Thanks for your comments. I suspected so much, and that was partly my point: there's so much out there brimming with a genius not necessarily contained within a name. Which is not to reduce composers to their environments (as Harold Bloom tirelessly argues, Shakespeare inhabited the same London as the legion scribblers beside him), but it frees us a little from the cult of the solitary artist.
Regards Stephen W. Gibson -----Original Message----- From: Jon Murphy [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 1:26 AM To: 'David Rastall'; 'bill'; Stephen W. Gibson Cc: 'Lautenliste' Subject: Re: Non-lute composers poll. Stephen, Shady Grove wasn't written, like Topsy it "just grew". Otherwise known as "it is traditional". I first heard it on mountain dulcimer and fiddle by the Ritchie family in the '40s, and have an arrangement in aeolian mode for dulcimer in front of me. It was one of the first songs I played and sang when I got my guitar in 1949. Just went back to the living room and picked up the "git fiddle" to try it. Works well in dorian or aeolian, depending on the variation. And there are a lot of variations in those traditional mountain songs, and often the more complex the arrangement the less the fun (or authenticity). Best, Jon
