Springtime in Battersea (T.Williams)

[John Wild]

"Tommy Williams is also remarkable in that as well as the 'standards' and song tunes of the day, he plays many of his own compositions: 'Queenstown Parade', 'Kensington Waltz', 'Springtime in Battersea' and over forty others, all of which show great skill in construction and indicate a high knowledge of the principles of compositions."

 

The above is a quotation from the sleeve notes of Tommy Williams' LP record called 'Springtime in Battersea'.

 

regards

 

John Wild

[Paul Groff]

"Tommy Williams is also remarkable in that as well as the 'standards' and song tunes of the day, he plays many of his own compositions: 'Queenstown Parade', 'Kensington Waltz', 'Springtime in Battersea' and over forty others, all of which show great skill in construction and indicate a high knowledge of the principles of compositions."

 

The above is a quotation from the sleeve notes of Tommy Williams' LP record called 'Springtime in Battersea'.

 

regards

 

John Wild

 

 

Hi John,

 

I have had a copy of those liner notes, and that recording, since the year I began playing concertina (1985), and nearly worn them out. So I am familiar with the claim that Tommy wrote the tune. It is another question whether that claim is true. BTW, I am afraid that the liner notes of Free Reed recordings cannot be taken as gospel truth (or any other kind of truth). The recordings, as I noted above, are a priceless legacy and were doubtless a labor of love. Thanks to Neil Wayne, his colleagues, and of course the artists for these recordings! I wouldn't want to be without a single note of that music. But as Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin and others have pointed out, there are many errors and irregularities in the notes to the Free Reed recordings. And even if Tommy's claims were faithfully transcribed, it might be a little gullible to believe the literal truth of everything he said. To me these problems do not diminish the accomplishment of the recordings, but I would be careful about relying on the accuracy of the notes themselves. They are not, and really never claimed to be, the result of careful scholarship, only a guide to understanding and appreciating the music.

 

Dick,

 

As I said, I don't really know if Koschat composed the music to the Schneewalzer or not. The German-speaking world seems to believe he did compose it. I don't have time to chase down a date for his composition, but as I noted above Koschat died before the Great War began.

 

Best to all,

 

Paul Groff

[John Wild]

It is another question whether that claim is true. BTW, I am afraid that the liner notes of Free Reed recordings cannot be taken as gospel truth (or any other kind of truth).

The recordings, as I noted above, are a priceless legacy and were doubtless a labor of love. Thanks to Neil Wayne, his colleagues, and of course the artists for these recordings! I wouldn't want to be without a single note of that music.

 

I would be careful about relying on the accuracy of the notes themselves. They are not, and really never claimed to be, the result of careful scholarship, only a guide to understanding and appreciating the music.

Paul Groff

 

I can agree with all of that. we are not having an argument.

 

best wishes

 

John

[Paul Groff]

I can agree with all of that. we are not having an argument.

 

best wishes

 

John

 

 

:-)

 

Thanks John, I feel the same way. Actually my initial reason for posting the cross-reference between Tommy's "SIB" and the Schneewalzer was to point Robin to the many manuscript, recorded, and video versions of the latter that are available on the web.

 

Nothing I have heard though can compare for me to Tommy's own performance. The human touch, the "orchestra in a hatbox" miniaturism, the wonderful pulse and sweetness and humor. That's what I love about the best concertina music.

 

PG

Edited October 20, 2009 by Paul Groff

[Irene S.]

With reference to the "argument" over the composition of the music, I don't really think on all the information I've read about Koschat that there can be any doubt that Schneewalzer (Snow Waltz) was his composition. He was a well known choir master, musician and composer, known to Mahler, who had observed that Koschat's themes were always his own invention. Schneewalzer was designated as Opus No 71. (Incidentally, it's not only a brass band favourite but there are many arrangements available for choirs, solo singers with piano accompaniment etc). Schneewalzer itself comprises the A & B tunes of Springtime - which incidentally I note are the only parts quoted in the ABC notation, and the manuscript notation (which as far as I can see seems to incorporate a fair bit of improvisation on the tune as played by Mr Williams - nothing wrong with that). I would imagine from that that the C tune which has not been included, may well have been his invention and addition to the original Schneewalzer.

 

Incidentally, you should perhaps ask Ralph Jordan why it is not a good idea to play "Springtime in Battersea" in Belgium ... it's his story, so I won't elaborate.

 

And finally, just to show that there are myriad versions of the Snow Waltz out there ... you might like to try this ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibcq_U7QNiQ A rather splendid keyboard

 

Oh dear !

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE-lKfcibHU Even more oh dear! (I think neither Mr Williams or Mr von Koschat would have recognised this one!)

 

I hesitate to include the one with three gent in their bath robes with kitchen utensils (don't ask).

 

Meantime, I'm going back to practising playing along with Mr Williams on CD

[Ralph Jordan]

I read somewhere that Tommy played this tune in the trenches in 1914 during the First WorldWar.

Tim Laycock is worth contacting for further info

 

I do know that Tim spent a bit of time with Tommy in the 70's, and I probably picked it up from him...(we both went to the same F/C in Saarf London at the time I started playing.)

 

Interesting side note.

I was playing a concert in a church in Belgium a couple of years ago, and couldn't understand why the audience were swaying from side to side, laughing and whooping at relevant places. After all it's not really a funny tune!!

The explanation is that it has some dodgy Belgium lyrics and is sung by football fans whenever a Belgium club play a German side!!!

 

So, it seems to be a German tune after all....and, No! I don't know the lyrics!!

 

 

(Have just seen Irenes second link down...That is exactly what happened to me...Most disconcerting when you're not expecting it though!!)

Edited November 7, 2009 by Ralph Jordan

[hjcjones]

Prompted by this thread, I was googling to try to find out more when I came across this link to a Time Out interview with Neil Wayne. It refers to the Free Reed album and includes a picture of Tommy Williams wielding his concertina.

 

It also includes a rather scary picture featuring John Kirkpatrick in very short shorts!