David C Rogers wrote:
>
> On Wed, 27 Jun 2001, W. B. OLSON wrote:
>
> > > If you mean the (rather good) march "The Stars and Stripes Forever",
> > > that would be pretty astonishing and I'd like to know more about it.
> > > It sure doesn't sound like anything that could have an 18th century
> > > antecedent.
>
> I agree.
>
> > > If you mean the music for "The Star-Spangled Banner", yawn. I think
> > > they teach the origins of that godawful tune in American high schools;
> > > at least it is rare to find an educated American who can't name the
> > > original. I think we can blame the English for it, though it must
> > > have been reprinted in some of those late-eighteenth-century Scottish
> > > drinking-club songbooks whose contents display no discernible taste
> > > whatever on the part of the editor. But the Americans get to carry
> > > the can for the present-day text (which is even worse).
>
> The tune of "the Star-Spangled Banner" was made deliberately hard to sing
> because it was a test to see if you were too drunk to reach the awkward
> range of the melody. As a lot of people know, it had been the tune to the
> English drinking song "Anacreon in Heaven". But there were other
> closely-related tunes circulating around the British Isles for centuries,
> all drinking songs: "The Rummer" from John Playford's "Dancing
> Master" books (1600s) and the Irish drinking songs "Bumper Squire
> Jones" and "Charles O'Connor" attributed to O'Carolan (early
> 1700s). (Just three examples) All of these were calculated to entertain
> certain stages of inebriation.
>
> So in celebration of this noble tradition, let's hoist a pint for the
> holiday!
>
> Dave Rogers
>
> > >
> > > =================== <http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/> ===================
> > >
> > > Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To
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> >
> > The 'march king' Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever", 1898, can be found
> > on the Levy sheet music collection website by doing a simultaneous
> > search on 'stars', 'stripes' and 'forever'.
> >
> > Bruce Olson
> >
> > Old British Isles popular and folk songs, tunes, broadside
> > ballads at my no-spam website - www.erols.com/olsonw or
> > just <A href="http://www.erols.com/olsonw";> Click </a>
> >
> > Motto: Keep it up; muddling through always works.
> > Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To
>subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
> >
>
> Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To
>subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Where is ANY song sung to the tune "Charles O'Connor". Donal O'Sullivan
(#125) lists none for this rather rare tune in his 'Carolan'.
There were some sung to "Planxty Connor" (known as "Bob in the Bed" in
England-see other titles for it in the Irish tunes index on my website).
Bruce Olson
--
Old British Isles popular and folk songs, tunes, broadside
ballads at my no-spam website - www.erols.com/olsonw or
just <A href="http://www.erols.com/olsonw";> Click </a>
Motto: Keep it up; muddling through always works.
Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To
subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
