[NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file

2009-11-02 Thread Paul Gretton
Dear Anthony,

 

Thank you for making that clear.

 

BTW, I would be very interested to hear more about life up country among the
hill tribes. I hope they treated you with appropriate respect - perhaps as
the people of Vanuatu do with Prince Philip?
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Philip_Movement). Of course Philip did
descend from the heavens in a helicopter, and I see you more as a 2CV kind
of chap.

 

(I suppose I'd better put in a smiley here.)   :-)

 

Cheers,

Paul Gretton

 





From: Anthony Robb [mailto:anth...@robbpipes.com] 
Sent: 02 November 2009 09:32
To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu; Paul Gretton
Subject: Re: [NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file

 

Dear Paul

As Philip G. points out, some good points but hardly germane. I think I made
it clear that I was speaking very particularly, in fact here is the quote
from my original email refering to the region I was focussing on, the
outlying districts of north Northumberland.

I was talking about the people I lived amongst and were the traditional
players of north Northumberland, i.e. the people at the heart of the
discussion. None of the 20th century musical heavyweights from that region
were dots readers and had all learnt by ear as had their predecessors. It
was not a general statement; it was a particular one of importance to those
discussing the music of Northumberland in terms of notated music and drawing
conclusions from it.
Cheers

Anthony
--- On Sun, 1/11/09, Paul Gretton i...@gretton-willems.com wrote:


From: Paul Gretton i...@gretton-willems.com
Subject: [NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file
To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu
Date: Sunday, 1 November, 2009, 6:20 PM

Anthony Robb wrote:

dot reading was an extremely rare skill at the time

If you mean specifically among players of the NSP (or the fiddle, then
perhaps - I wouldn't know.

But if you mean in general, then that is a far too sweeping statement.
Musical literacy was my no means uncommon, even among the working class. You
are ignoring the influence of the Sunday school system, particularly among
Nonconformists, and the self-improvement movement among the so-called
better working class, with the miners being among the leaders. Large
numbers of ordinary people could read music - witness the great Handel
festivals and organisations like the Huddersfield Choral Society.

Cheers,

Paul Gretton 



To get on or off this list see list information at
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
 

 




[NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file

2009-11-02 Thread Francis Wood

A short word in praise of this mail header.

Francis


On 2 Nov 2009, at 14:45, Paul Gretton wrote:


Dear Anthony,



Thank you for making that clear.



BTW, I would be very interested to hear more about life up country  
among the
hill tribes. I hope they treated you with appropriate respect -  
perhaps as

the people of Vanuatu do with Prince Philip?
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Philip_Movement). Of course  
Philip did
descend from the heavens in a helicopter, and I see you more as a  
2CV kind

of chap.



(I suppose I'd better put in a smiley here.)   :-)



Cheers,

Paul Gretton







From: Anthony Robb [mailto:anth...@robbpipes.com]
Sent: 02 November 2009 09:32
To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu; Paul Gretton
Subject: Re: [NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file



Dear Paul

As Philip G. points out, some good points but hardly germane. I  
think I made
it clear that I was speaking very particularly, in fact here is the  
quote

from my original email refering to the region I was focussing on, the
outlying districts of north Northumberland.

I was talking about the people I lived amongst and were the  
traditional

players of north Northumberland, i.e. the people at the heart of the
discussion. None of the 20th century musical heavyweights from  
that region
were dots readers and had all learnt by ear as had their  
predecessors. It
was not a general statement; it was a particular one of importance  
to those
discussing the music of Northumberland in terms of notated music and  
drawing

conclusions from it.
Cheers

Anthony
--- On Sun, 1/11/09, Paul Gretton i...@gretton-willems.com wrote:


From: Paul Gretton i...@gretton-willems.com
Subject: [NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file
To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu
Date: Sunday, 1 November, 2009, 6:20 PM

Anthony Robb wrote:


dot reading was an extremely rare skill at the time


If you mean specifically among players of the NSP (or the fiddle, then
perhaps - I wouldn't know.

But if you mean in general, then that is a far too sweeping statement.
Musical literacy was my no means uncommon, even among the working  
class. You
are ignoring the influence of the Sunday school system, particularly  
among

Nonconformists, and the self-improvement movement among the so-called
better working class, with the miners being among the leaders. Large
numbers of ordinary people could read music - witness the great  
Handel

festivals and organisations like the Huddersfield Choral Society.

Cheers,

Paul Gretton



To get on or off this list see list information at
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html










[NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file

2009-11-02 Thread Margaret Watchorn
I've found the recent comments about music in north Northumberland very
interesting. I grew up among those who learned and played by ear (Joe
Hutton, Will Atkinson, Jimmy Little, the Cheviot Ranters band in its various
line-ups, and my dad, among many others) and owe them a great deal -
including dozens of splendid tunes which still live in my head, if not on
paper. 

When I was learning the pipes in 1974/75 with Joe at Alnwick Pipers Society,
it was clear that he could also 'read the dots' when necessary. George
Mitchell of the Cheviot Ranters was a very competent (and beautifully neat)
amanuensis for other members of the band, and it's evident from some of the
old sheets of manuscript I have that Willy Miller (fiddle player) could also
jot down a tune when necessary.

There are a few wonderful hand-written manuscripts from north Northumberland
from the early and mid nineteenth century which indicate that some ordinary
folk were competent music readers and writers. William Dobson of West
Thirston (a joiner and fishing rod maker) filled his manuscript book with
favourite tunes for the fiddle, including second parts for some melodies,
beautifully written over a period of at least thirty years. The inclusion of
about 20 hymn and metrical psalm tunes notated in up to four parts in a West
Gallery style (tune often in the tenor line) indicates that he had some
connection with a non-conformist chapel. 

William Darling of Bamburgh (c. 1810) also kept a manuscript book. His own
attempts at composition are sometimes rudimentary - bar lines in the wrong
place, note lengths not always accurate etc - but he clearly understood the
basic principles of notation, as did John Readshaw and George Wallace, just
over the border into Cumbria.

So there's definitely evidence of people being able to read/notate music in
north Northumberland, as well as plenty of examples of those who play (or
played) by ear. 


Best wishes
Margaret 

PS As Anthony pointed out in a different thread, the school song of the
former Duchess's Grammar School in Alnwick was Chevy Chase, the first and
last verses of which we sang at every prize giving. If the duchess took too
long to process through the hall and reach the platform, we were instructed
to sing the first verse again - nobody thought of teaching us the remaining
90+!!



From: Anthony Robb [mailto:anth...@robbpipes.com] 
Sent: 02 November 2009 09:32
To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu; Paul Gretton
Subject: Re: [NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file

 

Dear Paul

As Philip G. points out, some good points but hardly germane. I think I made
it clear that I was speaking very particularly, in fact here is the quote
from my original email refering to the region I was focussing on, the
outlying districts of north Northumberland.

I was talking about the people I lived amongst and were the traditional
players of north Northumberland, i.e. the people at the heart of the
discussion. None of the 20th century musical heavyweights from that region
were dots readers and had all learnt by ear as had their predecessors. It
was not a general statement; it was a particular one of importance to those
discussing the music of Northumberland in terms of notated music and drawing
conclusions from it.
Cheers

Anthony
--- On Sun, 1/11/09, Paul Gretton i...@gretton-willems.com wrote:


From: Paul Gretton i...@gretton-willems.com
Subject: [NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file
To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu
Date: Sunday, 1 November, 2009, 6:20 PM

Anthony Robb wrote:

dot reading was an extremely rare skill at the time

If you mean specifically among players of the NSP (or the fiddle, then
perhaps - I wouldn't know.

But if you mean in general, then that is a far too sweeping statement.
Musical literacy was my no means uncommon, even among the working class. You
are ignoring the influence of the Sunday school system, particularly among
Nonconformists, and the self-improvement movement among the so-called
better working class, with the miners being among the leaders. Large
numbers of ordinary people could read music - witness the great Handel
festivals and organisations like the Huddersfield Choral Society.

Cheers,

Paul Gretton 



To get on or off this list see list information at
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
 

 




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This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
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[NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file

2009-11-02 Thread Gibbons, John
Perhaps we can do better than that?
Can we construct a mail header that's as sophisticated an artwork as, 
say, Cut and Dry Dolly, or failing that, the Ring Cycle?


-Original Message-
From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of 
Francis Wood
Sent: 02 November 2009 15:53
To: Paul Gretton
Cc: NSP group
Subject: [NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file

A short word in praise of this mail header.

Francis


On 2 Nov 2009, at 14:45, Paul Gretton wrote:

 Dear Anthony,



 Thank you for making that clear.



 BTW, I would be very interested to hear more about life up country  
 among the
 hill tribes. I hope they treated you with appropriate respect -  
 perhaps as
 the people of Vanuatu do with Prince Philip?
 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Philip_Movement). Of course  
 Philip did
 descend from the heavens in a helicopter, and I see you more as a  
 2CV kind
 of chap.



 (I suppose I'd better put in a smiley here.)   :-)



 Cheers,

 Paul Gretton




 
 

 From: Anthony Robb [mailto:anth...@robbpipes.com]
 Sent: 02 November 2009 09:32
 To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu; Paul Gretton
 Subject: Re: [NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file



 Dear Paul

 As Philip G. points out, some good points but hardly germane. I  
 think I made
 it clear that I was speaking very particularly, in fact here is the  
 quote
 from my original email refering to the region I was focussing on, the
 outlying districts of north Northumberland.

 I was talking about the people I lived amongst and were the  
 traditional
 players of north Northumberland, i.e. the people at the heart of the
 discussion. None of the 20th century musical heavyweights from  
 that region
 were dots readers and had all learnt by ear as had their  
 predecessors. It
 was not a general statement; it was a particular one of importance  
 to those
 discussing the music of Northumberland in terms of notated music and  
 drawing
 conclusions from it.
 Cheers

 Anthony
 --- On Sun, 1/11/09, Paul Gretton i...@gretton-willems.com wrote:


 From: Paul Gretton i...@gretton-willems.com
 Subject: [NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file
 To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu
 Date: Sunday, 1 November, 2009, 6:20 PM

 Anthony Robb wrote:

 dot reading was an extremely rare skill at the time

 If you mean specifically among players of the NSP (or the fiddle, then
 perhaps - I wouldn't know.

 But if you mean in general, then that is a far too sweeping statement.
 Musical literacy was my no means uncommon, even among the working  
 class. You
 are ignoring the influence of the Sunday school system, particularly  
 among
 Nonconformists, and the self-improvement movement among the so-called
 better working class, with the miners being among the leaders. Large
 numbers of ordinary people could read music - witness the great  
 Handel
 festivals and organisations like the Huddersfield Choral Society.

 Cheers,

 Paul Gretton



 To get on or off this list see list information at
 http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html










[NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file - William Darling

2009-11-02 Thread Gibbons, John
And the place!

John 

-Original Message-
From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of 
Paul Gretton
Sent: 02 November 2009 17:10
To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu
Subject: [NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file

This is fascinating stuff. Thanks, Margaret.
BTW, could the William Darling whom you mention possibly be Grace Darling's
dad? The date you give could fit.

Cheers, Paul Gretton

-Original Message-
From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf
Of Margaret Watchorn
Sent: 02 November 2009 17:02
To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu
Subject: [NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file

I've found the recent comments about music in north Northumberland very
interesting. I grew up among those who learned and played by ear (Joe
Hutton, Will Atkinson, Jimmy Little, the Cheviot Ranters band in its various
line-ups, and my dad, among many others) and owe them a great deal -
including dozens of splendid tunes which still live in my head, if not on
paper. 

When I was learning the pipes in 1974/75 with Joe at Alnwick Pipers Society,
it was clear that he could also 'read the dots' when necessary. George
Mitchell of the Cheviot Ranters was a very competent (and beautifully neat)
amanuensis for other members of the band, and it's evident from some of the
old sheets of manuscript I have that Willy Miller (fiddle player) could also
jot down a tune when necessary.

There are a few wonderful hand-written manuscripts from north Northumberland
from the early and mid nineteenth century which indicate that some ordinary
folk were competent music readers and writers. William Dobson of West
Thirston (a joiner and fishing rod maker) filled his manuscript book with
favourite tunes for the fiddle, including second parts for some melodies,
beautifully written over a period of at least thirty years. The inclusion of
about 20 hymn and metrical psalm tunes notated in up to four parts in a West
Gallery style (tune often in the tenor line) indicates that he had some
connection with a non-conformist chapel. 

William Darling of Bamburgh (c. 1810) also kept a manuscript book. His own
attempts at composition are sometimes rudimentary - bar lines in the wrong
place, note lengths not always accurate etc - but he clearly understood the
basic principles of notation, as did John Readshaw and George Wallace, just
over the border into Cumbria.

So there's definitely evidence of people being able to read/notate music in
north Northumberland, as well as plenty of examples of those who play (or
played) by ear. 


Best wishes
Margaret 



To get on or off this list see list information at
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html




[NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file

2009-11-02 Thread Anthony Robb
; it was a particular one of importance to
   those
   discussing the music of Northumberland in terms of notated music and
   drawing
   conclusions from it.
   Cheers
   Anthony
   --- On Sun, 1/11/09, Paul Gretton [3]i...@gretton-willems.com wrote:
   From: Paul Gretton [4]i...@gretton-willems.com
   Subject: [NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file
   To: [5]...@cs.dartmouth.edu
   Date: Sunday, 1 November, 2009, 6:20 PM
   Anthony Robb wrote:
   dot reading was an extremely rare skill at the time
   If you mean specifically among players of the NSP (or the fiddle, then
   perhaps - I wouldn't know.
   But if you mean in general, then that is a far too sweeping statement.
   Musical literacy was my no means uncommon, even among the working
   class. You
   are ignoring the influence of the Sunday school system, particularly
   among
   Nonconformists, and the self-improvement movement among the so-called
   better working class, with the miners being among the leaders. Large
   numbers of ordinary people could read music - witness the great
   Handel
   festivals and organisations like the Huddersfield Choral Society.
   Cheers,
   Paul Gretton
   To get on or off this list see list information at
   [6]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
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References

   1. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=anth...@robbpipes.com
   2. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=...@cs.dartmouth.edu
   3. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=i...@gretton-willems.com
   4. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=i...@gretton-willems.com
   5. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=...@cs.dartmouth.edu
   6. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
   7. http://www.eset.com/



[NSP] schei greiss

2009-11-02 Thread Dave S

Wunnerbar eppes vun déi schéi sprooch vun hei ze léiesen
kriit's d'och schéi greiss vun Useldéng

Dave S



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[NSP] Re: schei greiss

2009-11-02 Thread Anthony Robb

   Dave
   I did have one but the wheels fell off.
   Anthony
   --- On Mon, 2/11/09, Dave S david...@pt.lu wrote:

 From: Dave S david...@pt.lu
 Subject: [NSP] schei greiss
 To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu
 Date: Monday, 2 November, 2009, 7:23 PM

   Wunnerbar eppes vun dei schei sprooch vun hei ze leiesen
   kriit's d'och schei greiss vun Useldeng
   Dave S
   To get on or off this list see list information at
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References

   1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html