Here's a post looking at the three high school pieces we're preparing for the Community Band/Youth Concert on Thursday, April 5. These three pieces are quite complementary perhaps partly because they have some factors in common. Two of them are written by the same composer/arranger, and two of them are based on maritime work songs, known as sea shanties. But what do the other two have in common?
You'll remember composer Larry Neeck, who also wrote Saxes Will Rock!, which we played last semester.
This piece is a medley of several sea shanties (or chanties). These were songs sung by ships' crews in the 1800's. They sang while working together to load/unload, haul on ropes, and pump out bilges, etc. Singing together helped maintain a rhythm while working. Wikipedia explains: "Shanty repertoire borrowed from the contemporary popular music enjoyed by sailors, including minstrel music, popular marches, and land-based folk songs, which were adapted to suit musical forms matching the various labor tasks required to operate a sailing ship. Such tasks, which usually required a coordinated group effort in either a pulling or pushing action, included weighing anchor and setting sail." Seems like a fitting metaphor for the group effort of the Youth Concert!
Tales of Sea and Sail contains excerpts from the following sea shanties: "A Roving", "Blow The Man Down", "Rio Grande", "Shenandoah", "Drunken Sailor", and "Santy Anna."
I couldn't find any examples of this piece on YouTube. Here is a partial version (up to bar 157), from the publisher's webpage.
Ravensgate
Here's a link to the bio of composer Carl Strommen. This is a link to the professional version of Ravensgate, on the publishers webpage.
And here are some versions by school bands:
Ahhhhhh. Smell that sea air!!!
Under an Irish Sky
This medley, arranged by Larry Neeck, contains two Irish traditional folk tunes: Slane (also the name of a village in County Meath, Ireland which is the site of a large annual rock festival) and Brian Boru's March.
Here's the publisher's partial version of the piece (up to bar 97).
And here's a version by a middle school band.
it seems to me that under and Irish sky and ravens gate both have Irish backgrounds I think that ravensgate is written about a coastal Irish village. if this is true then we have the mainland, the coast, and the open sea.
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice way to tie these three pieces together, not only do they have things in common, but they add up to a whole. Neat! Thanks, Phil.
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