[NSP] Re: was Re: First 30 tunes

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 01:06:40 -0700 

Hi Anthony.
I'm sorry this is several steps late, I've only just got to read the latest batch. 


Tim's comment was right, really, I wasn't intending getting too hooked 
up on the masonry, my story was meant only to illustrate the difficulty 
of treating material which has passed through many hands before the 
present, each of which may have changed it, or not, according to their 
own tastes, and of judging what's now valid, or desirable, in the course 
of those changes & the light of present tastes.



Thanks for the CD recommendation. I'm another Deep South... well, 
deepest East Midlands-ish!... musician - any recommendations of source 
would be gratefully accepted, please, anyone.


Best wishes,
Richard.

Anthony Robb wrote:

   Sorry to butt in folks, especially since I'm not sure what the exact
   context is! As the subject matter is the First 30 tunes the relevance
   of Victorian / Medieval masonry  escapes me. I do get the impression,
   Richard, that you might be regarding these tunes as treasures from an
   earlier age. Let me reassure you that many of these pieces were still
   being played by a strong cohort of traditional musicians in north
   Northumberland in a style which pleased them and fitted their needs
   extremely well.  It is the lack of appreciation of this and the fact

   that they played their "reels"  with a phrasing that was neither 
march,
   polka or reel. This pulse fitted the dance step of choice, the 
Rant, so

   perfectly that they referred to  the tunes themselves as rants.
   This was far more than a social pastime for the likes of Will Atkinson
   whose payment from "The Tanner Hops" made his, Bella's and their 10
   bairns lives, much more bearable. It is the glossing over of this
   unique heritage that drives me to bring it to a wider audience. If you

   haven't already done so buy Will Atkinson's wonderful CD and you'll 
see

   what I mean.
   Regards
   Anthony




   --- On Wed, 11/3/09, Richard York <rich...@lizards.force9.co.uk> 
wrote:


     From: Richard York <rich...@lizards.force9.co.uk>
     Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
     To: "NSP group" <nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu>
     Date: Wednesday, 11 March, 2009, 8:48 PM

   In a way, that's the least important part of the story   :)
   It struck me at the time what a parallel it was with our treatment of

   music which comes to us from before our time, or at least before 
deadly

   accurate sound recording, whether it's medieval or anything else.
   But to answer your question, Tim,  if I remember aright, he treated

   them each variously according to how much was evident from the 
original

   form, how much damage the dear Victorians had done, and in what
   condition and how stable each was. Perhaps that's relevant too.
   Best wishes,
   Richard.
   tim rolls BT wrote:
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >> Hi Richard,
   >>
   >> Don't leave us hanging........ what did he choose to do?
   >>
   >>
   >> Tim
   >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard York"
   <[1]rich...@lizards.force9.co.uk>
   >> To: "NSP group" <[2]...@cs.dartmouth.edu>
   >> Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 6:10 PM
   >> Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
   >>
   >>
   >>>

   >>> Some years ago I met a man who was responsible for some work on 
the

   >>> musicians carvings in  Beverley Minster, most famous of course
   being the
   >>> pipers.
   >>> His quandary was whether to simply clean them up as they were, or
   to
   >>> restore them to what the Victorians had imposed on them, mistakes
   and
   >>> all, or to try to restore them to what he thought the medieval
   carvers
   >>> had intended, though that last was now very impossible to do with
   any
   >>> certainty, given changes in their condition over time, so he'd be
   >>> imposing on them. And whatever he did would be right for some
   people,
   >>> wrong for others, and whatever he did they'd never be as they once
   used
   >>> to be.
   >>> Or he could simply leave them to fall to bits by themselves.
   >>>
   >>> Richard.
   >>>
   >>> Anthony Robb wrote:
   >>>>
   >>>> <...>
   >>>>    There is much room for personal interpretation on top of this
   basic
   >>>>    style difference. Letting people hear these differences is
   important.
   >>>>    As for so-called "bad habits" these must surely be/have been
   pleasing

   >>>>    to the players themselves at some point and are therefore 
valid

   in
   >>>>    their own right even if others may find them displeasing.
   Copying these
   >>>>    personal idiosyncracies is one thing, and each player can
   decide this
   >>>>    for themselves, ignoring the regional accent completely is
   another
   >>>>    thing altogether!
   >>>>    I would say go for it Colin, a person with your background can
   not help
   >>>>    but make a valuable contribution to the body of piping
   knowledge.
   >>>>    As aye
   >>>>    Anthony
   >>>>
   >>>>
   >>>
   >>>
   >>>
   >>> To get on or off this list see list information at
   >>> [3]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
   >>
   >>
   >>

   
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   --

References


   1. 
http://uk.mc11.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=rich...@lizards.force9.co.uk

   2. http://uk.mc11.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=...@cs.dartmouth.edu
   3. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html



  

















    











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