Origins: Parson's Farewell (Playford? Praetorius?)

Subject: Origins: farewell to Parson's Farewell
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 07 Nov 02 - 10:12 AM

Yesterday I went to the Internet Renaissance Band site, http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/emusic/ to listen to a few tunes. I clicked on Bourree 9 under Praetorius and downloaded the piece to Noteworthy.

As I listened, it began to seem more and more familiar. Finally, it clicked! It is the supposed Playford tune, Parson's Farewell. What do you think of that?

Subject: RE: Origins: farewell to Parson's Farewell
From: IanC
Date: 07 Nov 02 - 10:55 AM

Leeniea

What's the problem?

Playford got his tunes from a variety of sources and the names are the names of the dances. His book is, after all, "The Dancing Master"

:-)

Subject: RE: Origins: farewell to Parson's Farewell
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 07 Nov 02 - 07:51 PM

Who said there was a problem? I'm just sharing something I find interesting. Also, someone might want to go to the site and download a new and orchestrally rich version to play with friends. It happens.

Subject: RE: Origins: farewell to Parson's Farewell
From: IanC
Date: 08 Nov 02 - 08:02 AM

Fine.

You just said It is the supposed Playford tune, that's all.

:-)

Subject: RE: Origins: farewell to Parson's Farewell
From: GUEST,Allemande
Date: 08 Nov 02 - 11:14 AM

Hi Leeneia.
Ignore IanC; he's a miserable old git, one of those people that give trad music a bad name.
Check Tielman Susato Yahoo results. Lots of great stuff here with some tunes you might recognise.

Allemande

Subject: RE: Origins: farewell to Parson's Farewell
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 08 Nov 02 - 11:35 AM

Thanks very much, Allemande. That page is a veritable treasure trove.

Do you play early music? I do. I have a group that's been meeting monthly for several years. We have flutes, recorders, guitar, percussion, harp and sometimes mandolin. For dessert, we do "Celtic" music.

I get music from various sources, often the Internet, and I use Noteworthy to edit it. For example, if it's in F, I often change it to G for the sake of the guitar and harps. When possible, I make it one page so that I can project it and avoid making copies.

What do you do?

Subject: RE: Origins: farewell to Parson's Farewell
From: GUEST,Allemande
Date: 08 Nov 02 - 11:47 AM

I do, but not as much as I'd like. I play in an E-Ceilidh Band and play at sessions.
At the moment I'm trying to get the musicians at a session I attend regularly to play some 4-part Susato dances. They seem keen so I've given them the dots.
I usually download in MIDI format and use "Cubase" to arrange, and "Melody assistant" to print.
Are you in the UK? I'm in Manchester.

Allamande

Subject: RE: Origins: farewell to Parson's Farewell
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 08 Nov 02 - 06:30 PM

No, I'm not in the UK, I'm in the American Midwest.

I add chords to the pieces I put up for my friends. The guitarist has to have chords, the harps sometimes use them, and they form a nice framework for improvising once we have the piece under our belts.

Once I went to a session with Don Pedi, a dulcimer player and teacher from North Carolina. He said that at home, they play a "twenty-minute tune." Meaning, don't give up playing a short tune too soon. That phrase has become a standard with us. I doubt if we actually play a dance for twenty minutes, but it is true that we are no longer afraid to play one over and over, until we are really going to town.

One night recently I gave the gang a tune from 1595 called the Tarleton Jig. As we played, it morphed from the demure to the sybarytic. It was great.

I hope your efforts pay off.

Subject: RE: Origins: farewell to Parson's Farewell
From: Crane Driver
Date: 09 Nov 02 - 04:16 PM

Neither Playford nor Praetorius claim to have composed the tunes associated with them. Praetorius collected a lot of his music themes, as did many other composers - the Terpsichore, in which Parson's Farewell and at least one other 'Playford' tune, "The Merry Wassail" occur, is described on the title page as "containing all sorts of French dances and songs", so clearly not intended to be original work. Musicians travelled all over Europe, mostly looking for cheap beer, and it's quite likely that the same tunes were used by Playford's sources and by the French dance masters from whom Praetorius collected. Recognisable versions of "Parson's Farewell" also occur in early seventeenth century Dutch collections.
Praetorius's patron, Duke Heinrich Julius, was closely related to both Danish and English Royalty, and English musicians performed at the court. So the tune was called "La Bouree" when praetorius collected it, and "Parson's Farewell" when Playford picked it up - neither is invalidated by the other. And yes, it is interesting. Thank you for sharing this.

Subject: RE: Origins: farewell to Parson's Farewell
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 09 Nov 02 - 09:52 PM

yes, tunes really got around . Last summer I went to a workshop on Van Eyck variations. Van Eyck was a seventeenth-century recorder player (I forget in which Dutch city he worked). He was hired by the town to play in the cathedral and entertain the young. The tune of his which we studied was "Daphne", which I first encountered in Playford's collection.

Subject: RE: Origins: farewell to Parson's Farewell
From: Pied Piper
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 12:29 PM

Checked out Jacob Van Eyck. Good stuff. The city by the way was Utrecht.
All the best PP