Hello Dave and others, I must say, I greatly prefer Gilbert Askew's re-working of this tune to the reworking of the abc below!
What Dunk submitted in manuscript to the NPS was no scribble. Its appearance looks plausible and musically literate and there's no doubt at all as to the intentions of its content. The problem is that it remains musical nonsense. It's interesting that Askew (who edited the NPS Tunebook in 1936) found value in this tune, as well as Dunk's other included tune, the Lass of Falstone. I don't know whether that one required similar remedial attention. These are his remarks in the introduction: "The editor also wishes to thank his friend Mr. John L. Dunk for the "Whinshields Hornpipe" [Askew has also changed the title here] and "the Lass o' Falstone", two very successful essays in what may be termed the Northumbrian mode, by the author of ", "Hyperacoustics" " Tonality - its Rational Basis and Elementary Development" and other works dealing with the philosophic aspect of music. Perhaps it was really a question of "you hum it and I'll write it". Is it possible that, after all, Dunk couldn't accurately represent the tune himself in written form? Incidentally the choice of tunes in that collection wasn't Askew's alone. Several other members were also acknowledged in this task, including Jack Armstrong who could certainly recognise a tune that was good, and logically one that was not. So what was really going on here? Francis On 16 Jul 2011, at 23:11, Dave Shaw wrote: > Francis Wood wrote; >> I'm not convinced that this is anything else other than nonsense. It starts >> familiarly but then goes completely mad ( a brief allusion to 'Il est né, le >> Divin Enfant' creeps in) and goes all over the place. I agree, though . . . >> a very interesting character! >> >>> Mr Dunk was heavily involved in the highbrow music scene >> >> He may have thought he was, but did the highbrow music scene agree? > > Well, the educated musicians of Dunks day tended to be snobbish and > condescending towards "folk" music and musicians. > We would do well to avoid that pitfall in return. > > Having looked at Dunks ms in abc then it does appear on the surface to have > no merit. If however you realise that the thing has no musical punctuation at > all then you have a way into the piece. His ms may have been a work in > progress, and handed over with a few verbal instructions which were never > passed down the line. > > Add normal form to it and bar 9 needs a first part repeat, with 10 for the > second time thro. Same for bars 18 and 19. This left the end still confused > but I realised that bars 26 abd 27 were the first time and 28 and 29 the last > time thro, played slowly for a big finish. > > Probably you would play the piece 2As, 2Bs over with 2Cs to finish with a > flourish. > Here it is, amended. I hope it reads ok as melody leaves a lot of dross which > I had to edit out. > > Pay more attention next time, because it works ok even if a little unfamiliar. > > Cheers, > > Dave > > X:Music edited by Dave Shaw > T:Whin Shields on the Wall > C:John L. Dunk > Q:1/4=104 > M:2/4 > L:1/16 > K:G > d2 |:B2G2 G2B2 |A2D2 D2D2 | > G2G2 GABc |d3B d2g2 |e2c2 c2e2 | > d2G2 G2AB |c2E2 E2FG |[1ABcd e2fg :|[2 > decB ABGF |:G3E G2B2 |e2B2 B2e2 | > d3A d2e2 |a2e2 e2f2 |g3e g2f2 | > e2d2 c2B2 |A2d2 d2fd |[1A2d2 e2fg :|[2 > a3g gfed |:B2G2 GABG |A2D2 D2EF | > G2G2 GABc |d6 g2 |e2c2 c2de | > d2G2 G2AB |[1c2B2 A2G2 |dedB GAGE :|[2 > c3F Fd2G-|G3E G4 |] > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
