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Origins: In Flanders Fields
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Subject: In Flanders Fields From: Barry T Date: 20 Jun 03 - 01:43 AM For some time I have been searching unsuccessfully for a musical setting for John McCrae's moving poem to include on my Canadian Tunebook website. Though I found reference to over half a dozen distinct musical works, none are in the Public Domain so I was unable to publish them to my site. Still inspired, I decided to take a shot at creating one myself. The results are here... http://members.shaw.ca/tunebook/flanders.htm. I'd like to share the melody in abc and graphic format, but I'm struggling with the notation. (I do most of my midi-making by ear.) I need someone classically trained to assist. I *think* the melody is in 6/4 time with one line... "Scarce heard mid guns below"... in 5/4 time. Am I getting warm? As for the slow ending I'm not sure what I've invoked there. Help! If you need to download the midi in order to help decipher it, click here. For what it's worth, I'm consigning this tune to the Public Domain, so once I've conquered the notation I'll be back to share it as a 'Tune Add'. - - - |
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Subject: DTADD: In Flanders Fields (John McRae) From: Joe Offer Date: 20 Jun 03 - 01:57 AM I like the tune, Barry. The lyrics have been posted in part in other places, but I thought I'd post them here. -Joe Offer- In Flanders Fields (John McRae) In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe; To you, from failing hands, we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. Lieutenant-Colonel John McRae (1915) |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: GUEST,keith A o Hertford Date: 20 Jun 03 - 03:22 AM McRae died of wounds in France. |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: MMario Date: 20 Jun 03 - 08:08 AM Barry - wish I could help - but I am hopeless when it comes to that sort of thing! |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: masato sakurai Date: 20 Jun 03 - 09:24 AM Two compositions are at Levy: Title: In Flanders Fields The Poppies Grow. Song With Piano Accompaniment."In Flanders Fields the Poppies Grow" (Performer: Joseph Phillips, baritone with orchestra; composed by John Philip Sousa) is at The Virtual Gramophone. ~Masato |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: MMario Date: 20 Jun 03 - 09:56 AM The two at Levy would be in Public domain at this point. |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: GUEST,Mingulay Date: 20 Jun 03 - 11:38 AM John McCrae died in Belgium. There is a monument to him at Essex Farm cemetery near Ieper (Ypres). A group of us visit on a more or less annual basis (The Flanders Experience) combined with a stay at Talbot House in Poperinge (home of Toc-H) where we have a good time (thank you Belgian brewers) and a mighty sing. |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: Keith A of Hertford Date: 20 Jun 03 - 01:03 PM Well corrected Ming. Keith. |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: Stewart Date: 20 Jun 03 - 01:40 PM Barry, it's a nice tune. But it doesn't scan quite right, at least the way I hear it. Here's an updated nwc file HERE. I've kept the time signature as 6/4 but added a 4/4 measure at certain points ("-mid the guns be-" and "throw the torch"). See what you think. Maybe it needs some more fiddling with. Cheers, S. in Seattle |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: TheBigPinkLad Date: 20 Jun 03 - 01:47 PM Barry, my missus was set the task of putting Flander's Field to music when she was at University -- along with all the other class members. I'll see if she can post her rendition (it's quite moving) and perhaps she knows of some of her classmate's renditions. |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: Joe Offer Date: 20 Jun 03 - 02:23 PM If you'd like a tune posted at Mudcat, e-mail it ot me or send me an URL where I can download it. BigPinkLad, I'd like to hear your wife's tune. Thanks. --Joe Offer (click to e-mail)- |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: Liz the Squeak Date: 21 Jun 03 - 03:13 AM Todays useless information: Canadian doctor John McCrae wrote the poem allegedly on the back step of an amublance after the funeral of his friend Alexis Helmer, on 2nd May, 1915 in Ypres. Other reports say he was writing it as he tended the wounded, both are equally likely. The poem was first published anonymously in Punch Magazine, December 1915, but the response was so great that McCrae's identity was soon revealed. The poem inspired and lines were used in many posters to boost the various war efforts, and such was its popularity that the poppy was soon adopted as the symbol for the war dead. When demand became so great, the British and American Legions realised there could be a way to help the war widows and orphans, and they were given employment making 'Flanders' poppies', a job that extended to the wounded and maimed when they returned to England and were unsuitable for many other forms of employment. Poppies are still hand made by veterans and volunteers today. Interesting that you go to Belgium to honour him and that he has a memorial at Essex Farm (most likely because that's where his dressing station was), because the history states that he was buried with full military honours in Wimereux, France after his death from pneumonia and meningitis on 28th January 1918, a week after his appointment as Consulting Physician to the British Army in France. Details are on the Commonweath War Graves Commission site, http://www.cwgc.org - I tried to make a blicky that worked but failed, sorry. McCrae put down in 15 lines, more than any other war poet could ever say about the honour of serving, the glory of fighting and the sheer horror, filth and despair of living and dying for your country. Dulce Et Decorum est, pro patria mori? LTS |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: Barry T Date: 27 Jul 03 - 12:42 AM I finally got around to finishing the notation for my midi sequence. Here's the abc version... T:In Flanders Fields M:6/4 L:1/4 Q:70 C:Barry Taylor 2003 S:Music consigned to the Public Domain R:Air O:Poem by John McCrae 1872-1918 K:C [| Gcd | "C"e3 dcA | "Am"A3 Ade | "Dm"f2 e2 dc | "G7"B3 Gef |! "Em"g3 fed | "Am"c3 ccA | "Dm"f2 e2 dc | "G7"B3 BBA |\ M:3/4 A M:6/4 "C"c3-c3- | c2z Gcd | "C"e3 dcA | "Am"A3 Ade | "Dm"f2 e2 dc |! "G7"B3 Gef | "Em"g3 fed | "Am"c3 ccc | "Dm"d3- d3- | "G7"d2z |! Gcd | "C"e3 dcA | "Am"A3 Ade | "Dm"f2 e2 dc | "G7"B3 Gef |! "Em"g3 fed | "Am"c3 ccA | "Dm"f2 e2 dc | "G7"B3 AAB |! M:4/4 "C"c4- | "F"c AAB | "C"c4- | "F"c AAB |! "C" c4- | c4- | c z3 | z4 |] % ABC2Win Version 2.1 7/26/2003 ...and here's the notation and lyrics in gif format... http://members.shaw.ca/tunebook/flanders_notation.htm Thank you Stewart for pointing me in the right direction for notating the quirky parts. I think next time I'll stick to something a little less 'creative' in the time signature department! 8-) |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: GUEST,Q Date: 28 Jul 03 - 12:39 AM The poppies "grow' three times at the beginning of the Sousa composition on Virtual Gramophone; row on row is repeated twice. Melody is terrible. A travesty of the poem. |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: Wilfried Schaum Date: 28 Jul 03 - 03:00 AM Barry T - congratulations. A fine tune indeed. While the other tunes are too theatralic and apt only for the fat lady in the concert hall, yours is in the slow trot of Poor Bloody Infantry, the 6/4 (can you do something about the only 3/4 part?) So many folksongs of Germany in 3/4 have changed to 6/4, including some changes in the original tune, to sing them during the march, and some of them are sad, indeed. We sang them coming home at the end of a hard day. So first hearing your tune I remembered those days and their singing. Your tune is real precious folk. Guest Q - how right you are; the other lady's composition isn't better. Barry shew us that the most simple - as requested by the poem - is always the best. Wilfried |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: Barry T Date: 16 Sep 10 - 05:59 PM I'm proud to introduce a more refined version of the melody I introduced back in 2003. Last year Matt Ackroyd, a teacher from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, notified me that he had found my original version, written four-part harmony for it and performed it at a Remembrance Day ceremony. I was so impressed with his arrangement, I was desperate to share it. With Matt's concurrence, I called on the assistance of Denis Khvatov, a personal friend from Richmond, British Columbia, and a highly educated music teacher. Our team of three collaborated for over a month tweaking the score to this, its final state. In Flanders Fields MP3 Download arrangement for SATB Choir As with the earlier version, we chose to consign the music to the Public Domain so people would feel free to download and use it without fear of copyright infringement. 'Hope you enjoy it! Barry T Sooke, British Columbia, Canada |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: Sandy Mc Lean Date: 16 Sep 10 - 06:49 PM Thanks Barry! This is not the only piece of Remembrance music that Barry has consigned to the public domain either. His song about The Unknown Soldier is a favourite of mine! Great stuff! The Return Of The Unknown Soldier |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: GUEST,NELLL IN CANADA Date: 23 Feb 12 - 03:39 PM Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: GUEST,Mingulay Date: 20 Jun 03 - 11:38 AM -- re: "John McCrae died in Belgium". No, Alexis Helmer of Ottawa was KIA there, and that particular death and burial inspired the 1915 poem. The grave was fought over subsequently so his name ia only inscribed with many others on the Menin Gate Memorial. Dr. McCrae of Guelph died in France in hospital, of pneumonia 1918 January 28. He is buried in the CWGC Canadian cemetery at Wimereux with a grave marker. |
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Subject: RE: Tune Add: In Flanders Fields From: Barry T Date: 11 Nov 13 - 11:49 PM I've been waiting years for a choir to find my musical setting of John McCrae's famous poem and to record it for YouTube. It finally happened. In Flanders Fields for SATB Choir Thanks to Matt Ackroyd, who wrote the four part harmony for choir, and to Denis Khvatov, who polished the arrangement and published the notation. In 2003, in the early stages of this thread, Stewart correctly suggested that the phrasing for 'scarce heard the guns below' needed work. Denis also solved that little challenge. The final product is now something we three are proud to share. Barry Sooke, British Columbia . |
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Subject: RE: Origins: In Flanders Fields From: Joe Offer Date: 09 Nov 20 - 03:55 PM needs some cleanup |
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Subject: RE: Origins: In Flanders Fields From: sian, west wales Date: 09 Nov 20 - 10:33 PM McCrae's great niece is a member of our Presbyterian Church in Port Colborne, Ontario and reads the poem each year on Remembrance Sunday. She lives around the corner from me. I'll let her know about your composition; I think she'll appreciate it. sian |
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Subject: RE: Origins: In Flanders Fields From: rich-joy Date: 10 Nov 20 - 01:10 AM Does anyone have a current link to an online recording of Barry's "The Return of the Unknown Soldier" - as referenced above by Sandy McLean on 16Sep10 ??? Cheers, R-J |
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Subject: RE: Origins: In Flanders Fields From: FreddyHeadey Date: 10 Nov 20 - 02:15 PM Barry Taylor's tune for In Flanders Fields: Another SATB video, by Larimer Chorale https://youtu.be/iQodomNWorc The International Concertina Association has a page with a downloadable PDF for four parts "transformed to be read and played by a concertina band as a slow air" and an MP3. It's not quite clear to me whether it's the exact SATB lines by Matt Ackroyd or adapted slightly for concertina. https://concertina.org/2010/11/11/tune-in-flanders-fields/ |
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Subject: RE: Origins: In Flanders Fields From: GUEST,Eric LeBlanc Date: 10 Nov 20 - 11:25 PM I have always loved this poem. A few years ago I arranged Flanders Fields to the tune of "The Water Is Wide". A friend and I created the video on YouTube and posted both family photos and pictures of people who served from here in New Brunswick (Canada). The photos cover WW1, WW2, Korea, Afganistan. We share it every year on FB and I sing this in song circles every year in November. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA79JzXLhOE |
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Subject: RE: Origins: In Flanders Fields From: GUEST,M0AFJ Tim Date: 11 Nov 20 - 04:29 AM https://www.facebook.com/159384154262227/videos/1177515185770858/ On Flanders Fields sung by The Four Lanes Male Voice Choir, Cornwall U.K., at Camborne Chapel, 2019 |
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Subject: RE: Origins: In Flanders Fields From: GUEST,Tim Hosken MD Four Lanes Male Choir Date: 19 Nov 20 - 09:44 AM In response to a request about the arrangement of In Flanders Field. The original arrangement was brought back from Australia by a member who had been visiting family and went along to a choir rehearsal. I’m afraid l don’t have the names of those that arranged that piece but it was only in three parts so I added a fourth. It was also written in such a way that the last line of the first verse was used to start the second verse. It made no sense of the words at all. I repeated the last music line to accommodate the last line of the verse. We now had a opening line with no words so simply ‘ooo-ed’ the opening of verse two. Hope that’s useful. |
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