The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #13204 Message #108178
Posted By: Sandy Paton
24-Aug-99 - 06:45 PM
Thread Name: Searching for Songbooks
Subject: RE: Searching for Songbooks
Child was a literary man, not a musician. He did include a brief "addenda" with a handful of tunes, but his focus was on texts. Bronson performed the heroic task of chasing down every truly traditional tune known for the ballads that Child included in his 305. Princeton published the four massive volumes and included not only the tunes, with Bronson's comments, but also the texts! Later, Bronson published a single volume (in paper, too) of a selection of the ballads. I'm not at my bookshelves, but I think it was titled "The Singing Tradition of the Child Ballads," or words to that effect. That book may be easier to find and will certainly cost a lot less than the large, expensive Princeton hardcovers.
Sharp, unlike Child, published words and tunes in his extremely valuable "English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians" (Oxford Univ. Press; originally in two volumes, later reprinted in a single volume). Sharp also published many collections of English songs. All of his books are worth tracking down.
Good hunting!
Sandy