Subject: Lyr/Tune Add: GOOD OLD CONCERTINA (Henry Lawson)
From:
Bob Bolton
Date: 01 Jun 99 - 06:47 PM
G'day all,
This arises from a thread on concertina lessons for the simple 20-key Anglo Concertina. This poem by Australia's Henry Lawson has been a favourite of mine for years and, in 1986 I wrote a tune for it. Interestingly, when Chris Kempster's book The Songs of Henry Lawson came out, I found three more tunes: one traditional (Brighton Camp) set to it and two more composed ... all of them by people I knew, but I had never heard any of them sing their versions. I think it is time we concertinists came out of the closet (or whatever!).
THE GOOD OLD CONCERTINA
Henry Lawson (1867 - 1922) Written January 1891
Twas merry when the hut was full of jolly girls and fellows,
We danced and sang until we burst the concertina's bellows.
From distant Darling to the sea; from the Downs to Riverina,
Has e'er a gum in all the West not heard the concertina?
'Twas peaceful round the campfire blaze, the long white branches o'er us;
We'd play the tunes of bygone days, to some good old bush chorus.
Old Erin's harp may sweeter be, the Scottish pipes blow keener;
But sing an old bush song for me to the good old concertina.
'Twas cosy by the hut-fire bright when the pint pot passed between us;
We drowned the voice of the stormy night with the good old concertina's.
Though trouble drifts along the years, and the pangs of care grow keener,
My heart is gladdened when I hear that good old concertina.
Notes:
Darling: The Darling River runs south west along the western reaches of New South Wales and pretty much defines where it peters out into the Central Australian deserts.
Downs: The Darling Downs; a rich pastoral and grazing area around Toowoomba, in south eastern Queensland (just above the northern border of New South Wales).
Riverina: The area along the southern border of New South Wales, where there is extensive irrigation from the waters of the Murray and Murrimbidgee Rivers.
This all means, of course, that the area described is from the western side of New South Wales to the Eastern coast and from the northern border of New South Wales to the southern - that is; all of New South Wales (the other states don't matter to Henry Lawson ... a true son of NSW!).
ABC/MIDI of tune composed by Bob Bolton, © 1986
This tune won the Bush Music Festival 1986 1st prize for Best Original Tune to Existing Verse. To hear it at its best, it should be played two-handed on an Anglo concertina. I have made an arrangement for simple concertina which (more or less) represents what I play (some days).
If anyone is interested, I can email them a black & white GIF file of the music, if they contact me on my email address: bbolton@energy.com.au.
MIDI file: g-o-conc.mid Timebase: 240 TimeSig: 2/4 24 8
Tempo: 100 (600000 microsec/crotchet)
Start
0360 1 64 080 0048 0 64 064 0012 1 62 080 0048 0 62 064 0012 1 60 080 0144 0 60 064 0036 1 64 080 0048 0 64 064 0012 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 69 080 0144 0 69 064 0036 1 69 080 0048 0 69 064 0012 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 64 080 0048 0 64 064 0012 1 62 080 0048 0 62 064 0012 1 60 080 0144 0 60 064 0036 1 64 080 0048 0 64 064 0012 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 62 080 0192 0 62 064 0048 1 60 080 0096 0 60 064 0024 1 64 080 0048 0 64 064 0012 1 62 080 0048 0 62 064 0012 1 60 080 0144 0 60 064 0036 1 64 080 0048 0 64 064 0012 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 69 080 0144 0 69 064 0036 1 69 080 0048 0 69 064 0012 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 64 080 0048 0 64 064 0012 1 62 080 0048 0 62 064 0012 1 60 080 0144 0 60 064 0036 1 64 080 0048 0 64 064 0012 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 62 080 0192 0 62 064 0048 1 60 080 0096 0 60 064 0084 1 60 080 0048 0 60 064 0012 1 62 080 0144 0 62 064 0036 1 62 080 0048 0 62 064 0012 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 69 080 0048 0 69 064 0012 1 69 080 0048 0 69 064 0012 1 67 080 0144 0 67 064 0036 1 67 080 0048 0 67 064 0012 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 60 080 0096 0 60 064 0024 1 62 080 0144 0 62 064 0036 1 60 080 0192 0 60 064 0048 1 60 080 0048 0 60 064 0012 1 62 080 0144 0 62 064 0036 1 62 080 0048 0 62 064 0012 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 69 080 0144 0 69 064 0036 1 69 080 0048 0 69 064 0012 1 67 080 0144 0 67 064 0036 1 67 080 0048 0 67 064 0012 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 60 080 0096 0 60 064 0024 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 60 080 0096 0 60 064
End This program is worth the effort of learning it. To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here ABC format: X:1
T:
M:2/4
Q:1/4=100
K:C
E7D|C3EG2G2|A3AG2ED|C3EG2E2|D4C2ED|C3EG2G2|
A3AG2ED|C3EG2E2|D4C3C|D3DD2E2|F2G2A2AA|G3GE2C2|
D3C4C|D3DD2E2|F2G2A3A|G3GE2C2|D2C3/2||
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sj
