Theme Of The Month, August 2014: Tunes In '3'

[cboody]

Here's my (first?) one:

 

 

Lochanside

a Scottish "Retreat march" (albeit apparently written in 6/8 by some...)

 

(I hope) as learned from the amiable and much missed Simon "The Pie Man" Thoumire...

 

('twas great, your teaching, sharing music and chatting with you back in 2013 mate! would be nice to meet you again some time!)

Nice playing Wolf. I know this as a song sung by Andy Stewart back in the day. But he wrote words to many things, like Green Hills of Tyrol, so I suppose it could be a retreat,

[Wolf Molkentin]

Thanks a lot Jim and Chuck for the feedback! It's good to learn that it doesn't sound appealing just to my own listening...

As to its origin, to my knowledge it is a pipe tune written by a John McLellan from Dunoon in the Highlands (maybe close to the belonging of Duncan Campbell from that recent "Erin-Go-Bragh" post of mine). He had been a Piper Major in "Highland" units from the 2nd Boer War onwards and is said to have written this tune in remembrance of a critical moment (of retreat in the litteral sense as I seem to understand) of the "Black Week".

Thence it might not be considered as traditional in a stricter sense, but OTOH O'Carolan had been a composer just like Mr McLellan then. The tune seems to to hold its ground in the playing of pipe bands all over the world, which is actually how I rediscovered it...

As for myself, the war topic is always a questionable one, though I would have welcomed any Highlander brigade conquering the Nazis of course... However, retreat (under fire or not) might be regarded as sort of a relief (or hardship) for the common trooper, thus making up a very human situation apart from killing anybody for whatever purpose. Might have been "my" Piper to the End who was among them...

This universal significance and hymnic mood (which makes the tune so appealing to me) is differently reflected in the lyrics I've found (which might have been added later on, but presumably not by Andy Stewart, who might have his own anyway). They're related to landscape and seasons. Here's an abc file providing the first couple of verses together with some pipes' ornamentation (which I certainly didn't try to mimick in any way):

X: 1
T: Lochanside
Z: David Murray
S: http://thesession.org/tunes/6479#setting24182
R: waltz
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
C:P.M, John McLellan, D.C.M.
Q:1/4=90
%%MIDI gracedivider 8
%%MIDI ratio 3 1
A|:{Gdc}d>e {g}f2 {gfg}fa|{f}ge {gfg}f2 {Gdc}d2|a>f {Gdc}d2 {c}d>e|{gfg}fA {gfg}f2 {gef}e2|
w:*Come the win--ter, cold and drea-ry Brings a hawk doon* frae the high scree
w: *Come the spring* the land lies wea-ry Till the sun shines* oot sae chee-ry
{A}e>d {gcd}c2 {GdG}ca|{f}ge {Gdc}d2 {e}A2|{g}e>f {gf}g2 {f}gB|{gcd}c{e}A {Gdc}d2 {adc}d2:|
w: Tae the whin* where sno-wy hares hide A a-roond* the Lo-chan-side.
w:Brings the bloom,* for a o June's pride A a-roond* the Lo-chan-side.
|:{adc}d>f {ag}a2 {g}a>g|{fg}f>g {ag}a2 {fg}f2|{Gdc}d{e}A {GdG}B2 {g}g>f|{gef}ed {gfg}f2 {gef}e2|
w:If ye'd been ye'd have seen the scat-ter oh the pee-zies* o'er the ma-chair
w:And the he-ron he comes a-cree-ping Through the ra-shes sae green and dree-ping
{A}e>d {gcd}c2 {GdG}ca|{f}ge {Gdc}d2 {e}A2|{g}e>f {gf}g2 {f}gB|{gcd}c{e}A {Gdc}d2 {adc}d2:|
w:When* aboon* the taw-ny ool glides A a-roond* the Loch-an-side.
w:Tae the pool* whaur wi-ly troot slide A a-roond* the Loch-an-side.
|:{gcd}c2 {GBG}A2 {GAG}A{d}c|{gef}e{gf}g {fg}f2 {Gdc}d2|{gcd}c2 {GBG}A2 {GAG}A{d}c|{ag}a>g {fg}f2 {gef}eA|
w:Aye~if you e-ver hae a rea-son Tae be here in o-ny sea-son
w:Summer time and the fish are lou-ping Dippers in* the bur-nies cou-ping
{Gdc}df {ag}a2 {fg}fa|g3/4f/4{g}e3/4d/4 {gcd}c2 {gBd}B2|{g}e>f {gf}g2 {f}gB|{gcd}c{e}A {Gdc}d2 {adc}d2:|
w:Come and try* the bar--ley* bree in Roond the fire* on Loch-an-side.
w:Swa-llaes flee* frae dawn** til e'en-tide A ar-oond* the Loch-an-side.
W:By the autumn the pinks are winging
W:Blaeberries o'er the moors are hinging
W:Salmon through the surging spate fight
W:A aroond the Lochanside.
W:
W:If ye'd been ye'd have seen the scatter
W:the peezies o'er the machair
W:When aboon the tawny ool glides
W:A aroond the Lochanside.
W:
W:And the heron he comes a-creeping
W:Through the rashes sae green and dreeping
W:Tae the pool whaur wily troot slide
W:A aroond the Lochanside.
W:
W:Aye if you ever hae a reason
W:Tae be here in ony season
W:Come and try the barley bree in
W:Roond the fire on Lochanside.
W:
W:Aye if you ever hae a notion
W:Tae be welcomed wi devotion
W:Traivel home o'er ony ocean
W:Tae be here on Lochanside.

Edited August 10, 2014 by blue eyed sailor

[Jim Besser]

Coincidentally, my band The Squeezers was working on two mazurkas today - the beautiful Nadiejda, by Stephane Delicq and Le Lac de St Croix by Pascale Rubens of the band Naragonia. We made plenty of flubs - that's why we rehearse! So a group 'Tunes in 3' contribution.

 

Randy Stein, English concertina

Jim Besser, GD and CG concertinas

Gus Voorhees, D/G melodeon.

 

https://soundcloud.com/concertinist/nadiejda-and-le-lac-de-st-croix

[chas]

Coincidentally, my band The Squeezers was working on two mazurkas today - the beautiful Nadiejda, by Stephane Delicq and Le Lac de St Croix by Pascale Rubens of the band Naragonia. We made plenty of flubs - that's why we rehearse! So a group 'Tunes in 3' contribution.

 

Randy Stein, English concertina

Jim Besser, GD and CG concertinas

Gus Voorhees, D/G melodeon.

 

https://soundcloud.com/concertinist/nadiejda-and-le-lac-de-st-croix

 

Classy mazurking! Great stuff.

Here's one I was given as "Toadflax Mazurka" but can't find any reference to on line so if you know what it is or anything about it, let me know. Played on 48 button Crabb Crane.

 

[cboody]

Thanks Wolf. Andy's words go something like

 

In the Spring when the world was young lad

Er' the sad songs of love were sung lad

By the loch side I met a maiden

And my heart longed to call her mine.

 

She was fairer than words can say lad

And her smile made the world gay lad....

[JimLucas]

Here's an old favorite "in 3", the air South Wind, which is often used as a waltz. (Aren't there more of us with waltzes they want to share?)

I did a quick recording just now, first almost "bare", followed by two different "arrangements" of my own composition. Then when I put the MP3 file into the folder where I keep all my Tune/Theme of the Month contributions, I discovered I already had a South Wind file. It turns out I had submitted it as a "comfort tune" last November, for the very first "Theme of the Month" here on concertina.net.

They're both essentially the same arrangement, though not rigidly the same, and today neither my mood (on hold for over an hour, to get a train booking straightened out ) nor the recording equipment/environment were as good as the last time. But it's the same concertina, and since I have both recordings, I've decided to give you links here to each and let you hear the differences.

Here's last November's take.

And here's what I recorded today.

[JimLucas]

For Jim B. (and others) who like the old 3/2 "hornpipes" from the time when "hornpipe" meant something rhythmically quite different from what it does today, here's a nice one... twice through.

Hornpipe in E Minor

In this case, the composer is someone well known. Anybody here know who it is... or care to guess?

[Wolf Molkentin]

Now that I've recorded my first approach to a

 

 

"standard" waltz,

 

 

I'm free to listen to all your postings Jim...

[Jim Besser]

For Jim B. (and others) who like the old 3/2 "hornpipes" from the time when "hornpipe" meant something rhythmically quite different from what it does today, here's a nice one... twice through.

 

Hornpipe in E Minor

In this case, the composer is someone well known. Anybody here know who it is... or care to guess?

 

I give up. Who wrote it?

 

Yes, the definition of 'hornpipe' is changing, and this one is very .... hornpipey. Which I like.

[Jim Besser]

Now that I've recorded my first approach to a

 

 

"standard" waltz,

 

 

I'm free to listen to all your postings Jim...

 

Ah, a well known Scandi waltz. Not.

 

Nice chording, I like it. This is a fine tune that seems neglected in my music circles.

[Tootler]

 

For Jim B. (and others) who like the old 3/2 "hornpipes" from the time when "hornpipe" meant something rhythmically quite different from what it does today, here's a nice one... twice through.

 

 

 

Hornpipe in E Minor

In this case, the composer is someone well known. Anybody here know who it is... or care to guess?

I give up. Who wrote it?

 

Yes, the definition of 'hornpipe' is changing, and this one is very .... hornpipey. Which I like.

Purcell. A recorder group I belong to play it. Edited August 12, 2014 by Tootler

[JimLucas]

Hornpipe in E Minor

In this case, the composer is someone well known. Anybody here know who it is... or care to guess?

I give up. Who wrote it?

 

Purcell. A recorder group I belong to play it.

 

Yep. Henry Purcell, English composer who lived 1659-1695.

 

I'm hoping that before the month is out I'll be able to work it up with more than just melody, but I probably won't have time to try before next week.

 

And I'd be interested hearing how you guys do it. Any chance of a recording to post here? (Wouldn't be concertinas, but should be relevant. )

[Wolf Molkentin]

 

 

For Jim B. (and others) who like the old 3/2 "hornpipes" from the time when "hornpipe" meant something rhythmically quite different from what it does today, here's a nice one... twice through.

 

 

Hornpipe in E Minor

In this case, the composer is someone well known. Anybody here know who it is... or care to guess?

I give up. Who wrote it?

 

Yes, the definition of 'hornpipe' is changing, and this one is very .... hornpipey. Which I like.

Purcell. A recorder group I belong to play it.

 

Wouldn't have known that - but I take it from you and find it quite feasable... very nice Jim, I come to really like these intricate pieces...

[JimLucas]

"standard" waltz,

Ah, a well known Scandi waltz. Not.

JIm, you might be surprised at how often that waltz is played in Sweden.

 

Nice chording, I like it.

Agreed.

[Wolf Molkentin]

 

Now that I've recorded my first approach to a

 

 

"standard" waltz,

 

 

I'm free to listen to all your postings Jim...

 

Ah, a well known Scandi waltz. Not.

 

Nice chording, I like it. This is a fine tune that seems neglected in my music circles.

 

Thank you Jim, I'm really glad you like my approach (and found it a bit of a surprise, as suggested by your OP...)!

 

As to the tune itself, I always kind of liked it despite even a horrible German "Schlager" version... - OTOH I seem to recall that not only Jazz musicians use to play the tune but Eva Cassidy has done it as a song in her own lovely way later on...

[Tootler]

Here are two airs in 3/4 time that I wrote. Both celebrating the North York Moors near where I live.

 

Cleveland Hills I wrote about 10 years ago.

 

The Road Across the Moor I wrote last year.

 

I usually play them on flute or recorder but I have recorded both here on my Morse CG Anglo, Melody only.

 

Airs need to be played slowly. It is hard sometimes to play slowly enough while maintaining musicality but is well worth the effort. I get frustrated in sessions when people insist on playing airs far too quickly.

[Wolf Molkentin]

another waltz (could be played as Ländler as well I'd guess), very popular here, with words in Low German language:

 

 

Dat Du Min Leevsten Büst

 

[cboody]

Well, everyone's posts reminded me I could submit this one. From a concert a while back. Flute, EC, and guitar. Movie music time...

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/37883905/04%20Somewhere%20My%20Love_Bella%20Notte.mp3

Edited August 14, 2014 by cboody