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Monday, May 31, 2004
About Songs...
the following were notes extracted from the conductor scores of the arrangements (by Frank Ticheli) of the two songs i'm listening to now.
Simple Gifts
This song was introduced to me when i went for a certain alumni band's concert. They were playing "Lord of the Dance" by Ronan Hardiman who adapted Simple Gifts for the tap-dance extravaganza by Michael Flatley. Later on, during the Pacific Basin Music Festival in Hawaii, i was reintroduced to this song once again by another band. Till then, i still thought that this song is called "Lord of the Dance" originally composed by Ronan Hardiman. only years later, i heard the song once again over the Oscars awards in a different arrangement and i started to get interested to find out the history behind the song, only to find that Ronan Hardiman adapted the melody selfishly and that the original tune belongs to a Shaker's melody...
The last movement to Frank Ticheli's Simple Gifts Suite is a setting of the Shaker's most famous song, "Simple Gifts," sometimes attributed to Elder Joseph Bracket (1797-1882) of the Alfred, Maine community, and also said (in Lebanon, New York, manuscript) as having been received from a Negro spirit at Canterbury, New Hampshire, making "Simple Gifts" possibly a visionary gift song. It has been used in hundreds of settings and throughout its little journey, the tune is never abandoned, rarely altered, always exalted.
The Shakers were a religious sect who splintered from a Quaker community in the mid-1700's in Manchester, England. Known then derisively as "Shaking Quakers" because of the passionate shaking that would occur during their religious services, they were viewed as radicals, and their members were sometimes harassed and even imprisoned by the English. The Shakers were pacifists who kept a very low profile, and their membership increased only modestly during the decades following their arrival, but soon after the Civil War their membership declined dramatically. Their practice of intense simplicity and celibacy accounts for much of their decline. The Shakers were known for their architecture, crafts, furniture, and perhaps most notably, their songs. Shaker songs were traditionally sung in unison without instrumental accompaniment. Singing and dancing were vital components of Shaker worship and everyday life. Over 8000 songs in some 800 songbooks were created, most of them during the 1830's to 1860's in Shaker communities throughout New England.
S I M P L E G I F T S
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free;
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be;
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed
To turn, turn will be our delight,
'Til by turning, turning we come round right.
Loch Lomond
This song is introduced to me very recently by. At my first listening, it sounded like "Fields of Gold" written by Sting. Interestingly, the version of Loch Lomond that my fren introduced me to is also rearranged by Frank Ticheli, and the historical information behind this song can be found at his official publishing website www.ManhattanBeachMusic.com. i've just downloaded a version with the lyrics and it sounded very folkish and very serene.
At the time in Scottish history when "Loch Lomond" was a new song, the United Kingdom (which united Scotland, England, and Wales) had already been formed. But the Highland Scots wanted a Scottish, not an English King to rule. Led by their Bonnie Prince Charlie (Prince Charles Edward Stuart) they attempted unsuccessfully to depose Britain's King George II. An army of 7,000 Highlanders were defeated on April 16, 1746 at the famous Battle of Culloden Moor. It is this same battle that indirectly gives rise to this beautiful song. After the battle, many Scottish soldiers were imprisoned within England's Carlisle Castle, near the border of Scotland. "Loch Lomond" tells the story of two Scottish soldiers who were so imprisoned. One of them was to be executed, while the other was to be set free. According to Celtic legend if someone dies in a foreign land, his spirit will travel to his homeland by "the low road" - the route for the souls of the dead. In the song, the spirit of the dead soldier shall arrive first, while the living soldier will take the "high road" over the mountains, to arrive afterwards.
The song is from the point of view of the soldier who will be executed: When he sings, "ye'll tak' the high road and I'll tak' the low road" in effect he is saying that you will return alive, and I will return in spirit. He remembers his happy past, "By yon bonnie banks ... where me and my true love were ever wont to gae [accustomed to go]" and sadly accepts his death "the broken heart it ken nae [knows no] second Spring again."
The original folksong uses a six note scale; the seventh scale degree is absent from the melody. The lyric intertwines the sadness of the soldier's plight with images of Loch Lomond's stunning natural beauty.
L O C H L O M O N D
By yon bonnie banks,
And by yon bonnie braes,
Where the sun shines bright, on Loch Lomond
Where me and my true love
Were ever wont to gae
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.
(Chorus)
Oh! ye'll tak' the high road and
I'll tak' the low road,
An' I'll be in Scotland afore ye',
But me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.
'Twas then that we parted,
In yon shady glen,
On the steep, steep side of Ben Lomond
Where in purple hue
The Highland hills we view,
And the moon coming out in the gloaming.
(Chorus)
The wee birdies sing
And the wild flowers spring,
And in sunshine the waters are sleeping.
But the broken heart it kens
Nae second Spring again,
Tho' the waeful may cease frae their greeting.
(Chorus)
Some words in the Scots language:
yon ... yonder
bonnie ... beautiful
braes ... slopes (hillsides)
gae ... go
glen ... valley
ben ... mount (mountain)
gloaming ... twilight (dusk)
wee ... tiny
kens ... knows
nae ... no
waeful ... woeful
frae ... from
wont ... accustomed
inspired-and-rejuvenated,
Johnzzon
This song was introduced to me when i went for a certain alumni band's concert. They were playing "Lord of the Dance" by Ronan Hardiman who adapted Simple Gifts for the tap-dance extravaganza by Michael Flatley. Later on, during the Pacific Basin Music Festival in Hawaii, i was reintroduced to this song once again by another band. Till then, i still thought that this song is called "Lord of the Dance" originally composed by Ronan Hardiman. only years later, i heard the song once again over the Oscars awards in a different arrangement and i started to get interested to find out the history behind the song, only to find that Ronan Hardiman adapted the melody selfishly and that the original tune belongs to a Shaker's melody...
The last movement to Frank Ticheli's Simple Gifts Suite is a setting of the Shaker's most famous song, "Simple Gifts," sometimes attributed to Elder Joseph Bracket (1797-1882) of the Alfred, Maine community, and also said (in Lebanon, New York, manuscript) as having been received from a Negro spirit at Canterbury, New Hampshire, making "Simple Gifts" possibly a visionary gift song. It has been used in hundreds of settings and throughout its little journey, the tune is never abandoned, rarely altered, always exalted.
The Shakers were a religious sect who splintered from a Quaker community in the mid-1700's in Manchester, England. Known then derisively as "Shaking Quakers" because of the passionate shaking that would occur during their religious services, they were viewed as radicals, and their members were sometimes harassed and even imprisoned by the English. The Shakers were pacifists who kept a very low profile, and their membership increased only modestly during the decades following their arrival, but soon after the Civil War their membership declined dramatically. Their practice of intense simplicity and celibacy accounts for much of their decline. The Shakers were known for their architecture, crafts, furniture, and perhaps most notably, their songs. Shaker songs were traditionally sung in unison without instrumental accompaniment. Singing and dancing were vital components of Shaker worship and everyday life. Over 8000 songs in some 800 songbooks were created, most of them during the 1830's to 1860's in Shaker communities throughout New England.
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free;
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be;
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed
To turn, turn will be our delight,
'Til by turning, turning we come round right.
This song is introduced to me very recently by
At the time in Scottish history when "Loch Lomond" was a new song, the United Kingdom (which united Scotland, England, and Wales) had already been formed. But the Highland Scots wanted a Scottish, not an English King to rule. Led by their Bonnie Prince Charlie (Prince Charles Edward Stuart) they attempted unsuccessfully to depose Britain's King George II. An army of 7,000 Highlanders were defeated on April 16, 1746 at the famous Battle of Culloden Moor. It is this same battle that indirectly gives rise to this beautiful song. After the battle, many Scottish soldiers were imprisoned within England's Carlisle Castle, near the border of Scotland. "Loch Lomond" tells the story of two Scottish soldiers who were so imprisoned. One of them was to be executed, while the other was to be set free. According to Celtic legend if someone dies in a foreign land, his spirit will travel to his homeland by "the low road" - the route for the souls of the dead. In the song, the spirit of the dead soldier shall arrive first, while the living soldier will take the "high road" over the mountains, to arrive afterwards.
The song is from the point of view of the soldier who will be executed: When he sings, "ye'll tak' the high road and I'll tak' the low road" in effect he is saying that you will return alive, and I will return in spirit. He remembers his happy past, "By yon bonnie banks ... where me and my true love were ever wont to gae [accustomed to go]" and sadly accepts his death "the broken heart it ken nae [knows no] second Spring again."
The original folksong uses a six note scale; the seventh scale degree is absent from the melody. The lyric intertwines the sadness of the soldier's plight with images of Loch Lomond's stunning natural beauty.
By yon bonnie banks,
And by yon bonnie braes,
Where the sun shines bright, on Loch Lomond
Where me and my true love
Were ever wont to gae
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.
(Chorus)
Oh! ye'll tak' the high road and
I'll tak' the low road,
An' I'll be in Scotland afore ye',
But me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.
'Twas then that we parted,
In yon shady glen,
On the steep, steep side of Ben Lomond
Where in purple hue
The Highland hills we view,
And the moon coming out in the gloaming.
(Chorus)
The wee birdies sing
And the wild flowers spring,
And in sunshine the waters are sleeping.
But the broken heart it kens
Nae second Spring again,
Tho' the waeful may cease frae their greeting.
(Chorus)
Some words in the Scots language:
yon ... yonder
bonnie ... beautiful
braes ... slopes (hillsides)
gae ... go
glen ... valley
ben ... mount (mountain)
gloaming ... twilight (dusk)
wee ... tiny
kens ... knows
nae ... no
waeful ... woeful
frae ... from
wont ... accustomed
inspired-and-rejuvenated,
Johnzzon
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Please shoot me an email if interested. Kudos!
Also visit my blog ; perfumes originales
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