Comments above have prompted me to muse on lines on maps, as a social geographer I find them arbitrary, dividing communities, cultures and religions. They cause rifts, and economic hardship at the whim of politicians irrespective of the names associated with them. But I was reminded this morning of a greater truth as Homer said in the Odyssey “Sing in me, oh Muse, and through me tell a story …”, this incomplete quote was also a parting word said by Bob Dylan in his Nobel acceptance speech. Let’s forget what lines are drawn on maps by well-meaning but self serving politicians and enjoy the music. And to take an European slant can we not appreciate Celtic music with its ancient roots in Egypt, or the Roma brass bands and songs with its roots in the sub-continent, or the string and emotional music of the Jewish diaspora whether from Sephardic and Ashkenazy traditions?
Let me add a few random examples from my own music library:
Absolutely! I’m a literature scholar by trade and a poet by inclination. I’ve taught many nationalities in my post-92 Birmingham university where the students come from many cultural backgrounds to study English linguistics and literature. Literature and music are international. Muzsikás was my introduction to Bartók in which original field recordings are blended with modern performances. This music originates from Transylvania, the area of north-west Romania with a mixed Romanian, Hungarian and Roma population. Bartók collected songs and fiddle tunes.
Excellent example @Stokie .
The composers’ cafe in Budapest was a wonderful place to enjoy music. It was an inner courtyard within the Jewish quarter. Certainly the best city I worked in for music.
@Camphuw I’ve only visited as a tourist in 1990 after the first free elections. The statues of the Russian solders had been removed from the Chain Bridge, but the Red Star was still there then. Everything was paid for in US 10 dollar notes. Old Buda was a delight. Classical concerts were cheap and to my ears good quality. Of course there was a contradiction between attitudes to the ‘gypsies’ entertaining the tourists and the Roma who we were warned to keep away from. I was reading Claudio Magris Danube which was enlightening about Central Europe, shifting borders and changes of town names, languages and sometimes populations.
Ahhh!! I should have been on a hut to hut tour with friends in the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania last September, but a certain virus had other ideas. I just hope it becomes possible before I get too ancient for Alpine hiking. In the mean time I’ll try out the Bartok album.
Fingers crossed for future years. I’ve never been to Romania sadly. Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta is recommended too. I suspect that folk music is attractive to avant-garde classical composers because it often uses different keys and modes becoming a means of atonality. (Besides the different instruments.) Bartok’s String Quartets has a barrel organ in the finale. But I confess other than Muzsikás, I play Bartok when others are out of the house!
Now for a novelty item. I worked with the writer Ian Marchant for some years. Ian sings and performs sometimes, usually punkish comedy numbers in an outfit called ‘Your Dad’. Naturally we talked about music from time to time. Ian thinks revived folk music is inauthentic. Middle class intellectuals pretending to be horny-handed sons of toil. ‘A blacksmith courted me…’ ‘No, he didn’t.’ So I was surprised at his recent effort as a folk-rocker. But I appreciate the personal connection with this song, ‘The Turtledove’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6WGNZQY0Y0
Ian comments: ‘My maternal Grandmother was Hervey Vaughan-Williams’ housekeeper at Leith Hill Place until his death in 1944. She was 17 when [Ralph Vaughan Williams] collected this song in Rusper…
Recorded in the heady autumn of 2019 with Stuart Anthony in Lancaster, my sole foray into folk rock.’
Vaughan Williams recorded David Penfold singing ‘The Turtle Dove’ in the pub at Rusper on a wax cylinder in 1907. Penfold was the landlord. This version has been cleaned up from the original to remove loads of surface noise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOh5KN6XQws&t=2s
'The Turtle Dove is a parting song. Roud 422, there are lots of floating verses and the song has several titles including ‘Ten Thousand Miles’ and ‘Careless Love’ Robert Burns ‘The Red Red Rose’ was written after he read or sung ‘The Turtle Dove’ - we know this because he wrote his name on a copy.
Nic Jones recorded ‘Ten Thousand Miles’ on The Noah’s Ark Trap in 1977. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07SCJPpAGEI Many more recent versions such as that by Eliza Carthy are taken from his singing.
Thanks so much! As you probably know Nic has had an issue with reissuing old LPs, like The Noah’s Ark Trap, as he does not own the copyright of his own music. And the original record company has not reissued it. I saw him live in Sidmouth a few years ago. He sings but can’t play the fiddle and not much guitar since that terrible accident. He is a massive influence on his own and later generations.
Some of his music is on Topic and others via his own website.
The BBC Radio 4 series, Soul Music, featured the song ‘The Parting Glass’ this morning (9-9.30) is worth a listen. Some very moving commentary about the song itself and a new recording by Scottish singer Karine Polwart. Highly recommended, available on the Sounds app. I don’t think Karine’s version of this song is available to download anywhere at present. It was originally commissioned by the BBC for use in a special edition of the Today programme broadcast in December 2020.
It’s on Qobuz, too. Just having fun listening to it; thanks for the heads up.
I find the Celtic connections along the Atlantic seaboard fascinating. To me it just emphasises how deeply entwined with other parts of Europe is our cultural heritage.
