Friday our English Composers class met up at the Cecil Sharp House English Folk Dance & Song Society to learn about English folk and Vaughan Williams' involvement with it.
We started off with a mini-tour, looking into the library and then learning a bit about the history of the EFDSS in the great hall. We headed upstairs to a smaller room where we then had a workshop. The director of the library there talked to us about Vaughan Williams' involvement with folk music and about collecting folk songs and how that works. I also hadn't realized this before, but most of the songs in Appalachia stem from English folk and have also mixed with African traditional music and gospel.
When he'd finished his short talk to us (he wasn't feeling well), the guy who was going to lead our workshop came in the room. I thought he looked somewhat familiar but couldn't place it for about a minute... then I realized that he was probably (90%) the guy who led the open mic session at the Bruce Molsky show I'd been to in October. As he talked more about his involvement with promoting folk music in London, I became more sure that this was the guy. He'd sung an absolutely beautiful song that was one of the high points of the open mic.
He told us we were going to sing some songs and led us in warmups and soon had us singing a round:
John, John, where have you been all night?
Down in the valley, kissing Sally
Picking up cinders, breaking windows
Riding donkeys, shooting monkeys
I'm a boy who's kicking up a row, row, row
It was fun because everyone actually got into the song, and there was even some foot-stomping and clapping.
After this song, Sam Lee played us different versions of the same song ("The Trees They Do Grow High" - this YouTube video is a good version) to show how the melody and words can change as it's passed along in different places, and then we learned a version of it and sung it as a class. Very pretty song.
After we learned it, Sam Lee brought out the suitcase box instrument thing that he'd played at the Bruce Molsky show that's like an accordion. He sang us an incredibly beautiful song that even kids in the class who don't like folk music were completely enraptured.
After the class, I mentioned that I'd been to the Molsky show and a few of us chatted with Sam before heading downstairs to check out the library. The director of the library showed us some really interesting things and told us a bit about what he was working on currently. He was such a nice guy and was so excited to see students interested in folk music.
I'm not doing this day justice at all, but this was one of the most exciting classes I've ever had. I'm slowly becoming more and more involved with folk music and into the folk community, and I love it. The raw expression of folk music and the tradition just really appeals to me, and as much as I love my current indie type music, it just isn't even in the same field as folk.
Anyone want to get me a fiddle or banjo for Christmas? (Kidding. Sort of.)
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1 comment:
I can definitely get the picture of the excitement and enjoyment of this class! That song is haunting and sweet. Is that the guy who played it for you?
This reminds me of the song on that Eva Cassidy CD called "Tall Trees In Georgia," which must have its own roots in southern folk lore.
I know a certain husband of a first cousin who runs a factory making not only one of the world's finest guitars but also violins to rival a Stradivarius. Problem is, we're just coming up a few thousand short!
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