The Floral Dance

Last updated

"The Floral Dance" is an English song describing the annual Furry Dance in Helston, Cornwall.

Contents

The music and lyrics were written in 1911 by Kate Emily Barkley ("Katie") Moss (1881–1947) who was a professional violinist, pianist and concert singer. She was brought up in London and studied at the Royal Academy of Music.

The song tells the story of an incident that apparently actually happened to Moss herself on a visit to Helston during the springtime 'Furry Dance' celebrations and the song was reportedly written directly afterwards as she was going home on the train.

The songbook cover states that the music was "founded on an old Cornish air". Moss introduces the original Furry Dance tune in the piano part just as the singer is describing the sound of the band, with its "cornet, clarinet and big trombone; fiddle, cello, big bass drum; bassoon, flute and euphonium".

"The Floral Dance" was first recorded in 1912 by the Australian bass/baritone Peter Dawson, and many other versions have appeared since. Frederick Ranalow's recording was made in order to cash in on the sales of the Dawson version. The 1960s saw versions by The Eagles (UK), [1] Ken Sims' Vintage Jazz Band (UK) and The Ivy League (UK). In 1970, the cast of Dad's Army performed a sketch ('The Cornish Floral Dance') for Christmas Night with the Stars . They repeated their versions in the 1975 Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium. [2]

Moss's song experienced a revival in an arrangement for the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band by their MD Derek Broadbent, which sold half a million copies, and reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart by Christmas 1977. [3] In 1978, Terry Wogan recorded a version which reached No. 21 in the same chart. [4] Wogan's version was accompanied by the Hanwell Band from west London, and omitted the final verse containing the climax to the story. On Top of the Pops , Wogan sang it live to a backing track. [5] An instrumental version was recorded in 1979 by Gheorghe Zamfir. A version of the song was prominently featured near the beginning of the 1996 film, Brassed Off .

In 2016, a campaign for Christmas Number One was launched for Terry Wogan's version of "The Floral Dance" after his death. All proceeds of the downloaded single were to be given to Children in Need. [6]

Lyric

Music and lyrics by Katie Moss, 1911

As I walked home on a Summer night
When stars in Heav'n were shining bright
Far away from the footlight's glare
Into the sweet and scented air
Of a quaint old Cornish town
Borne from afar on the gentle breeze
Joining the murmur of the summer seas
Distant tones of an old world dance
Played by the village band perchance
On the calm air came floating down
I thought I could hear the curious tone
Of the cornet, clarinet and big trombone
Fiddle, 'cello, big bass drum
Bassoon, flute and euphonium
Far away, as in a trance
I heard the sound of the Floral Dance
And soon I heard such a bustling and prancing
And then I saw the whole village was dancing
In and out of the houses they came
Old folk, young folk, all the same
In that quaint old Cornish town
Every boy took a girl 'round the waist
And hurried her off in tremendous haste
Whether they knew one another I care not
Whether they cared at all, I know not
But they kissed as they danced along.
And there was the band with that curious tone
Of the cornet, clarinet and big trombone
Fiddle, 'cello, big bass drum
Bassoon, flute and euphonium
Each one making the most of his chance
All together in the Floral Dance
I felt so lonely standing there
And I could only stand and stare
For I had no boy with me
Lonely I should have to be
In that quaint old Cornish town.
When suddenly hast'ning down the lane
A figure I knew I saw quite plain
With outstretched hands he came along
And carried me into that merry throng
And fiddle and all went dancing down.
We danced to the band with the curious tone
Of the cornet, clarinet and big trombone
Fiddle, 'cello, big bass drum
Bassoon, flute and euphonium
Each one making the most of his chance
Altogether in the Floral Dance.
Dancing here, prancing there
Jigging, jogging ev'rywhere
Up and down, and round the town
Hurrah! For the Cornish Floral Dance

Related Research Articles

Musical ensemble Instrumental and/or vocal music group

A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, such as the jazz quartet or the orchestra. Other music ensembles consist solely of singers, such as choirs and doo wop groups. In both popular music and classical music, there are ensembles in which both instrumentalists and singers perform, such as the rock band or the Baroque chamber group for basso continuo and one or more singers. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles. Some ensembles blend the sounds of a variety of instrument families, such as the orchestra, which uses a string section, brass instruments, woodwinds and percussion instruments, or the concert band, which uses brass, woodwinds and percussion.

Furry Dance Traditional British floral dance

The most famous Furry Dance takes place in Helston, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is one of the oldest British customs still practised today. The earliest mention seems to be in a letter to the Gentleman's Magazine for 1790 where the writer says "At Helstone, a genteel and populus borough town in Cornwall, it is customary to dedicate the 8th May to revelry. It is called Furry Day". The dance is very well attended every year and people travel from all over the world to see it: Helston Town Band play all the music for the dances.

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.

Walter Sinclair Hartley was an American composer of contemporary (classical) music.

Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band

The Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band was formed in 1881. It is based in Brighouse, in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England.

Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen is a Norwegian contemporary composer.

Dean Drummond was an American composer, arranger, conductor and musician. His music featured microtonality, electronics, and a variety of percussion. He invented a 31-tone instrument called the zoomoozophone in 1978. From 1990 to his death he was the conservator of the Harry Partch instrumentarium.

Euphonium repertoire Set of available musical works for euphonium

The euphonium repertoire consists of solo literature and parts in band or, less commonly, orchestral music written for the euphonium. Since its invention in 1843, the euphonium has always had an important role in ensembles, but solo literature was slow to appear, consisting of only a handful of lighter solos until the 1960s. Since then, however, the breadth and depth of the solo euphonium repertoire has increased dramatically.

<i>Wazoo</i> (album) 2007 live album by Frank Zappa

Wazoo is a live album by Frank Zappa, posthumously released in October 2007 as a 2-CD set consisting of the complete concert given by "The Mothers of Invention/Hot Rats/Grand Wazoo" 20-piece big band on September 24, 1972 at the Music Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the third installment on the Vaulternative Records label that is dedicated to the posthumous release of complete Zappa concerts, following the releases of FZ:OZ (2002) and Buffalo (2007).

Helston Town Band is a brass band in the Cornish town of Helston.

Trumpet repertoire Set of available musical works for trumpet

The trumpet repertoire consists of solo literature and orchestral or, more commonly, band parts written for the trumpet. Tracings its origins to 1500 BC, the trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family.

Arthur Eckersley Butterworth, was an English composer, conductor, trumpeter and teacher.

Ketil Hvoslef is a Norwegian composer. He is the son of composer Harald Sæverud.

Howard J. Buss American composer

Howard J. Buss is an American composer of contemporary classical music. Buss’ works include instrumental solos, chamber music, symphonic, choral, and band works. His music has received awards, including from the 2011 Lieksa Brass Week Composition Competition in Finland, the 2015 American Trombone Workshop National Composition Competition, the National Flute Association’s Newly-Published Music Competition, the Erik Satie Mostly Tonal Award, State of Florida Fellowships, ASCAP Plus Awards., and The American Prize.

Will Gay Bottje ) was an American composer known for his contributions to electronic music.

<i>Barefoot Dances and Other Visions</i> 2018 studio album by Jim McNeely

Barefoot Dances and Other Visions is an album by Jim McNeely released early in 2018. The album was recorded with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band in 2014. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2019, but it did not win.

"Children's March: Over the Hills and Far Away" was written by Percy Grainger as his first work published for band. It was originally written between 1916 and 1918 as a piano showpiece for World War I relief efforts. However, after enlisting as a bandsman in the United States Army, he quickly orchestrated it for military band using his solo piano version as a sketch. An arrangement by Grainger for two pianos was later published in 1920.

References

  1. ↑ "Eagles, The - Come On Baby (To The Floral Dance) (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  2. ↑ Radio Times 15 November 1975
  3. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 78. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  4. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 608. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  5. ↑ "The Amazing Story of "The Floral Dance"". Floraldance.com. Archived from the original on 2012-05-24. Retrieved 2012-05-04.
  6. ↑ Terry Wogan - A Celebration of Music, Terry Wogan, retrieved 2016-12-16
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.