In the Bleak MidWinter for English Concertina

[dmksails]

I'm a beginner player with an English Concertina.  I'm looking for a score for "In the Bleak Midwinter" written for the EC and with harmonies.  I've found several written for anglo, but they are all in tab format and would be difficult to convert.  I do have a score with just the melody, but I'm not advanced enough along in my playing to know how to add harmonies.

[Paul_Hardy]

The melody  and suggested chords is in my free Xmas tunebook at https://pghardy.net/tunebooks/index.html#xmas. 

[gcoover]

Perhaps the attached file might help, from The Jeffries Duet Tutor, with strange hybrid ABC/standard notation.

 

You won't have the low F, and I haven't checked this on my EC to see how well it fits, but maybe it will be something you can work from. 

 

And... not to further confuse things, but here's what this arrangement sounds like on Anglo:

 

 

A lovely tune, one of my absolute favorites!

 

Gary

 

 

In-the-Bleak-Midwinter-JD.pdf

[Mike in Oban]

I've found this to be a nice arrangement that works well for English Concertina.  You can add more of the harmony incrementally as you learn it. 

https://hymnary.org/text/in_the_bleak_midwinter

 

Mike

 

[Gregor Markič]

Gary, that's very very beautiful. I'll learn this one for sure.

[Alison Scott]

9 hours ago, gcoover said:

Perhaps the attached file might help, from The Jeffries Duet Tutor, with strange hybrid ABC/standard notation.

 

 

Gary

 

 

 

While we're on the subject of Holst, Gary, have you by any chance arranged Thaxted for the Anglo? 

[Moll Peatly]

On 11/6/2020 at 9:55 AM, Mike in Oban said:

I've found this to be a nice arrangement that works well for English Concertina.  You can add more of the harmony incrementally as you learn it. 

https://hymnary.org/text/in_the_bleak_midwinter

 

Mike

 

That looks like the standard SATB arrangement, which AFAIK is Holst's own. Presumably you play it up an octave?

[David Barnert]

Here’s the Holst original. He originally called the tune “Cranham” before setting it to Christina Rossetti’s poem, “In the Bleak Midwinter.”

 

 

I’ve always been struck by the resemblance between this tune and the slow movement of Dvorak’s New World Symphony.

[Gregor Markič]

My version. Not as beautiful as Gary's but good enough for my needs 🙂

 

 

[dmksails]

On 11/5/2020 at 10:50 PM, gcoover said:

Perhaps the attached file might help, from The Jeffries Duet Tutor, with strange hybrid ABC/standard notation.

 

You won't have the low F, and I haven't checked this on my EC to see how well it fits, but maybe it will be something you can work from. 

 

And... not to further confuse things, but here's what this arrangement sounds like on Anglo:

 

 

I love the way this sounds on the anglo and it has me considering doing a switch.  I am very appreciative of the books you've done for the anglo, both on Sea Shanties and Civil War tunes.

 

 

On 11/5/2020 at 10:50 PM, gcoover said:

A lovely tune, one of my absolute favorites!

 

Gary

 

 

In-the-Bleak-Midwinter-JD.pdf 177.11 kB · 14 downloads

 

[dmksails]

11 hours ago, David Barnert said:

Here’s the Holst original. He originally called the tune “Cranham” before setting it to Christina Rossetti’s poem, “In the Bleak Midwinter.”

 

 

I’ve always been struck by the resemblance between this tune and the slow movement of Dvorak’s New World Symphony.

This looks promising - I will give it a try!

 

[gcoover]

No need to switch from EC to Anglo - they're just different tools for different results. I thoroughly enjoy playing both and wouldn't give up either one!

 

(But then again, I also play Jeffries Duet so obviously my judgment is somewhat suspect...)

 

Gary