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Flanders and Swann were a British comedy duo and musicians. Michael Flanders (1922–1975) was a lyricist, actor, and singer. He collaborated with Donald Swann (1923–1994), a composer and pianist, in writing and performing comic songs. They first worked together in a school revue in 1939 and eventually wrote more than 100 comic songs together.
"Hush, Little Baby" is a traditional lullaby, thought to have been written in the Southern United States. The lyrics are from the point of view of a parent trying to appease an upset child by promising to give them a gift. Sensing the child's apprehension, the parent has planned a series of contingencies in case their gifts don't work out. The simple structure allows more verses to be added ad lib. It has a Roud number of 470.
Cecil James Sharp was an English collector of folk songs, folk dances and instrumental music, as well as a lecturer, teacher, composer and musician. He was a key figure in the folk-song revival in England during the Edwardian period. According to Roud's Folk Song in England, Sharp was the country's "single most important figure in the study of folk song and music."
"Solomon Grundy" is an English nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19299.
"Matty Groves", also known as "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard" or "Little Musgrave", is a ballad probably originating in Northern England that describes an adulterous tryst between a young man and a noblewoman that is ended when the woman's husband discovers and kills them. It is listed as Child ballad number 81 and number 52 in the Roud Folk Song Index. This song exists in many textual variants and has several variant names. The song dates to at least 1613, and under the title Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard is one of the Child ballads collected by 19th-century American scholar Francis James Child.
"I Saw Three Ships (Come Sailing In)" is an English Christmas carol, listed as number 700 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The earliest printed version of "I Saw Three Ships" is from the 17th century, possibly Derbyshire, and was also published by William Sandys in 1833. The song was probably traditionally known as "As I Sat On a Sunny Bank", and was particularly popular in Cornwall.
English Folk Song Suite is one of English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams' most famous works. It was first published for the military band as Folk Song Suite and its premiere was given at Kneller Hall on 4 July 1923, conducted by Lt Hector Adkins. The piece was then arranged for full orchestra in 1924 by Vaughan Williams' student Gordon Jacob and published as English Folk Song Suite. The piece was later arranged for British-style brass band in 1956 by Frank Wright and published as English Folk Songs Suite. All three versions were published by Boosey & Hawkes; note the use of three different titles for the three different versions. The suite uses the melodies of nine English folk songs, six of which were drawn from the collection made by Vaughan Williams’ friend and colleague Cecil Sharp.
The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (VWML) is the library and archive of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS), located in the society's London headquarters, Cecil Sharp House. It is a multi-media library comprising books, periodicals, audio-visual materials, photographic images and sound recordings, as well as manuscripts, field notes, transcriptions etc. of a number of collectors of folk music and dance traditions in the British Isles. According to A Dictionary of English Folklore, "... by a gradual process of professionalization the VWML has become the most important concentration of material on traditional song, dance, and music in the country."
The English Folk Dance and Song Society is an organisation that promotes English folk music and folk dance. EFDSS was formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dance Society. The EFDSS, a member-based organisation, was incorporated in 1935 and became a registered charity in 1963.
"Fair Margaret and Sweet William" is a traditional English ballad which tells of two lovers, of whom either one or both die from heartbreak. Thomas Percy included it in his folio and said that it was quoted as early as 1611 in the Knight of the Burning Pestle. In the United States, variations of Fair Margaret have been regarded as folk song as early as 1823.
The Farmer's Curst Wife is a traditional English language folk song listed as Child ballad number 278 and number 160 in the Roud Folk Song Index.
"Bonnie Annie" is a folk ballad recorded from the Scottish and English traditions. Scottish texts are often called Bonnie Annie or The Green Banks of Yarrow, English texts are most often called The Banks of Green Willow. Other titles include The Undutiful Daughter, The High Banks O Yarrow, The Watery Grave, Green Willow, There Was a Rich Merchant that Lived in Strathdinah and The Merchant's Daughter.
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is an English Christmas carol. A classic example of a cumulative song, the lyrics detail a series of increasingly numerous gifts given to the speaker by their "true love" on each of the twelve days of Christmas. The carol, whose words were first published in England in the late eighteenth century, has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 68. A large number of different melodies have been associated with the song, of which the best known is derived from a 1909 arrangement of a traditional folk melody by English composer Frederic Austin.
The song "All Around my Hat" is of nineteenth-century English origin. In an early version, dating from the 1820s, a Cockney costermonger vowed to be true to his fiancée, who had been sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia for theft and to mourn his loss of her by wearing green willow sprigs in his hatband for "a twelve-month and a day", the willow being a traditional symbol of mourning. The song was made famous by Steeleye Span, whose rendition may have been based on a more traditional version sung by John Langstaff, in 1975.
"The Sprig of Thyme", "The Seeds of Love", "Maiden’s Lament", "Garners Gay", "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme" or "Rue" is a traditional British and Irish folk ballad that uses botanical and other symbolism to warn young people of the dangers in taking false lovers. The song was first documented in 1689 and the many variants go by a large number of titles.
"The Bramble Briar", "The Merchant's Daughter" or "In Bruton Town" is a traditional English folk murder ballad that tells the story of how two brothers murder a servant who is courting their sister. There are many versions of the song going by a number of different titles.
Come all you worthy gentlemen, sometimes referred to as the Somerset Carol, is an English folk carol of unknown authorship. It was collected from a Mr. Rapsey, of Bridgwater during the English Folk-song revival at the beginning of the 20th century by Cecil Sharp. It was first published in 1905 in Sharp and Marson's Folk songs from Somerset. According to Sharp, it is a variant of the carol God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen.
"Hares on the Mountain" is an English folk song. Versions of this song have been collected from traditional singers in England, Canada and the US, and have been recorded by modern folk artists.
"Soldier, Soldier, Won't You Marry Me?" is a traditional song, Roud number 489. Fresno State University gives the earliest date as 1903 in America. It was printed in "Games and Songs of American Children" by William Wells Newell. However the song was collected many times over in a short period of time, including Cecil Sharp in 1917, Anne Gilchrist in Scotland in 1919 and Seamus Ennis in Ireland. Among many arrangements, Peter Pears made an arrangement of the song in 1936.
Lucy Anna White was a British folk-singer from Somerset. She was an early source of songs for the folk song collector Cecil Sharp and she is said to have shaped his interests. Her half-sister was another singer named Louie Hooper (1860-1946).
References
- ↑ Vaughan Williams, Ralph. "Dashing Away With the Smoothing Iron". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Cecil Sharp House. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- ↑ Waltz, Robert. "Driving Away at the Smoothing Iron". fresnostate University. The Ballad Index. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- ↑ Text and music in Cecil J. Sharp, A Selection of Collected Folk Songs
- ↑ "At The Drop of Another Hat". Flanders and Swann Online. Archived from the original on 2013-12-07. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
- ↑ "Dashing Away With A Smoothing Iron by Traditional". songfacts. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
- ↑ "John Rutter at Pytheas". Pytheasmusic.org. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ↑ "Choral legend John Rutter to lead St. Charles Singers". otg.mysuburbanlife.com. Retrieved 2010-09-05.[ permanent dead link ]
