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This CD celebrates an institution
that contributed mightily
to the
development and vitality of folk music‹the café,and its Irish
cousin, the pub. Our best recollections are of late
nights spent
in these venues, "sessioning" with old musicians and listening
to the lore of the buskers (street performers).
We invite you
into our café where music--old and new--Celtic and
continental--brought together a Belgian and
an American Irish musician who fell in love.
1. Breton Dance/Star of Munster
A continental Celtic an dro paired with a classic Irish
reel.
Irish Maidens Set (2-3):
2. Máirin de Barra air
3. Siobhan O'Donnell's/Handsome Young Maidens
(C.Lennon (c)IMRO)
In this traditional air, a rejected lover sings to Máirin:
³Happy and thankful are the blankets that warm you, and
how happy the bridegroom who¹ll stand beside you at the
altar² (trans. Brian O¹Rourke). "O'Donnell's"
was composed by John Brady and "Maiden" by Charlie
Lennon for his Island Wedding Suite.
4. Style Musette (André Verchuren;
arr. Paul Oorts)
A classic of the French musette genre. The combination of
the (Italian) mandolin and the (Irish) pipes as lead instruments
is actually not as surprising as you may think. "Musette,"
originally meant "bagpipe," the principal instrument in
working class neighborhoods of Paris in the final decades
of the nineteenth century. The wave of Italian immigrants
introduced the accordion into dancehalls, rendering the
old musettes obsolete, and engendering a new musical genre.
Irish Reel Set (5-6):
5. Hong Herald (Karen Ashbrook)
6. Bear Island/Séan sa Cheo/Hong Herald
Karen's "Hong Heral" is dedicated to her son's
cherished 5th grade teacher, Ms. Hong. The second reel is
composed by accordionist Finbar Dwyer to honor a place at
the head of Bantry Bay in County Cork. "Séan sa Cheo"
is Irish for "John in the Fog."
The Celt Goes South
7. Behind the Bush in the Garden/Sgt. Early¹s Dream/Lady
Anne Montgomery
Traditional tunes that travel to sunny climes include a
Reggae jig, some pseudo-African guitar riffs, and a reel
that swings, Texas-style.
Belgian Jig Set
8. Colonne la Gavre/Sabotière de Nonceveux/La Marchande
The Colonne (row dance) and Sabotière (clog dance) are from
the playing of Belgium¹s eminent folk orchestra, Het Brabants
Volksorkest. These jigs are commonly played in Wallonia,
the southern, French-speaking part of Belgium. This sabotière
also found its way into the Irish tradition and can be found
as a gan ainm (nameless tune) in Brendán Breathnach¹s Ceol
Rince na hÉireann, Vol. IV. "La Marchande" dates
from the days of the 18th century Austrian occupation of
Belgium and was published in Cent Contredanses en rond by
D¹Aubat St. Flour, a dancemaster from Ghent.
9. Valse Petit Déjeuner 3:53
Composed by French diatonic accordion player Jean-Christophe
Lequerré, this tune conjures up for us the sweetness of
a honeymoon breakfast despite its later title, "La
mal-aimable" (The Hard-to-Love Woman).
Flemish Carillon Set
10. Wel Island/Chimes of Dunkirk/Air #38 (arr. Paul Oorts)
Island is West Flemish for Iceland, where fishermen would
spend long months on small boats in frightful weather to
bring back barrels of pickled codfish. Many sailors lost
their lives in those treacherous waters. This lament was
collected in the mid-1800's from a woman whose son was a
regular ijslandvaarder: "Iceland, you cruel coast,
you distress the maidens in sad summertimes without their
pleasant lovers..." Next is a welcoming tune which
sailors might have heard from Dunkirk¹s carillon as they
sailed into the harbor. It is from a 1746 manuscript collected
by Antwerp¹s carilloneur, Johannes de Gruytters. To celebrate
a warm return from the icy seas, we add a happy air from
the same source.
11. Paspie Menuet/Mr. Waller
(Turlough O"Carolan, arr. Dave Wiesler) Paul learned
the first piece from ¹t Kliekske, a pioneering Flemish folk
group. We couldn¹t resist the addition of French horns on
the Irish harp minuet, Mr. Waller.
Napoleon Suite (12-19)
The battle that took place in 1815 in Waterloo, a little
town just south of Brussels, like many of the pan-European
conflicts of the last centuries, engaged armies filled with
conscripts from the outposts of the clashing empires. These
armies traveled with professional musicians who played them
into battle, and these migrating instrumentalists carried
their arsenals of folk tunes across borders, allowing musical
traditions to cross- pollinate. Such momentous battles also
inspired the creation of commemorative tunes and songs.
A Scottish folk song collector wrote: "The twenty years
that ended with Waterloo have left more traces on our popular
minstrelsy than any other period of our history." Napoleon's
defeat there dashed the dreams of the Irish hoping France
would help liberate them from the British. It also led to
the creation of Belgium as a buffer country between surrounding
European powers.
Before the Battle (12-15):
12. Gathering at Waterloo (Bobby Read) Will You Go to Flanders
Flanders stretches along the North Sea from the northern
tip of France over the northern half of Belgium to the southwestern
edge of the Netherlands. This small but wealthy area was
both centrally located and relatively defenseless, so the
crowned heads of Europe found it a convenient place to have
their armies settle their quarrels. The Scottish song opens
with a lighthearted invitation to go to one of those excursions:
"Will you go to Flanders, my Mally-0? There we¹ll get wine
and brandy, sack and sugar candy" ‹but then acknowledges
their brutal reality: "You¹ll see the bullets fly,
and the soldiers how they die and the ladies loudly cry,
my Mally-O."
The Generals' Jigs (13-14):
13. Wellington¹s Coming
This 9/8 march is originally from O¹Farrell¹s Collection
(ca 1810). Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington, born
in Dublin, won a lifelong seat in England's House of Lords
by leading the British troops at Waterloo to victory. Later
he earned the affection of the Irish by pushing through
the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829.
14. The Victor¹s Return
This jig is from O¹Neill¹s Music of Ireland. We take it
to apply to Napoleon¹s glorious 100-day return from exile
which ended in defeat at Waterloo.
15. Waterloo Hornpipe
We got this, via Robin Williamson, from a collection called
the Caledonian Depository (1829).
The Battle (16-17): (arr. Bobby
Read)
16. Bonaparte¹s Defeat
A hornpipe from O¹Neill's.
17. Battlefire/ Bonaparte¹s Retreat
This set dance, also from O¹Neill¹s, portrays the eerie
lull after battle.
The Aftermath (18-19):
18. Lamentation for the Fallen Heroes of Waterloo (arr.
Paul Oorts)
From Part Four of the Complete Repository of Original Scots
Slow Strathspeys and Dances, by Niel Gow & Sons.
19. The 78th¹s Farewell to Belgium
From Scottish Tunes for Piano (Ossian Pub.), adapted by
Bonnie Rideout.
For Karen & Paul
bookings call: 301-592-0101 or mail@karenashbrook.com
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