 1788]), also known as Charles the Young
Pretender, was the son of James the Old Pretender, who was the son
of the last Stuart king of England (as James II) and Scotland (as James
VII). He made several unsuccessful attempts to establish his father on the throne, especially in 1745-46 (“The ’45”).
Although Jacobites continued to recognize him as the
legitimate king of Great Britain, there was no further serious attempt
by the Jacobites to regain the throne.
Flora MacDonald aided Prince Charlie in his escape from
government forces after the battle.
Claymore (Gaelic claidheamh-mór, “great sword”) is
a late medieval Scottish two-handed sword. After the Acts of Union of
1707 which united England and Scotland and combined their armies,
Scottish officers continued to use the Claymore, in contrast with the
smaller sabres carried by English officers.
The Battle of Culloden was fought between
Bonnie Prince Charlie and his followers with a British army led by the
Duke of Cumberland, the third son of King George II (1727-60) of Great
Britain. As one commentator pointed out, it was a battle between the
10th and 18th centuries. The Jacobites were defeated in this the last
pitched battle fought on British soil. Prince Charlie fled to France.
The government then proceeded to break up the highland clans.
Mairi’s Wedding
, also known as “The Lewis Bridal Song”, was
originally written in Gaelic by John Roderick Bannerman (1865–1938) for Mary C. MacNiven (1905–1997) on the occasion of her winning the gold medal at the National Mòd in
1934, which was and is regarded as the highest singing award in Scottish Gaeldom.
The English lyric, which is only vaguely based on the Gaelic, was written by Sir Hugh Roberton
in 1936. In 1959 James Cosh devised
a Scottish country dance to the tune in reel time. This version
was arranged for The King’s Singers, a very successful six-man vocal ensemble
from England, all of whom were choral scholars at King’s College, Cambridge.
A sheiling is a summer hut, or group of huts, in Scotland. It can
also refer to a summer pasture for sheep.
American
Home on the Range was written by Dr Brewster M. Higley of Kansas
and published in 1873. The tune was composed by Higley’s friend Daniel E.
Kelley. It was adopted as the state song of Kansas in 1947 and is informally
regarded as the anthem of the west.
Sourwood Mountain is a traditional American barn dance tune,
usually associated with Appalachia. However, versions have been heard in New
England. As is typical with folk songs, there are many variations in the
lyric. Sourwood is a type of tree, also known as sorrel, which grows
primarily in the southern Appalachians. The flowers are known for their
sweet nectar, and for the honey that bees make from it.
A Black Sheep is considered a renegade. This song is paired with
Sourwood Mountain in an arrangement by the Englishman John Rutter.
A manuscript of Red River Valley was found in Iowa dating from
1879. The first published version was “In the Bright Mohawk
Valley”, in New York in 1896. It was known in five Canadian provinces
by that time, and may refer to the Red River of the North. As a cowboy song,
it refers to the Red River separating Texas and Oklahoma.
Down in the Valley is an American folk song that may originally
have come from England or Scotland. Like most folk songs, it has many variations on the words, and is also
known as “Birmingham Jail”.
Nelly Bly is a minstrel song written by Stephen Foster in 1850. The
original lyric was in a blackface dialect, common to many of his minstrel
songs. The original Nelly Bly may have been a servant girl who poked her
head out of the cellar one day to hear Foster sing to some of his friends. The arrangement is by Jack Halloran
and the SATB version by Dick Bolks. The journalist Elizabeth Cochran Seaman used the
pen name Nellie Bly. She is best known for her round the world trip in 72
days in 1889, in imitation of Phileas Fogg’s trip from Jules Verne’s
novel Around the World in 80 Days.
Shenandoah is an American folk song. Apparently it was first sung
by river boatmen and taken to the Mississippi river, from thence to New
Orleans. Sailors on ocean-going vessels then picked it up, so that it became
a Sea Shanty. It is classed as a capstan
shanty, sung while performing a long continuous action, typically weighing
anchor, which involved winding a rope around the capstan. (arr. James
Erb)
Old Joe Clark is a southern folk song, and a very popular fiddle
tune. The song shares verses with the song “Cindy.” The tune is in Mixolydian
mode. It seems there was a real Joseph Clark, born in 1839 and murdered
in 1885. This arrangement is by Greg Gilpin.
I’m Going Home is a hearty folk hymn typical of many songs
included in Sacred Harp where it occurs as “Farewell, vain world, I’m
going home” with five different tunes.
Wayfarin’ Stranger is an American folk song
of uncertain origin. It likely originated as a spiritual, sung by slaves.
But it spread to the rest of the south, and then to the west. It is included
in Sacred Harp. It was used in
the film Cold Mountain, along with I’m Going Home.
Will the Circle Be Unbroken is a 1902 Christian hymn with words by Ada
Habershon and music by Charles H. Gabriel. It is in the public domain, and
various folk singers, including the Carter Family, Bill and Charlie Monroe,
and Bob Dylan, have recorded it, with variations in the words. This hymn is sung every year at the Country Music Hall of Fame at the end of each medallion induction ceremony.
How Can I Keep from Singing is a Christian hymn with words and
music (1869) supposedly by Baptist minister Robert Lowry, although he
claimed credit only for the tune. It is sometimes
assumed to be a Quaker or Shaker hymn. It gained a renewed popularity in the 20th century, among the
Quakers and others. There are many variations in the text, so it can be said
to have entered the folk song tradition. This arrangement is by Taylor Davis.
Cindy is a folk song probably originating in North Carolina. As
with most folk songs, there are many variations in the words. In fact, it
shares verses with the song “Old Joe Clark.” This song appeared in many
school books in the mid-20th century as an example of folk song. This
arrangement is by David Eddleman.
Omitted from this performance
Long Time Ago is the third selection in the first set of Old American
Songs set for voice and piano by Aaron Copland in 1950. They have also been
set for voice and orchestra. This song was arranged for chorus by Irving
Fine.
I Love My Love is a Cornish folk song, as arranged by Gustav Holst. The tune is in Dorian
mode.
Bedlam is the nickname of St Mary Bethlehem, a psychiatric hospital
originally in
London. Its famous (or infamous) history has inspired several horror
films and books, including the 1946 film Bedlam, which starred
Boris Karloff. The word bedlam, meaning uproar or confusion is
derived from this name, from the days before reform when asylums for
mentally ill were hardly better than houses of horror.
eglantine, or eglantine rose, also known as sweet briar, sweetbriar
rose, and sweet brier; scientific name Rosa rubiginosa or R. eglanteria,
is a species of rose found in Europe and western Asia.