18 replies to this topic

[Peter Brook]

A Christmas gift to everyone on concertina.net

Faerie's Aire and Death Waltz

I have a pdf version if people would like it.

The first person to record an MP3 of this needs to take a break from music for a while!

Happy Christmas and Fair Winds for 2005

[Animaterra]

YES!!!! I've been looking for this! A friend showed it to me and I laughed until I cried. I have played the anglo for exactly one year and I hope someday to attempt this noble work.

[Steven]

That's fantastic! I hadn't heard of that one before. Somehow I managed to keep the loudest of my chuckles under control, since I'm at work. I have very limited musical training or knowledge of music theory, so I probably missed a lot of things in it, but it's still pretty good.

And hey, it's even on topic! See, down there near the bottom -- one of the directions says "Like a New Orleans concertina choir"!


Steven

[Peter Brook]

Like a New Orleans concertina choir

I was hoping that people in the US or near New Orleans might be able to explain what it means?

[Steven]

Like a New Orleans concertina choir

I was hoping that people in the US or near New Orleans might be able to explain what it means?

Nope, probably not. Sorry! I think it's basically gibberish. New Orleans is known for two kinds of music -- dixieland jazz (lots of brass) and cajun (fiddle and 1-row button accordion). I've never heard of concertinas associated with New Orleans, and I have never heard of a concertina "choir" either. Therefore, I think figuring out what's meant here is part of the challenge of playing the piece! (Frankly, though, a fairly small part of it...)


Steven

[Stephen Mills]

I have never heard of a concertina "choir" either. 

You've put your finger on something I've been wondering about for awhile. Maybe the learned Stephen (not me, the other one!) or choral director Allison can help. I know there are "concertina choirs", although a google search only uncovers a specific group in Gainesville, FL. There are other references to "concertina singers". Since all choirs sing in concert and "in concert", does this term mean they all sing the same part at the the same time? I suppose a New Orleans concertina choir might be one that is constructed in the concertina choir fashion and sings in one of the New Orleans styles.

Loved the piece, Peter. Erik Satie's Gnossiennes contain somewhat similar directions for the performer, e.g., "on the edge of an idea", "on the tip of the tongue", "don't leave", "with great kindness", "without arrogance", "alone, for a moment", "plan with care", "how to achieve absolutely nothing", "quite lost", and, of course, the ever-popular "arm yourself with perpicacity". No livestock or legumes, however.

edited repeatedly until the spelling of "gnossiennes" looked about right.

Edited by Stephen Mills, 22 December 2004 - 10:53 PM.

[Animaterra]

I had never heard of "concertina choir" as connected to anything other than the instrument we all love best, so I too looked it up. At the Gainesville, Florida site it explains their concertina choir thusly:
"The Concertina Choir is comprised of an average of 30 treble singers who perform independently and along with the Concert Choir. The minimum age requirement for membership is 8 years. Admission is by audition only."

I think in this case, "concertina" is a play on "concert"- the Concertina Choir is a Concert Choir for young'uns. I love it!

Now I want to form my own concertina choir- with both meanings of the word. Had I but world enough and time...

[bellowbelle]

I have a pdf version if people would like it.

That's really hilarious!

I wonder if the PDF copy would print better? When I try to print the HTML, just to have a copy, even when I narrow the margins as much as possible, the last bit of the bottom edge gets cut off.

Would love a copy of the PDF if possible! Thanks.

[David Barnert]

There's a jam session in Albany every Thursday afternoon, around the corner from my house. I don't get a chance to go to it often, but I was there today. As always, we sat in a circle, and the option of choosing the next tune went around clockwise. Many of the regulars there (as here) know that I prefer to play without music. So the 2nd time it came around to me, I surprised a few people by saying I had brought a tune on paper. "I downloaded it from the internet this morning," I said. "I haven't tried playing it yet, but it looks like it should be a lot of fun."

Then I passed out copies of the FA/DW. I had to shrink it down from approximately 11" x 14" to 8" x 10" in a photoshop-type program to get it to fit on a page. Everyone had a good laugh. To one who didn't "get it," I said "Take it home and have a good look at it. We'll play it next week."

[soapergem]

Peter, please send me that PDF file! Thanks!

e-mail: soapergem at gmail dot com

[John Wild]

this was picked up on the newsgroup uk.music.folk.

Someone did a google search and found there is a page 2!
I quote the posting below:

This site has page 1, and the image appears to have been scanned from the
original sheet music less askew. (That is, the horizontal lines are more horizontal.)
However, it cuts off the original copyright notice: "Copyright 1991 John Stump, 209
w. Alameda Avenue #203, Burbank CA 91502". The music is a .jpg file:
http://www.whitetree...ber/faeries.htm

This site has page 2 as a .gif nice image, but it has page 1 as a less useful .jpg
image than does the site listed above:
http://10e.org/samcimg/DeathWaltz2.gif

--
Howard L. Kaplan
Songwriter and occasional performer
end-quote
===========

I was unsure how to convert the quoted link into a hyperlink so I'm afraid anyone wanting a look will have to retype or copy and paste.

- John Wild

[David Barnert]

Someone did a google search and found there is a page 2!

I'm not sure I'd call this a page 2 (although it's quite funny). It appears to be done by someone else, perhaps as an "homage" to the first one. Neither one suggests the existence of another page. Each starts with a tempo marking at the top left of the page and ends with a double bar at the bottom right. True, the 2nd one lacks a title, but nothing about it looks like it continues from something else. The typography is different, and it seems to have been composed on a computer, where the first one looks more like the traditional pre-computer music typesetting technology.

I even wonder whether the title of the 2nd document (DeathWaltz2.gif) was added later by a different person than the one who designed it.

[John Wild]

I'm not sure I'd call this a page 2 (although it's quite funny). It appears to be done by someone else, perhaps as an "homage" to the first one. Neither one suggests the existence of another page. I even wonder whether the title of the 2nd document (DeathWaltz2.gif) was added later by a different person than the one who designed it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think you are probably right. Re-reading it there are more contemporary references, i.e. The Rolling Stones and John Lennon, which probably make it of more recent origin.

- John

[poettomm]

I am in current communication with John Stump in Los Angeles.
John is presently recovering from a rather serious medical situation.


I am currently distributing
"The Faeries Aire and Death March"
and
"Prelude and The Last Hope in C and C# Minor"
in beautiful 11 X 17 inch sturdy laminated sets, impervious to peanutbutter & jelly sandwich fingers, or bagel&creamcheese&jelly fingers. These laminated sheets, when held firmly between the fingers and waved in the air, make a most wonderful "woop - woop - woop" accompaniment suitable for folkOrkestral or avantGarden Symphonic concerti or concertinas.

These are published in accord with John's Copyright ownership.
The price is $25 for both, plus shipping/handling . $15 each singly.

For distributors and teachers and musical directors volume discounts are negotiable.
Please do contact and support the appreciation and reward to John for his wonderful works.

order or just contact me to chew the carpet at poettomm@yahoo.com ..........
More Great Stuff on John's works to follow
like, if you don't know what this is about, GOOGLE IT
TomM Hall

"whole arm on black notes moon walk continue swimmng motion
balance your chair on two legs
Gradually slide from 12-bar Blues to a more Vivaldi-like cadenza

[poettomm]

I'm not sure I'd call this a page 2 (although it's quite funny). It appears to be done by someone else, perhaps as an "homage" to the first one. Neither one suggests the existence of another page. I even wonder whether the title of the 2nd document (DeathWaltz2.gif) was added later by a different person than the one who designed it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think you are probably right. Re-reading it there are more contemporary references, i.e. The Rolling Stones and John Lennon, which probably make it of more recent origin.

- John

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wonderfully astute, David and John! The "page 2" is from an entirely different and later work - Still by John Stump - String Quartet ... In A Minor (Automotive Collision) .......... It is copyright 1997 - The Faerie's Aire is copyrighted 1980.

[danb1937]

Yes, I would really appreciate a PDF of the Fairies' Aire and Death Waltz. Hilarious!

Please attach it to an e-mail to: musicman37@comcast.net .

Many thanks!

Dan

[JimLucas]

Yes, I would really appreciate a PDF of the Fairies' Aire and Death Waltz. Hilarious!
Please attach it to an e-mail to: ....

Shouldn't need an email, and especially not emails from several people.
Here's a link to a web page which shows the "composition", and here's a link to the actual GIF image.

[Hilary]

Both pages are available at this site
http://masterlevel.d...th-waltz/waltz2