The recordings this week included some very familiar tunes, some of which I couldn't quite place for a while. The first tune, the British-turned-American ballad "Barbara Allen" is a tune that is used in the Lutheran Church as a song to be sung during the presentation of gifts following the offertory ("Accept, oh Lord, the gifts we bring"). It took me ages to figure out where I had heard the tune before. It became clear to me as I searched jwpepper.com for choral arrangements of this tune. The melody used in the many arrangements is what caught me as familiar. Jean Ritchie's performance was incredibly haunting and beautiful. Her ornamentations speak greatly about her upbringing in Appalachia. I found the acapella performance to be particularly moving.
The two versions of "Soldier's Joy" presented two very different versions. In addition to the instrumentation and singing, the entire feel of the pieces was different. The Skillet Lickers' version was, of course, geared towards dancing. The opening lyrics include dance instructions (according to the text, they were lifted from another popular song of the time). The percussive quality of the guitar adds to the drive of the piece and I found myself tapping my foot along to the music. Tommy Jarrell's version, while still impressive, has less of a dance feel, and more of a "home-like" feel, perhaps to be played with family.
"Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair" is a tune that is well known to me for several reasons. When I was in middle school, my choir sang a medley of Stephen Foster songs which included this tune. Of course, the other reason is because Bugs Bunny sang this song in an old "Looney Tunes" cartoon that I saw as a child. It's always stuck out as a moment from those shows that I remember. It's amazing how sophisticated and full of adult humor the Warner Brothers cartoons were. I imagine it is a testament to Stephen Foster's writing that I remember that tune so much. Musically, the tune follows a standard AABA form and also has hints of late Classical/early Romantic harmony.
What struck me the most interesting about "After the Ball" was Joan Morris's choice to narrate the last verse, rather than sing it. It adds variety to the form of the piece that, while standard, can become a bit repetitive by the third verse. While the song was incredibly popular during its time, I found it (in general), to be less memorable than the other songs on the listening list. It is very possible that this particular song structure has become so well known in the last 100 years that the piece sounds cliche, even though at its time it was not.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to all of the music this week. Some of the songs have a more "sophisticated" air about them, but each piece and performer show significant musical skills. I think that sometimes, classically trained musicians look at folk and popular musicians as a lower form of performer or writer. I wholeheartedly disagree. These recordings have cemented my opinions that all types of music require technical and expressive ability. The same can be said for the composers themselves. Whether written in a studio in New York City, at a conservatory in London, or passed down through the mountains of Appalachia, the level of musicianship and artistry can remain the same. I am looking forward to exploring more music in the weeks ahead.
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