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Theme Of The Month For December, 2014: 'tis The Season


Jim Besser

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Having tracked down the rehearsal recording that I was looking for herewith "The Moon Shines Bright" - Maccann duet accompaniment by Ralph Jordan, vocals by me. The song was collected by Lucy Broadwood from "the Goby men" (sadly, no names noted down) near Lyne House in Surrey in the late 1800s. The Gobys were travellers who were well known in the Dorking and Horsham areas of Surrey and Sussex. The carol itself has been collected in various different versions around England, mostly in the format of a May Day carol, but this version is definitely a "New Year" carol. It is often known as the Bellman's Carol.

 

I wanted to post this as an example of Ralph's accompaniment, always very rewarding to sing against.

https://soundcloud.com/surreysinger/the-moon-shines-bright

 

Really nice recording, thanks. That Maccann sounds great (so does the voice!)

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Thanks for your comments about that recording Jim. I should have added that the recording was also made by Ralph, who is much missed. His day job was that of sound engineer and studio manager with BBC radio for over 30 years. He played Maccann for over 35 years and was a very talented and sensitive accompanist and player. He was also very good at promoting the Maccann (I wonder how I ended up borrowing his second string box and buying one of my own, although it has been somewhat neglected of late).

Edited by Irene S.
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It may have garnered the fewest votes in this month's poll, but I thought I'd give it a try.

 

Let it Snow. Hoping the weather gods don't take this to heart! A silly little song that's fun to play.

 

Played on a 30 button Jeffries G/D Anglo.

Edited by Jim Besser
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I had no trouble picking a tune for this Theme. Danielle Martineau's "Valse d'hiver" is as wintry and haunting a waltz as I've ever heard, and a great favorite. I like to play it on button accordion/melodeon, but decided to try it out on concertina (key of Bm, 40-button Anglo in C/G).

 

http://youtu.be/LNdmIWcttHM

 

Bob Michel

Near Philly

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I had no trouble picking a tune for this Theme. Danielle Martineau's "Valse d'hiver" is as wintry and haunting a waltz as I've ever heard, and a great favorite. I like to play it on button accordion/melodeon, but decided to try it out on concertina (key of Bm, 40-button Anglo in C/G).

 

http://youtu.be/LNdmIWcttHM

 

Bob Michel

Near Philly

 

SImply gorgeous! Thanks.

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I had no trouble picking a tune for this Theme. Danielle Martineau's "Valse d'hiver" is as wintry and haunting a waltz as I've ever heard, and a great favorite. I like to play it on button accordion/melodeon, but decided to try it out on concertina (key of Bm, 40-button Anglo in C/G).

Bob Michel

Near Philly

 

SImply gorgeous! Thanks.

Yes indeed! Lovely. Perfect timing too-- I saw the dots for Valse d'hiver the other day (in The Waltz Book 2), started to play it, and now can,t stop. What a treat to hear it 'for real.'

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Since Alan Day posted the Sussex Carol, I thought I'd do the Sussex Mummer's Carol. It's the tune that traditionally closes out the annual Christmas Revels shows in many U.S. cities, and is a wonderful choral piece. I'm not sure how to adapt it to solo concertina; this is a first try. Still fiddling around with chords.

 

And here's the way it sounds at Revels.

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As announced, a first instrumental approach to "The Holst":

 

 

In The Bleak Midwinter (Holst)

(not in the key of my singing voice, but with some fiddle-ish moments insttead)

Very nice, nice fiddle-ish moments.

I agree, nice arrangement with fiddle-ish moments.

 

My wife calls them "twiddles" and tends to criticise me for them. She doesn't really get the use of decoration in playing tunes.

 

I'm thinking of singing with concertina. I have a copy of the Oxford book of carols which has it F which is fine for my voice.

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It may have garnered the fewest votes in this month's poll, but I thought I'd give it a try.

 

Let it Snow. Hoping the weather gods don't take this to heart! A silly little song that's fun to play.

 

Played on a 30 button Jeffries G/D Anglo.

Very nice. The chordal style of Anglo playing is very effective here.

 

I hope the weather gods don't take it to heart, either. I'm off across the other side of the country tomorrow for the weekend and the weather forecast is a little iffy :)

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Since Alan Day posted the Sussex Carol, I thought I'd do the Sussex Mummer's Carol. It's the tune that traditionally closes out the annual Christmas Revels shows in many U.S. cities, and is a wonderful choral piece. I'm not sure how to adapt it to solo concertina; this is a first try. Still fiddling around with chords.

 

And

the way it sounds at Revels.

The chords are lovely, and I like the way you bring them in after playing the simple melody line. Nice arrangement.

 

Bob Michel

Near Philly

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Since Alan Day posted the Sussex Carol, I thought I'd do the Sussex Mummer's Carol. It's the tune that traditionally closes out the annual Christmas Revels shows in many U.S. cities, and is a wonderful choral piece. I'm not sure how to adapt it to solo concertina; this is a first try. Still fiddling around with chords.

 

And

the way it sounds at Revels.

Oh dear...the way they were singing it at the Revels sounds quite funereal. When sung by the Rusper mummers each year it's usually quite a bit faster.

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It may have garnered the fewest votes in this month's poll, but I thought I'd give it a try.

 

Let it Snow. Hoping the weather gods don't take this to heart! A silly little song that's fun to play.

 

Played on a 30 button Jeffries G/D Anglo.

Very nice. The chordal style of Anglo playing is very effective here.

 

Yes indeed. But same is true of the carol, has a real nice touch with it!

Edited by blue eyed sailor
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