I heard a song ages ago on a CD I think was called Deánte De. The person who owned it doesn’t remember the CD at all, and I never read what the name of the song was. I’ve been playing it for ages at gigs, though, so I’d like to know what it is. The song can be found on our group’s Myspace page, named “The Star of County Down” (or perhaps just “County Down”):
It bears some resemblance to The Star of County Down and the hymn I heard the Voice of Jesus Say, but contains phrases I havn’t heard in either. I don’t know if it’s a variant or another tune completely.
Thanks, Iain! Yes, it’s definitely the 3/4 Star of the County Down with some tasteful variation. You’re just taking that top note up to e instead of the more usual d. Otherwise quite normal.
Fiddler’s companion calls it part of the “SOTCD family”, along with One Wife is Enough for Me, and The Ophan. More info here:
The hymn seems to have an interesting little history, too.
The common tune now for “I heard the voice of Jesus say” is KINGSFOLD - which is, in fact, our Star of the County Down. The pairing is due to Ralph Vaughan Williams, who collected the tune in Kingsfold, Sussex in 1904 and harmonized and adapted it to the hymn. So the tune has been in common circulation in Britain and Ireland for quite a while. Gilderoy, the ancestor tune, dates in print to at least 1726. Lots more information and links in this Mudcat thread:
Here’s the interesting bit. The hymn by Horatius Bonar was previously associated with the tune VOX DELICTI by John B. Dykes. There’s a MIDI harmonization here:
The first 6+ measures of VOX DELICTI share the same basic melody skeleton and implied harmony as SOTCD, before going its own way entirely in the B part. So it’s easy to guess what happened. Vaughan Williams was familiar with the existing hymn and tune, and when he collected SOTCD he noticed the similarity. So he reworked it and matched it back up, resulting in the current pairing. And frankly, it’s a better tune than the other one.
Thanks for all the info. Interesting (okay, maybe not) side story about Vox Dilecti: I once had a gig at a Baptist church and was given the music ahead of time. I saw one of the hymns listed as “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say” and concluded that I didn’t have to practice (besides taking note of the key signature). Boy was I surprised when the congregation started singing. “We weren’t expecting that lovely descant”…
I also wanted to update this thread with some information about the album, which was eventually, and very surprisingly, found after an absence of about ten years. The album is titled Dánta Dé, and the track info for this particular song reads:
Dánta Molta Dé" a Rí Comactaig / Song of Praise: O Mighty King
It doesn’t surprise me that there is yet another name for this tune. There’s an endless cycle of hymns borrowing from folk songs and folk songs borrowing from hymns.
Edit: And, yes, it is a soprano recorder, though I don’t know why I recorded using a soprano (the recording was made several years ago). I always play that tune with my tenor.
That happens in sessions all the time. You think you recognize the tune, so you start in. But it’s a false friend. And before long you’re playing a lovely counterpoint.
