A genuine if a little unusual question. During extensive researches on the Hammond and Gardiner Manuscripts a rather interesting question of tune and modality has occured. I have reached a spurious conclusion, and feel it may be worth opening up the discussion to see where it takes me/us.
I have noted that several singers within the manuscripts have a tendancy to stray from the modality of the chosen tune, and end their songs in the major. This gives the tune a rather unusual though not unpleasant ending, which confused Vaughn Williams, upset the Hammond Brothers (who admitted to destroying several tunes that were 'spoiled’) and confused those formally trained musicians who noted tunes. They were not sure which key they should utilise for their notation.
Mr Frank Purslow noted the same problem, and attributed it to the possibility that the singers were not used to the concept of harmony, which I find unlikely. Further more I have found tunes in the Irish tradition which use the same surprising and in my opinion very pleasant musical twist. ‘The Bonny Labouring Boy’ as noted in ‘Irish Street Ballads’ is one good example, and from Hammond ‘One night as I lay on my bed’ noted from George House (not Marina Russell) is quite a startleing example.
So my questions are
1. Is this a decay of style due to Art and popular musical influence.
2. Is this a lack of harmonic understanding (Mr Purslow)
3. Is this an established singing style drawn from an Irish tradition.
4. Is this a much earlier influence from an Art Music source.
All replies will be treated with respect and interest.