Mi Contra Fa

Lyre Tunebook

The lyre tunebook is chugging along.  I've scored seven 19th-20th century pieces, like "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "Ode to Joy," that people will already be very familiar with.  That (in theory) helps them know if they're playing the instrument "right."  And I've also scored eight 12th - 16th century tunes (or parts of tunes) to be all medievally.  Maybe "scored" is the wrong word.  It's just melodies at the moment.  I'll be adding some accompaniment separately.

Of course, none of that repertoire is really historically appropriate for the lyre (although the 13th cen. Danish "Dromte mig et drom" is close).  But we don't have any 8th century music, period, is my understanding.  We start getting chant in the 9th cen.

I may include a section on improvising tunes, and what (I think) is historically plausible, and maybe give a couple of scored examples of my own compositions.  I hate doing that, if only because I'm so bad at transcribing what I'm playing into note values.  It takes me forever to get it right.

Snow Day Progress

Woo, snow day!

Four new scores for I, The Dark Woman, The Armed Man, None Suffer, and Wulf and Eadwacer (all PDFs).  I was a little reluctant to score "Wulf and Eadwacer" because of the whole improvisational/oral composition thing, but I'll just note that it's a snapshot of the performance at present (which has mostly reached an equilibrium).

Put the scores into a program/handout for KASF.

Redoing the Great Translation Project (GTP) webpages into "project pages" that contain links to the PDFs and other information, rather than trying to fit all of the links onto the Original Work page.  Completed one for None Suffer and one for I, The Dark Woman.

To Do:

• Finish poster
  • May include taking pictures: instruments, maypole
  • My arms, in construction paper
  • Actual content!
• Create binder for GTP, complete with notes, originals, etc.
• Create binder or folders for Historically Informed Performance selections
• Print out GTP take-aways
• Print out maypole take-aways
• Organize class notes into binder
• Print business cards
  • Possibly jury-rig business card holder

"Saxon Songs" Pseudo-Review

I got my copy of Carl Wood's "Saxon Songs" a while ago.  I've read the text and picked out a few melodies, but I'm calling this a "pseudo-review" because I haven't actually yet played any of the full arrangements.

She comes right out and says in her Introduction that this is not an attempt at historical re-creation.  It's a  modern composition.  This is rather at odds with the ad copy, and I admit I was disappointed.  The other supporting information is the usual; no sources I was surprised to see.  She does give a handy pronunciation guide for Old English.

The music looks very "harpistic," lots of rolled triads or four-note octaves.  It does look to be in either minor keys or else  modes - it's hard to tell at first look, and from the chordal tablature, if it's "really" a minor key or if that's the modern analogue to the mode.  (For instance, the key of D-minor is not the same as D-Dorian, but a D-minor I chord and a D-Dorian I chord are the same. The note in the scales that is different doesn't show up in the chord.) 

The melodies have some accidentals dropped in; I don't like the effect right away, but maybe it grows on you?  My very brief acquaintance with Icelandic folk music showed that it had some accidentals, and maybe that's where this is coming from.  That, or Wood's imagination and art.

It is a good example of through-composed settings for Anglo-Saxon poetry.

On the whole, I'm not unhappy that I bought it, and I hope to be able to try a few of the pieces soon.  However, I'm not as excited about it as I was before learning it was an entirely modern take on things.