Colonial American Music

Subject: Colonial American Music
From: GUEST
Date: 05 May 06 - 11:17 PM

Hello all-
Does anyone know where to find songs dating from the Colonial American era. Contemporary songs on Washington, the Revolution and such from the 18th century. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Peace
Date: 05 May 06 - 11:19 PM

Place to start from, GUEST.

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 05 May 06 - 11:20 PM

There's books on the subject. You might also want to check with performers who have played at Williamsburg, or who have recordings for sale with re-enactment vendors, they may list sources.

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Peace
Date: 05 May 06 - 11:21 PM

And another . . .

(Takes a second or two to load--then scroll down just a bit.)

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Peace
Date: 05 May 06 - 11:27 PM

Last for a bit . . . .

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Ron Davies
Date: 05 May 06 - 11:38 PM

One obvious choice, you're probably already aware of, is Chester, by William Billings (who wrote a lot of music popular at the time. Chester stood a chance of becoming the national anthem--it's considerably more singable than the English drinking song we wound up with. However it's possible that the there was a problem with the last line of the first verse. "New England's God forever reigns" might not have been a big hit with the Virginians.

However, it's certainly about the Revolution "... and generals yield to beardless boys..."

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Ernest
Date: 06 May 06 - 04:16 AM

kitchenmusician.net would be a good source: some rare songs, tunes and background information.
Best
Ernest

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: masato sakurai
Date: 06 May 06 - 05:44 AM

There's a scholary 2-volume book (collection of articles), Music in Colonial Massachusetts 1630-1820 (The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 1980, 1194 pages) -- volume one: "Music in Public Places," and volume 2: "Music in Homes and in Churches."

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 May 06 - 10:02 AM

There are books and cd's available here, here, and here.

You could always do "Yankee Doodle" and "The World Turned Up-Side Down."

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 May 06 - 11:18 AM

Look up the work of Linda Russell, who has built a career around researching and performing these songs.

SRS

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Melani
Date: 06 May 06 - 02:00 PM

"Songs and Music of the Redcoats," by Lewis Winstock

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: GUEST,Jack Campin
Date: 06 May 06 - 09:21 PM

Winstock's book is excellent, but it's about the British Army exclusively, over a much longer timespan and global geographic scope.

Vera Brodsky Lawrence's book "Music for Patriots, Politicians and Presidents" (Macmillan, 1975) is pretty good. Lots of facsimiles of early broadsides and sheet music.

I have some colonial American fife tunes on my website, also some other early American stuff.

The "World Turned Upside Down" story is a modern urban legend.

Are there any surviving songs from Native Americans about the colonial era? There are song-dramas from Polynesia giving detailed, verifiable accounts of Captain Cook's arrival, so it would be surprising if the much larger and more political Native American cultures hadn't produced and preserved commentaries on what was happening to them.

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 May 06 - 12:38 AM

I don't know what urban legend you refer to. "The World Turned Upside Down" was a piece of music, albeit a nursery rhyme type of thing, that was sung and played at the time of the American Revolution.

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 May 06 - 01:01 AM

My dad had a pretty good case for the World Turned Upside Down theory--but I'd have to pull the tape in which he performed that and Yankee Doodle and others to make his case.

Here is a piece of scholarship that looks to be about a 20-page essay (or longer). I skimmed the first of it--it looks interesting, but I don't know if throughout it makes the case or not. It's long and I'm tired and I'll read it tomorrow but I'm posting the link here this evening so I don't lose track of it.

SRS

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Artful Codger
Date: 07 May 06 - 08:26 PM

Check out recordings by the Boston Camerata and Hesperus.

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: GUEST
Date: 07 May 06 - 08:45 PM

Wow! Thank you to all for your insight and suggestions. I just found a world of music I hadn't known about. Once again - thanks.

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: GUEST,Jack Campin
Date: 07 May 06 - 09:07 PM

There's no reason to believe that "The World Turned Upside Down" would have been part of a 1780ish British band repertoire (it doesn't feature in the popular tune collections of the time) and none that it was played on the occasion it was said to have been in the US War of Independence.

There's quite enough well-documented and interesting music relating to this period without recycling crap scholarship.

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 May 06 - 11:27 PM

Excuse me, Guest Jack, but if you want to disprove scholarship, you don't do it by calling it "crap," you come up with a well-articulated response to it--and provide citations. All you have done so far is dismiss this topic, not prove your own position. Above the line there is a higher standard when it comes to holding the high ground in a discussion.

SRS

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Ron Davies
Date: 07 May 06 - 11:58 PM

The 20-page article was fascinating. I also couldn't read it thoroughly--though I intend to do so later.   But it seems it's possible that a tune to which the lyrics including a line about the world being turned upside down could fit was in fact played at Yorktown. Obviously, it wasn't sung--and there are other sets of text to the same tune.

So it's clear that the idea of that tune being played is not outside the realm of possibility--but the association with that particular line was definitely made after the fact--way after--about 1828 or so.

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: GUEST,Jack Campin
Date: 08 May 06 - 08:34 AM

As the page references before (http://www.americanrevolution.org/upside.html) says, there are two candidate tunes for songs with "The World Turned Upside Down" in the text. Both were very much better known with other texts: "Derry Down" (the less likely one) had so many alternate texts that none could be said to be primary, and "The King Shall Enjoy His Own Again" was universally known under that title, with "What Booker Shall Prognosticate" as an older alternative.

I don't have the National Tune Index here at home - it's the best tool for this sort of search - but I don't recall a single copy of or broadside reference to either tune from the second half of the 18th century under the "World Turned Upside Down" title, *lots* under the other two.

"The King Shall Enjoy His Own Again" makes much more sense as something for the defeated army to play, as a kind of "we'll be back" statement. If they did play it, you could imagine the informant from 1822 reconstruing its meaning as that given by a different text, as if somebody were to report that the British Labour Party sang "Maryland, My Maryland".

But it still had Jacobite connotations at the time, so they also had reasons not to play it. The vague testimony of one old man 40 years after the event being all there is to go on, it seems more likely the whole story is bollocks. Other tunes from the period took off immediately in a big way; if the yarn were true, you'd expect it to be reflected in ephemeral songs and music of the immediate postwar months. Look at the surprising history of the fiddle tune "Bunker Hill" for how fast musical folklore could respond.

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From:
Date: 16 May 06 - 10:26 PM

Can anyone help me find performers of colonial music or dance in the New England area? Thanks!

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 May 06 - 11:14 PM

See the note above about Linda Russell. Then there are a few Mudcatters to consider. . . look for the "Who's performing where" thread.

Are you enquiring from France, or do you just have an email address from there? (My Texas daughter has assumed a UK email address just for the novelty).

SRS

Subject: RE: Colonial American Music
From: Arkie
Date: 17 May 06 - 07:33 PM

Taylor Vrooman performed in Williamsburg for many years and made at least one record which might still be available at the Williamsburg Visitor Center.   Williamsburg was mentioned earlier as a source and Sturbridge Village could also be a good source of infomation.