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Folk Dances (2002) |
For violin and piano - c.9'
Western composers have been drawn to the energy and richness of folk music for centuries. Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, Grieg, Holst, Elgar, Ives and many others wrote concert works based on fold tunes and country dances. My own interest in fold music goes back to my youth, growing up in the American South, where I oftern heard gospel choirs, Negro spirituals, and back country fiddlers. More recently, that interest was rekindled by my wife and thirteen year old daughter's growing involvement in folk fiddling in Britain. Each Wednesday, Trisha and Tessa go to Pete Cooper's fold fiddle class at Cecil Sharp House, London, where they learn fiddle tunes from around the world. Listening to the two of them play through their ever-increasing repertoire was the inspiration for this work. A particular favourite is a traditional Norwegian halling , which I have used for the climax of this work. A halling is a kind of Norwegian ancestor to the ‘brake dance' – athletic, acrobatic and flamboyant. In this case, however, the young male tries to kick a hat off the end of a long stick held higher and higher by a young woman on a stool. The other tunes, although folk-like in style and character, are my own inventions. Folk Dances was commissioned by violinist Madeleine Mitchell and the British Fulbright Scholars Association with funds provided by the American Embassy, London, to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee, 2002.
Notes © Stephen Montague