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Tune Of The Month, May 2013: Parson's Farewell


Jim Besser

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Well we have a winner, even though voting totals were less than stellar. Come on, folks, we need some buy in on the monthly polls!

 

Parson's Farewell - suggested by Jody Kruskal - is a wonderful Playford English dance tune that has a real classical feel. But it can also be a rocking ceilidh tune.

 

Since Jody suggested it, I've added it to the playlist of my English ceilidh band, and I can't wait to hear what the horn section guys do with it, It'll rock, I promise.

 

Here's a

, on my C/G Lachenal (with Dipper mechanism and Greg J bellows). I had a surprising amount of trouble keeping from speeding up on the B part. I still accelerated in this video, but not as bad as the first tries. I was aiming for something more sedate and refined than I usually play - nobody has ever accused me of being a sedate and refined player - but don't think I really succeeded. I plan to try several different approaches to the tune and see what works best for me.

 

I recorded it in Dm, which is the key for most of the versions I've found on the Net. Below are dots for Dm and Am, but don't feel you need to stick to those keys. I plan to do it again in Bm on the G/D (fingered exactly like Em on the C/G) to see what other chord options I have.

 

There are so many different ways to play this tune, and I'm hoping that is reflected here at the TOTM.

 

Notation: Here are some dots to get you started.

 

In Dm:

 

X:52
T:Parsons farewell
M:C|
L:1/8
Q:200
B:The Round Band Book of Playford
K:F
e |\
"Dm"f2d2 d2ef | "C"g2c2 c3c |\
"Bb"def2 e2 d2 | "F"c2A2 A4 :: \
a2 |\
"Dm"f4 f2a2 | "F"f4 f2a2 |
"Dm"fga2 fga2 | "C"g2e2 e4 |\
"C"efg2 efg2 | "Dm"f2d2 "Bb"defg |\
"F"a2gf "C"ede2 | d6 :|


From The Session in AM

X: 1
T: Parson's Farewell
R: barndance
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Amin
c2 A2 A2 Bc | d2 G2 G3 G | AB c2 B2 A2 | G2 E2 E4 |
c2 A2 A2 Bc | d2 G2 G3 G | AB c2 B2 A2 | G2 E2 E2 e2 ||
|: c4 c2 e2 | c4 c2 e2 | cd e2 cd e2 | d2 B2 B4 |
Bc d2 Bc d2 | c2 A2 AB cd | e2 dc BA B2 | A6 e2 :|2 B2 A6 |]

 

Here's another version for the ABC-averse

 

And here.

 

Recorded examples:

 

As a stately dance tune

A rollicking ceilidh tune, as by

(second tune in the set, starting at about 1.40).

 

I like this bunch of UK buskers because of the super energetic drummer.

 

Remember: the goal here is to improve our skills through the discipline of learning new tunes and recording them, hearing how other concertinists play them and getting feedback from our peers. All that goes for veteran players - and rank beginners. Don't be shy!

Edited by Jim Besser
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This is a wonderful tune. Thank you, Jody and Jim. I enjoy playing it, but I'd be happy never to do the dance again!

 

COme to the next Frog Hammer pub ceilidh (May 13, 8 PM at the Top of the Hill on Capitol Hill) and you'll probably hear it played in a very un-ECDish way!

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Just for grins, have a listen to the 2nd tune

(starting at the 39 second mark).
It's from "Terpsichore," the collection of dance tunes compiled in 1612 by Michael Praetorius.

 

 

Wow. My head's gonna explode.

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It's from "Terpsichore," the collection of dance tunes compiled in 1612 by Michael Praetorius.

 

 

That's amazing! Perhaps those sounds were simply in the air at that time... but OTOH the B-part just following the A-part, hardly by coincidence... If not the one composer has drawn from the other they must have benefited from the same tradition, spreading all over the European (the English might gracefully forgive me) courts...

 

Any "collection" of dance tunes (all the more one including instructions for the dancers) from that period might not even claim to narrow down to original compositions...

 

However, I've always loved that late Renaissance music and am quite happy with the outcome of the poll - myself having been the first voter in total and in favour of this lovely tune as well, which I hadn't been aware of prior to your suggestion. Thanks a lot, Jim and Jody!

Edited by blue eyed sailor
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Another great tune and a new one to me. I really appreciate the work that goes into this topic and hope that it continues for a long time to come. I've been working on each of the monthly tunes and have learnt a lot from the different interpretations with different types of concertina but with only 3 months' experience under my belt, I'm not ready to post a recording yet. For this reason, I haven't felt qualified to vote on the choice of tune. There may be other people in my position, so please don't take the lack of votes to mean a lack of interest in the TOTM. Long may it continue!

Dean

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Just for grins, have a listen to the 2nd tune

(starting at the 39 second mark).
It's from "Terpsichore," the collection of dance tunes compiled in 1612 by Michael Praetorius.

 

 

An interesting coincidence.

Some Swedish friends invited me to join them in a performance last Wednesday, and that "medley" was one of our numbers.

Unfortunately, I don't think anyone recorded it.

 

No surprise at all that the same tune appeared in more than one collection, though. In fact, some friends who specialize in dance of the period told me that they have found several instances of a particular tune-and-dance combination appearing multiple times with different names and "composers". They could usually tell the original by the fact that the other occurrences were later, by the length of time of a sea voyage from the location of the earlier appearance. B)

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Another great tune and a new one to me. I really appreciate the work that goes into this topic and hope that it continues for a long time to come. I've been working on each of the monthly tunes and have learnt a lot from the different interpretations with different types of concertina but with only 3 months' experience under my belt, I'm not ready to post a recording yet. For this reason, I haven't felt qualified to vote on the choice of tune. There may be other people in my position, so please don't take the lack of votes to mean a lack of interest in the TOTM. Long may it continue!

Dean

Hello Dean,

 

I don't think you should feel that you're not qualified to vote because you're not yet ready to post a recording. On the contrary, if the concept captures your imagination and you feel like you'd like to join in as and when you're ready then it's important that you vote every month for the tune you'd like to hear explored, or pulled apart and rebuilt. Voting is important because it shows your support for Tune of the Month and maintains a visible interest in this musical sporting event!

 

Pete.

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Well, lovely 1st of May, some walking on the beach, some concertina playing - and her is my (first?) attempt on our new tune (again, couldn't avoid some messing up at one second or another - and borrowed the chord progression at the beginning of the B-part from the abc file of a guy called Colin Hume, cause I liked it immediately albeit not sounding very "Renaissance")

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Here's a lovely simple, melody version, played on a Lute.

 

 

 

I've always loved this melody. As to its origin, apparently, this is also known from an earlier time as Bourree d'Avignonez by Nicolas Vallet & even earlier as La Bouree by Adriannus Valerius (and also arranged by Praetorius)

 

 

 

 

Chris

Edited by Chris Drinkwater
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I have to say, Jim, that I like your quick and dirty version a lot.

 

And thanks to TOTM my son has discovered Bellowhead. He has recently been facinated by Wish List and decided that he wants to learn to sing while fiddling... now he'll be dancing too!

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I have been playing this tune at times for last 30 years, it still took about 30 takes but it was easier when I remembered to 1 A and 2 Bs.

 

 

 

Very nice. I like your variation in chords, keeps it interesting.

 

I have the a-BB format for this tune imprinted on my brain, but my band needs to do it AA-BB, and I expect to forget more than once.

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Well, lovely 1st of May, some walking on the beach, some concertina playing - and her is my (first?) attempt on our new tune (again, couldn't avoid some messing up at one second or another - and borrowed the chord progression at the beginning of the B-part from the abc file of a guy called Colin Hume, cause I liked it immediately albeit not sounding very "Renaissance")

Very cool chording in the B part. Not easily replicable on a 30 button Anglo!

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Here's a lovely simple, melody version, played on a Lute.

 

 

 

I've always loved this melody. As to its origin, apparently, this is also known from an earlier time as Bourree d'Avignonez by Nicolas Vallet & even earlier as La Bouree by Adriannus Valerius (and also arranged by Praetorius)

 

 

 

 

Chris

Did I hear it wrong, or did the lute player sharpen the first note in fourth and eighth measures? (A g to g# in the a minor version, c to c# in d minor ). It sounded slightly different anyway, and I liked it -- it gives the A part a decidedly unfinished feeling, leading on on to that very cheery B part.

 

I love this tune -- thanks so much for letting us vote on it, and even more for all the fabulous early bird versions to get me thinking and playing on a gloriously sunny (at last) Idaho May day.

Sarah

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I have been playing this tune at times for last 30 years, it still took about 30 takes but it was easier when I remembered to 1 A and 2 Bs.

 

Real fun to listen to! Just about the Renaissance approach I intended to follow myself whilst voting! (turned out otherwise with me then...)

 

And regarding the takes - I know exactly what you mean (having had to content myself with a very much rougher version than yours due to my limited experience with both the instrument and the tune...)

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Did I hear it wrong, or did the lute player sharpen the first note in fourth and eighth measures? (A g to g# in the a minor version, c to c# in d minor ).

You heard it right. The lutenist is doing just what you described. Good pick up.

 

He's playing it in C minor, and using a B natural instead of a B flat. I believe the tune first appeared in D minor. Back then, there wasn't much understanding of the difference between C and C#. They were thought to be just different flavors of the same note. So the tune might have been written down with a C natural even though the scribe played it or heard it played with a C sharp. It was then left up to the performer to use his judgment as to which note to play. Sometimes in old music you see little accidental signs above a note (called "ficta") that are added by modern editors as suggestions.

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