we laughed and laughed

Subject: we laughed and laughed
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 15 Sep 05 - 10:14 AM

Just thought I'd share a good musical experience.

A few days ago our group met to play early music, and we were doing a four-part piece called (I forget why) The Bransle Mixed. This piece included what we call "the brother-in-law's line," which is a very easy line which we think the composer included so that his no-talent brother-in-law could be supported by the aristocracy.

Our weakest player (The Kid,she's only 40) wanted that line, and I told her to play it, not as a sequence of random notes but as a song that doesn't move much, like The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. (Only she should pretend that Kenny Rogers sang with expression.)

Well, that started people laughing, and Stringfellow, our harper, had the inspiration that I should sing the lyrics of The Gambler to the tune of the brother-in-law's line while everybody else played. ("We're not elitist," says she.) So the Kid stood next to me so I could hear how the line goes, and eventually, I did it.

Musically, it worked well. If you couldn't understand the words, it sounds like somebody is singing an elegant ancient line to a polyphonic orchestral piece. You just have to keep the others from laughing while you do it.

By the way, a good source for old MIDI's like this is The Classical Music Archives. http://www.classicalarchives.com/index.html

(I am not a Guest.)

Subject: RE: we laughed and laughed
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Sep 05 - 01:32 PM

Oh how droll

Subject: RE: we laughed and laughed
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 15 Sep 05 - 07:22 PM

Thank you GUEST.

Crossing tunes and other words is an old game. There are other similar threads here.

Subject: RE: we laughed and laughed
From: Allan C.
Date: 16 Sep 05 - 09:58 AM

Sorta reminds me of an organist friend of mine who, while attending seminary, was required to play a fugue at the start of each Sunday mass. He always thought them dreadful and wished to avoid having to play them in the future. One Sunday he had played almost all the way through the piece before anyone recognized that he was improvising on "Popeye the Sailor Man." It worked. He was never asked to play again.

Subject: RE: we laughed and laughed
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 16 Sep 05 - 10:04 AM

Subject: RE: we laughed and laughed
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 16 Sep 05 - 10:10 AM

It worked, but then somebody probably started the legend that "Popeye the Sailor Man" was an ancient modal tune, probably Gregorian, later arranged in four parts by JS Bach.

Or perhaps it will have been a German drinking song, with new words by Martin Luther.

One thing it could not have been is a brother-in-law's line. It's too challenging.

Subject: RE: we laughed and laughed
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 16 Sep 05 - 11:11 AM

In my fraternity we had many alumni being Lutheran ministers, and one of them was well rounded and bald. A brother often played the organ during his services. One day he told us to come to the service next sunday because he had a surprise for us. When the minister climbed the scales to the pulpit, our brother started a fugue. When the minster's bald head appeared, we recognized the theme: the old song "der Mond ist aufgegangen" - the moon arises.

Subject: RE: we laughed and laughed
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 16 Sep 05 - 11:45 AM

I'm glad that it wasn't because he'd forgotten to wear trousers that day!

Art