The sensational content of folk ballads makes them especially attractive to young adults. In this fascinating study of folk ballads and their evolution, you'll explore various renditions of such popular songs as Frankie and Johnny, Stagolee, Pretty Polly, and Barbara Allen, as well as lesser known ballads (e.g., Lord Thomas and Fair Annet, Twa Sisters, and King Orfeo). You'll learn about the origins of the stories, how they have developed and changed over time, traveled throughout countries and across oceans, and ultimately evolved into literary forms, such as poetry, novels, and graphic novels, many of which are directed at young adults. Citing numerous critical interpretations and commentary, this book offers great insight into this genre of popular folk literature.

After an introduction to the form and its place in history, the author explores various types of ballads (e.g., child ballads, border ballads, broadside ballads). An examination of modern and contemporary re-workings of ballads, organized by themes, comprises the heart of the book. Ballad types covered include: tragic love stories, murder ballads, otherworld beings, tricks and disguises, and ballads from other cultures. Oral origins and history, critical interpretations, re-workings, and current recordings are included for each ballad; along with a list of resources.

First published in 1932, Cecil Sharp's English Folk-Songs from the Southern Appalachians contains 274 songs -- ballads, songs, hymns, nursery songs, jigs, and play-party games -- with 968 tunes, collected between 1916 and 1918 from traditional singers in the mountains of Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee. It remains one of the foundational collections of American folk music.

Sound Relations delves into histories of Inuit musical life in Alaska to register the significance of sound as integral to self-determination and sovereignty. Offering radical and relational ways of listening to Inuit performances across a range of genres-from hip hop to Christian hymnody and traditional drumsongs to funk and R&B -author Jessica Bissett Perea registers how a density (not difference) of Indigenous ways of musicking from a vast archive of presence sounds out entanglements between structures of Indigeneity and colonialism. This work dismantles stereotypical understandings of "Eskimos," "Indians," and "Natives" by addressing the following questions: What exactly is "Native" about Native music? What does it mean to sound (or not sound) Native? Who decides? And how can in-depth analyses of Native music that center Indigeneity reframe larger debates of race, power, and representation in twenty-first century American music historiography? Instead of proposing singular truths or facts, this book invites readers to consider the existence of multiple simultaneous truths, a density of truths, all of which are culturally constructed, performed, and in some cases politicized and policed. Native ways of doing music history engage processes of sound worlding that envision otherwise, beyond nation-state notions of containment and glorifications of Alaska as solely an extraction site for U.S. settler capitalism, and instead amplifies possibilities for more just and equitable futures.

From Costa Award-shortlisted author Nicholas Bowling comes a tale of adventure, myth and music to make your heart sing ... 'Cast its spell over me from the first page ... it really is my perfect book.' Jasbinder Bilan, author of ASHA & THE SPIRIT BIRD 'Nicholas Bowling is a thrilling writer.' THE TELEGRAPH Oran lives on Little Drum, where music is everything. Every islander has a birth instrument and a life song - and the ancestors, called ghasts, linger to hear the music. But when the Duchess arrives from the mainland bringing orders of silence, she threatens the ghasts' existence, the very soul of the community. When Oran hears of a mythical instrument with the power to manipulate hearts, she brings her ghast best friend, Alick, on a quest to find it, play it, and change the Duchess's mind ... From the author of the Costa Children's Book Award-shortlisted In the Shadow of the Heroes comes a thrilling Celtic-inspired fantasy adventure. The adventure and magic of Neil Gaiman's Stardust with a Hebridean-inspired fantasy setting and lovable characters reminiscent of Pixar's Brave. A story about how music has the power to reveal, to inspire, and to bind people together.

First published in 1932, Cecil Sharp's English Folk-Songs from the Southern Appalachians contains 274 songs -- ballads, songs, hymns, nursery songs, jigs, and play-party games -- with 968 tunes, collected between 1916 and 1918 from traditional singers in the mountains of Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee. It remains one of the foundational collections of American folk music.

This book is the first full-length analysis of the theory and practice of Persian singing, demonstrating the centrality of Persian elements in the music of the Islamic Middle Ages, their relevance to both contemporary and traditional Iranian music and their interaction with classical Persian poetry and metrics.

Almost 20 years ago Michael Brocken created from his doctoral research, what became both a seminal and contested volume concerning the social mores surrounding the British Folk Revival up to that point in time: The British Folk Revival 1944-2002. In this long-overdue second edition he revisits not only his own research, but also that of others from the 1990s and early 21st century. He then considers how a discourse of folkloric authenticity emerged in the closing years of the 19th century and how a worrying nationalistic immanence came to surround folk music and dance during the inter-war years. Brocken also proposes that the media: records, radio and TV in post-WWII folk revivalism can offer us important insights into how self-directed learning of the folk guitar emerged. Brocken moves on to consider the business structures of the contemporary folk scene and how relationships are formed between contemporary folk business and the digital and social media spheres. In his penultimate chapter he discusses the masculinisation of folk traditions and asks important questions about how our folk traditions are carried and are authorised. In the final chapter he also considers the rise of an exciting new folk live music built environment.

Bright Star of the West traces the life, repertoire, and influence of Joe Heaney, Ireland's greatest sean-nos ("old style") singer. Born in 1919, Joe Heaney grew up in a politically volatile time, as his native Ireland became a democracy. He found work and relative fame as a singer in London before moving to Scotland. Eventually, like many others searching for greater opportunity, he emigrated to the United States, where he worked as a doorman while supplementing his income with appearances at folk festivals, concerts and clubs. As his reputation and following grew, Heaney gained entry to the folk music scene and began leading workshops as a visiting artist at several universities. In 1982 the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Heaney America's highest honor in folk and traditional arts, the prestigious National Heritage Fellowship. Heaney's works did not become truly popular in his homeland until many years after his death. Today he is hailed as a seminal figure of traditional song and is revered by those who follow traditional music.
Authors Sean Williams and Lillis O Laoire address larger questions about song, identity, and culture. They explore the deep ambivalence both the Irish and Irish-Americans felt toward the traditional aspects of their culture, examining other critical issues, such as gender and masculinity, authenticity, and contemporary marketing and consumption of sean-nos singing in both Ireland and the United States. Comingling Heaney's own words with the authors' comprehensive research and analysis, Bright Star of the West weaves a poignant critical biography of the man, the music, and his continuing legacy in Ireland and the United States."

for solo cello Conceived as a set, these eight songs are drawn from several Chinese regions (Shaanbei, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Hunan, and Shanxi) and represent the three main genres of mountain song, work song, and the more structured performance song aimed at professional singers. In this new arrangement for solo cello the music has been carefully refashioned for Western instruments, with writing that includes stylistic bowing and fingering to match the original style. Suitable for students at early to intermediate level, these compelling short pieces are accompanied by illuminating programme notes with a synoposis of each song.

for solo viola Conceived as a set, these eight songs are drawn from several Chinese regions (Shaanbei, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Hunan, and Shanxi) and represent the three main genres of mountain song, work song, and the more structured performance song aimed at professional singers. In this new arrangement for solo viola the music has been carefully refashioned for Western instruments, with writing that includes stylistic bowing and fingering to match the original style. Suitable for students at early to intermediate level, these compelling short pieces are accompanied by illuminating programme notes with a synoposis of each song.

The Faber Music Christmas Piano Anthology is an essential collection of the greatest Christmas songs and carols, specially arranged for solo piano, for the intermediate pianist. The perfect gift for Christmas, this beautiful anthology includes favourites such as O Holy Night, Sleigh Ride and It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas alongside arrangements of Winter (from the Four Seasons), Troika (from Lieutenant Kije), and more.

The legendary flat-picking of Doc Watson, captured in transcriptions of 14 of his best-known works. Includes: Beaumont Rag * Black Mountain Rag * Blue Ridge Mountain Blues * Cotton-Eyed Joe * Deep River Blues * Doc's Guitar * Nashville Pickin' * Thoughts of Never * Windy and Warm * You Must Come In at the Door.

This is Martha Wainwright's heartfelt memoir about growing up in a bohemian musical family and her experiences with love, loss, motherhood, divorce, the music industry and more. Born into music royalty, the daughter of folk legends Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III and sister to the highly-acclaimed singer Rufus Wainwright, Martha grew up in a world filled with such incomparable folk legends as Leonard Cohen, Anna McGarrigle, Richard and Linda Thompson, Pete Townsend and Emmylou Harris. It was within this loud, boisterous, musical milieu that Martha came of age, struggling to find her voice until she exploded onto the music scene with her 2005 debut and critically acclaimed album, Martha Wainwright, which contained the blistering hit, 'Bloody Mother F*cking Asshole', which the Sunday Times called one of the best songs of that year. Her successful debut album and the ones that followed such as Come Home to Mama, I Know You're Married but I've Got Feelings Too and Goodnight City came to define Martha's searing songwriting style and established her as a powerful voice to be reckoned with. 'With disarming candour and courage, Martha tells us of finding her own voice and peace as a working artist and mother. Her story is made more unique because of the remarkably gifted musical family she was born into.' EMMYLOU HARRIS In Stories I Might Regret Telling You, Martha digs into the deep recesses of herself with the same emotional honesty that has come to define her music. She describes her tumultuous public-facing journey from awkward, earnest and ultimately rebellious daughter, through her intense competition and ultimate alliance with her brother, Rufus, to the heart-breaking loss of their mother, Kate, and then, finally, discovering her voice as an artist. With candour and grace, Martha writes of becoming a mother herself and making peace with her past struggles with Kate and her younger self. Ultimately, this book offers a thoughtful and deeply personal look into the extraordinary life of one of the most talented singer-songwriters in music today.

A poet of rare skill, Abdur Rahim Khan-i- Khanan wrote poems in Persian, Sanskrit and Hindavi, with metaphors ranging from Giridhar to Ganga, and with humanist ideals expounded in precise and concise matras of dohas and barvais. This book catalogues the festival of the same name, to capture the manifold attributes and genius of Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan. Both the festival and the book were borne of the conservation work undertaken on Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan's tomb to protect and promote his legacy, a key objective of the Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiative, with support from InterGlobe Foundation. This volume also includes a remarkable selection of his verses, set to music with ragas and vernacular symphonies based on his poetry and his life.

A collection of musical transcriptions, song lyrics, memoir, stories, and lore from a matrilineal line of famed Traveller balladeers, musicians, and storytellers Elizabeth Stewart is a highly acclaimed singer, pianist, and accordionist whose reputation has spread widely not only as an outstanding musician but as the principal inheritor and advocate of her family and their music. First discovered by folklorists in the 1950s, the Stewarts of Fetterangus, including Elizabeth's mother Jean, her uncle Ned, and her aunt Lucy, have had immense musical influence. Lucy in particular became a celebrated ballad singer and in 1961 Smithsonian Folkways released a collection of her classic ballad recordings that brought the family's music and name to an international audience. Up Yon Wide and Lonely Glen is a significant memoir of Scottish Traveller life, containing stories, music, and songs from this prominent Traveller family. The book is the result of a close partnership between Elizabeth Stewart and Scottish folk singer and writer Alison McMorland. The narrative, spanning five generations of women and written in Scots, captures the rhythms and idioms of Elizabeth Stewart's speaking voice and is extraordinary from a musical, cultural, sociological, and historical point of view. The book features 145 musical transcriptions and song lyrics, including eight original piano compositions, folktale versions, rhymes and riddles, and eighty fascinating illustrations of the Stewart family. Elizabeth Stewart, Mintlaw, Scotland, is an outstanding practitioner of the traditional arts. An internationally recognized singer, storyteller, composer, and song writer of remarkable ability, she has performed all over the UK and made several tours of America. She and her family have been visited by musicians, singers, folklorists, and journalists for over fifty years. Alison McMorland, Dunblane, Scotland, is a traditional singer, collector, broadcaster, teacher, and writer, who over forty years has forwarded the cause of traditional music in her numerous recordings, publications, and classes throughout the UK, Europe and the USA. Her most recent publication is Herd Laddie o the Glen: Songs and Life of the Border Shepherd, Willie Scott.

Provides biographical details on some of the most talented, influential and up-and-coming artists and individuals from the world of popular music.
Now in its fully-updated and revised fifth edition, this title includes over 5,000 biographies charting the achievements and careers of pop, rock, folk, jazz, dance, world and country artists throughout the world.
Features include:
* Over 5,000 alphabetically arranged entries containing full biographical information: major career details, concerts, recordings and compositions, honours and contact address
* Full contact details for companies and organizations throughout the popular music industry - including record companies, management agencies, agents and promoters
* Lists of key festivals and musical events worldwide, with relevant contact details.

In an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, Kristina Gaddy uncovers the banjo's key role in Black spirituality, ritual and rebellion. Through meticulous research in diaries, letters, archives and art, she traces the banjo's beginnings from the seventeenth century, when enslaved people of African descent created it from gourds or calabashes and wood. Gaddy shows how the enslaved carried this unique instrument as they were transported and sold by slaveowners throughout the Americas, to Suriname, the Caribbean and the colonies that became US states, including Louisiana, South Carolina, Maryland and New York. African Americans came together at rituals where the banjo played an essential part. White governments, rightfully afraid that the gatherings could instigate revolt, outlawed them without success. In the mid-nineteenth century, Blackface minstrels appropriated the instrument for their bands, spawning a craze. Eventually the banjo became part of jazz, bluegrass and country, its deepest history forgotten.

This book challenges the monolithic portrayals of folk music and social change under commission by making a case for 'people's music' and shows how new folk music embodies an inherently pluralistic concept of Yugoslavia's culture.
The book provides an introduction to one of the most vital forms of popular culture to emerge in east-central Europe. Based on extensive fieldwork, it engages the polemical perspectives of Yugoslav commentators and draws extensively on interpretive insights by musicians, media and music industry insiders.

This unique study of Turkmen women and their folk songs looks at religion, ritual and family as seen through the eyes of the women and their songs.

An extensive introduction provides basic information about Russian epics, their historical background, their poetics, the history of their collection, their performance context, and their main interpretations. In addition, their is a short introduction to each song, explaining its plot, allusions, and interpretations. A glossary of common terms and a selected bibliography of studies about the Russian epic in English and Russian are also included in the volume.