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Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Folk music
74 of the most popular items from Carols for Choirs 1, 2 and 3 in
one volume, plus 26 pieces new to the series. The volume contains
both accompanied and unaccompanied items, and the Order of Service
for a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. Orchestral and brass
ensemble accompaniments for many of the items are available on
hire.
Scandinavian art songs are a unique expression of the cultures of
Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Although these three countries are
distinct from one another, their languages and cultures share many
similarities. Common themes found in art and literature include a
love of nature, especially of the sea, feelings of longing and
melancholy, the contrast between light and dark, the extremes of
the northern climate, and lively folk traditions. These shared
sensibilities are reflected and expressed in a tangible way through
music. Scandinavian art song has faced several challenges over the
years in North America (even in the American Midwest, where
descendants of Scandinavian immigrants are concentrated). But
matters have changed recently with the recent expansion of diction
curricula to cover languages other than English, French, German,
and Italian. The primary obstacle remains practical resources for
the study of art songs and lyric diction of Sweden, Norway, and
Denmark. This guide remedies this problem. Scandinavian Song is a
practical guide to the art songs of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
Unlike other sources that give at best a cursory overview of lyric
diction in the Scandinavian languages, this guide provides
practical information, enabling teachers and students to render
transcriptions of Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish texts into the
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)-an absolute necessity for any
study of repertoire. An extensive survey of available music, sample
IPA transcriptions and translations, as well as a website link with
native speakers reciting selected song texts, make this book an
invaluable resource for students and professors in North American
college, university, and conservatory voice programs.
Cultural Crofter is a very apt description for Nancy Nicolson - she
is a Sottish folk singer and a tradition bearer, a songwriter and a
storyteller and a melodeon player. Brought up on a croft in
Caithness, the former Edinburgh teacher has worked with the BBC,
Celtic Connections, and the New Makars Trust. It was high time that
her songs were collected and published, and Grace Note Publications
has done just that, to coincide with her 75th birthday in 2016.
They sent a Wumman: The Collected Songs of Nancy Nicolson contains
an autobiographical piece by Nancy herself, as well as
contributions by her fellow-Caithnessian writer George Gunn, by
singer, songwriter, actor and director Gerda Stevenson and the folk
singer, songwriter and publisher Ewan McVicar. But the focus is, as
editor Paddy Bort writes in his introduction, firmly on the songs,
in all their glorious diversity. Like few others, Nancy Nicolson
has the gift - as writer, singer and storyteller - to communicate
the life and culture of Scotland, with rare warmth and energy and
her very own brand of wit and wisdom. As can be seen in this
volume, Nancy Nicolson covers (nearly) every subject under the sun
- from bootleg whisky to the Miners' Strike, from bairns' play to
the grim and cruel games of war, and from 'hauf-hinget' Maggie to
'Maggie's Pit Ponies'. Some of her songs have assumed almost
'traditional' status by now - among them Nancy's greatest hits:
"Listen tae the Teacher', 'The Moon in the Morning', 'The Brickie's
Ballad' and, of course, 'They Sent a Wumman'. Among others, Gerda
Stevenson, The McCalmans and Ed Miller have recorded her songs.
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