New Cecil Sharp Book - 'Still Growing'

Subject: RE: New Cecil Sharp Book
From: greg stephens
Date: 03 Aug 03 - 02:37 AM

I know you're right.Desert Dancer. I just like them the way they are at the moment! I have sheet music from 1800ish which is doing just what you say, turning to powder.

Subject: RE: New Cecil Sharp Book
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 03 Aug 03 - 12:23 AM

Greg, the problem is that soon those lovely tea-colored pages will lose their flexibility, crack and then disintigrate into crumbs when you try to use the book. Perhaps not during your lifetime, but much sooner than the acid-free paper.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: New Cecil Sharp Book
From: greg stephens
Date: 02 Aug 03 - 06:32 AM

Not sure that I'm with Malcolm Douglas on the advantages of acid-free paper not discolouring. My old copies of "Penguin Book of English Folksongs" etc now have this wonderful appearance, as if they've marinaded in stewed tea and Guiness for fifty years: and that seems to resonate very well with the music enshrined within, and also with my own life. I kind of like it.

Subject: RE: New Cecil Sharp Book
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 01 Aug 03 - 02:26 PM

It's perhaps particularly interesting in that it approaches the songs via the singers, so to speak. Folk song collections in the past have often tended to isolate songs from their traditional context, to the detriment of our understanding of them. Sharp actually recorded a good bit of information on his sources (striking up real friendships with some of them) and took photographs when possible. Research by Dave Bland, Bob and Jacqueline Patten and others has been used to give us a much better picture of who these people were and what their lives were like. It goes without saying that the songs included are immensely interesting in themselves.

Design and production values are good, too, and the paper is acid-free and won't go brown on your shelf. Malcolm Taylor would like very much to do a similar selection from the material Sharp collected in the Appalachians, but that will depend on how sales for this one go. EFDSS' press release can be seen at  http://www.efdss.org/:

Still Growing

Subject: RE: New Cecil Sharp Book
From: Martin Graebe
Date: 01 Aug 03 - 02:14 PM

Bought mine at C# House on Wednesday - a brilliant book and a credit to all involved. Wonderful pictures! If I was earwigging accurately I think you can expect to see a review in this weekend's Sunday Telegraph (though having to buy the Telegrah may be too high a price to pay!).

There are not enough good books of traditional song around at the moment. This is a great start

Martin

Subject: New Cecil Sharp Book
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 01 Aug 03 - 01:15 PM

The long-awaited new Cecil Sharp Collection, "Still Growing", is now available. Compiled and edited by Steve Roud, Eddie Upton and Malcolm Taylor with an introduction by Vic Gammon, this 121 page softcover book presents a vivid picture of the early days of folksong collection. It also contains 50 songs (words, music and notes on the singers), and is profusely illustrated.

It's published by the English Folk Dance and Song Society, and EFDSS charges 12.99 (that's pounds, folks) or about $21. You can purchase it at CAMSCO for $17.50.

Musical Traditions Review