| Thy
Trembling Strings Sarah Deere-Jones & Phil Williams
Buy this album now CD: £8.00 + p&p |
| Sarah Deere-Jones profile page with index of recordings and compositions |
| 1 | La Petite Montignard, Polish Waltz, La Penelope | 4:02 |
| 2 | Slow Air, Country Dance, Scottish Reel | 4:42 |
| 3 | The last rose of summer | $:31 |
| 4 | Neil Gow’s lament for the death of
his second wife, Yellow-Hair’d laddie, O’Carolan’s concerto |
5:36 |
| 5 | Non lo dira col labbro | 2:00 |
| 6 | La Conquerante, L’ inconstant | 3:03 |
| 7 | Rondo Bach -Duet for harp-lute and harp | 2:17 |
| 8 | O lovely is the summer moon | 4:01 |
| 9 | La Nouvelle Chasse, La Flora, La Felesia | 4:41 |
| 10 | Waly Waly | 3:45 |
| 11 | Rondo in F major | 2:47 |
The last rose of summer performed by Sarah Deere-Jones & Phil Williams
1. La Petite Montignard, Polish Waltz, La Penelope
Three quadrille tunes published in 1810 as ‘performed by Mr James
Paine and his
band at the Argyll Rooms at Almack's, and the Carlton House Fete, arranged
for
pianoforte or Harp by F.J Klose.’ Almack’s was a dance and
social club in St
James’ London, famous at the beginning of the 19th century and
frequented by the
rich and famous. This original book contains instructions on how the
dances were to
be performed, with scribbled notes from past musicians about how many
times they
were played! Our ‘soiree’ versions for harp and parlour guitar
of these pretty tunes
stand on their own as delightful chamber pieces.
2. Slow Air, Country Dance, Scottish Reel Light/trad
A collection of tunes played on the harp-lute, all authentic solo pieces
for the
instrument taken from the ‘New and compleat instructions for playing
on the
harp-lute’ by Edward Light, which was the first tutor book written
by the inventor of
the instrument in 1810. A light harp accompaniment has been added in
places.
3. The last rose of summer Moore.
arr Deere-Jones
Words and Music Thomas Moore (1779-1852) Irish poet and performer, friend
of
Lord Byron and a member of Almack’s club he was a celebrity of
the age in London
society. This song was published in the 1820s, this version has been
arranged for
harp-lute and pedal harp.
4. Neil Gow’s lament for the death of his
second wife, Yellow-Hair’d laddie, O’Carolan’s concerto
Neil Gow 1727-1807, was a prize winning Scottish fiddle player credited
as
writing at least 87 dance tunes, his second wife Margaret Urquhart died
in 1805
which inspired this beautiful melody. Yellow Hair’d Laddie was
a popular
traditional tune in Regency Salons, even appearing in Jane Austen’s
personal
music collection. The music of Turlough O’Carolan the 17th century
blind Irish
harper, was collected by Edward Bunting in 1792, and inspired a revival
of
interest in the Irish harp, encouraged by the beautiful harps then produced
by the
famous Belfast maker John Egan.
5. Non lo dira col labbro G.F.Handel
This song is most usually known as ‘Silent Worship’ but the
translation in that
version was not done until 1928 and the English words in it bear little
resemblance to the original meaning. From the opera ‘Ptolemy’ this
song would
have been sung in Italian in Regency times and the words actually translate
as’I will not say it with my lips, which have not the courage,
perhaps the sparks of
my burning eyes, revealing my passion, my glance will speak.’
6. La Conquerante, L’ inconstant
Two quadrilles from Paine’s album of dance music written for his
band of
musicians, L’inconstant from the 5th set and from the 7th set ’La
Conquerante
which is dedicated to ‘her grace the duchess of Wellington’,
who was with the
Duke, a regular member of Almack’s club. The Duke, after his successes
in the
war against France was one of the biggest ‘celebrities’ of
his day, and proof that
Almack’s which was known as ‘the seventh heaven of the fashionable
world’ only
admitted the most select of society.
7. Rondo Bach—Duet
for harp-lute and harp, arr Edward Light
Another authentic piece arranged as a harp-lute and pedal harp duet by
Edward
Light and taken from his ‘New and complete directory on the art
of playing on the
patent British Lute-Harp’ dated 1817. By this time his instruments
were gradually
evolving and had acquired ‘ditals’, small buttons that could
alter the pitch of
individual strings enabling fast accidentals to be played. In the harp-lute
repertoire
there are several duets for harp-lute and pedal harp or piano-forte,
a popular
combination.
8. O lovely is the summer
moon H. R. Bishop
arr Deere-Jones
With words by Miss Anna Maria Porter, this pretty sentimental song is
mentioned
in ‘The quarterly review’ in 1823 and it’s composer
Henry Bishop (1786-1855) was
a well known composer in the early 19th century most famous for ‘Home
Sweet
Home’ which remained famous for 150 years after it was written.
His later life was
marred by scandal when his wife the singer Anna Riviere ran away to Australia
with the harpist and composer Robert Boscha! Arranged here for harp-lute
with
harp added in second verse.
9. La Nouvelle Chasse, La
Flora, La Felesia
Another group of quadrille tunes all taken from set one of James Paine’s
book
published in 1810, here played on harp and parlour guitar. This set of
dances is
dedicated to Prince Frederick of Prussia another regular client, In most
of the sets
there are dedications to important and no doubt influential members of
the club.
Whilst these tunes would have been played by a small ensemble at Almack’s
club,
this old book contains arrangements of them reduced ‘for harp or
piano-forte’ by
FJ Klose and was obviously intended for the domestic market.
10. Waly Waly trad
arr. Deere-Jones
This was another popular traditional piece in Regency salons, it appeared
in’Relics of Ancient English poetry’ vol III by Thomas
Percy and in the ‘Edinburgh
Musical Miscellany’ 1793 , and today is a very well known traditional
song with
many versions of it across England although with variable tunes. It also
appears
in Jane Austen’s personal collection of music, and the same tune
is used in this
arrangement for harp, harp-lute and sung by Sarah.
11. Rondo
in F major R.N.C. Boscha
Robert Nicolas-Charles Bochsa 1789 - 1856 was a harpist, composer and
rogue!
After studying at the Paris Conservatoire, Bochsa was appointed harpist
to the
Imperial orchestra in 1813 but in 1817 he was forced to flee France to
avoid
prosecution for counterfeiting, fraud and forgery. Settling in London,
Bochsa was
one of the founding members of the Royal Academy of music and became
the
Secretary of this organisation in 1821, as well as professor of Harp,
teaching the
famous virtuoso Elias Parish Alvars. Although already married he ran
away with
the singer Anna Riviere to Australia where he died shortly afterwards
The CD booklet contains further information about the music and the instruments used in this recording.
See also www.regencyharp.co.uk
| Title: | Thy Trembling Strings |
| Artist: | Sarah Deere-Jones, Phil Williams |
| Instruments: | Harp, Harp-Lute, Parlour Guitar |
| Genre: | English Regency Music |
| Format: | CD |
| Our Ref: | A0650 |
| MCPS: | FPCD011 |
| Label: | Cornwall Harp Centre |
| Year: | 2012 |
| Origin: | UK |