In a couple weeks, I’m supposed to play for a little Christmas luncheon thing the music ed club is putting on in the music department here at college. I’ve been asked to play Christmas music on my “weird” instruments (at least, all these crazy classical musicians think these instruments are weird!)… so I have whistles (low and high…), hammered dulcimer, mountain dulcimer, concertina, accordian, and a few other assorted things to work with. My problem: I really have no idea how to do like “celtic Christmas music”… Do I take familiar carols and try to make them sound celtic? Or do I go digging for authentic celtic carols. I have a few ideas to use songs that sound celtic to me-- like “I Saw 3 Ships,” and “Coventry Carol.” I also found one Breton carol, “Pe trouz zou ar en doar” to use. But I would greatly appreciate any advice or ideas!! Thanks!!
Rachel
Why strain to make them sound celtic? Why not just choose the ones you like best, play them on whatever instruments you choose and make them sound the way you want them to? I reckon you and your audience will have loads of fun and nothing will sound contrived. It should sound folksy anyway, just through the choice of instruments, and, if you move around between instruments, as you did at that concert you gave recently, it will sound varied as well.
[ This Message was edited by: Wombat on 2002-11-26 01:06 ]
I agree with Wombat. We know from the Holiday busking thread that there’s a wealth of carols out there that sound great on the whistle (and probably on those other instruments as well). No need to do anything with them to make them sound “Celtic”…just play 'em straight, and they’ll sound wonderful.
FWIW, if people want Christmas music, they’re going to want music they’ll recognize as Christmas music, if you get my drift. No need to go hunting for something obscure.
Redwolf
Just wanted to add a couple of suggestions:
Several French carols work particularly well on the whistle. “Un Flambeau,” “Patapan,” “Il Est Ne, Le Divin Enfant,” and “Angels From the Realm of Glory” are all lovely. “I Saw Three Ships” and “In Dulci Jubilo” are great on the whistle too (they should be…they’re both single jigs). I’ve heard “What Child is This” (Greensleeves) played on hammered dulcimer, and it seems particularly well-suited to that instrument…very haunting. I would think that a good carol for Appalachian Dulcimer would be “I Wonder as I Wander”, that being an Appalachian carol. Jingle Bells sounds fun on a concertina…in fact, if you can find someone to play bells, it will sound like a Morris tune! Basically, if you choose music that will make the best use of each instrument’s unique sound, you won’t go far wrong.
If this is a luncheon, and therefore fairly festive, I’d steer clear of Coventry Carol. There will surely be people there who know the words, and it’s a pretty depressing subject (the murder of the Holy Innocents).
A lot of the old Sarum-rite chants for Christmastide work well on the whistle as well.
Check out that Holiday busking thread…you’ll find a lot of good ideas.
Redwolf
Christmas in Killarny (the old Bing Crosby hit)
Great advice, guys! Thanks!!
You can always buy the CD of Mary Bergin’s group Dordan, which appropriately is called Celtic Christmas [if I remember well, I saw it in Custy’s early in the year] and learn the tunes off that one.
There are is a jig in O’Neil’s called Christmas Jig. There is Christmas Eve, a frequently heard reel. Then I recommend Don Uiche Ud I mBethil, a sort of Irish hymn. There’s a gorgeous recording of it on Susan McKeon’s Through the Bitter Frost & Snow (w/Lindsey Horner).
The Christmas Eve Reel works well played as a countermelody to Jingle Bells (and makes it sound even more like a Morris Tune).
Bloomfield…I wonder if that’s the same “Celtic Christmas” I have? I picked it up at Safeway a couple of weeks ago…it’s marketed under their label, but the artists aren’t credited on it that I can see. It’s the one that has “The Holly Hornpipe” on it that I asked about awhile back, as well as Jingle Bells/Christmas Eve Reel, and several other holiday favorites played on trad instruments.
Redwolf
There is also the Chieftains Christmas CD ‘The Bells of Dublin’ ~ Some really nice stuff on that.
Probably anything played on “wierd” instruments will sound Celtic to the noninitiate. To make it sound “Christmassy” as well I would stick with carols most people will recognize. Even a lot of the French ones, though very lovely, will be unfamiliar to many or most.
On 2002-11-26 10:34, Redwolf wrote:
Bloomfield…I wonder if that’s the same “Celtic Christmas” I have? I picked it up at Safeway a couple of weeks ago…it’s marketed under their label, but the artists aren’t credited on it that I can see. It’s the one that has “The Holly Hornpipe” on it that I asked about awhile back, as well as Jingle Bells/Christmas Eve Reel, and several other holiday favorites played on trad instruments.
Redwolf, I think you are referring to Peter’s post recommending Mary Bergin’s CD. I don’t think it’s the same you bought. I don’t know either CD, though.
On 2002-11-26 12:12, Bloomfield wrote:
On 2002-11-26 10:34, Redwolf wrote:
Bloomfield…I wonder if that’s the same “Celtic Christmas” I have? I picked it up at Safeway a couple of weeks ago…it’s marketed under their label, but the artists aren’t credited on it that I can see. It’s the one that has “The Holly Hornpipe” on it that I asked about awhile back, as well as Jingle Bells/Christmas Eve Reel, and several other holiday favorites played on trad instruments.Redwolf, I think you are referring to Peter’s post recommending Mary Bergin’s CD. I don’t think it’s the same you bought. I don’t know either CD, though.
You’re right. Sorry Peter!
Redwolf
On 2002-11-26 12:05, Michael Sullivan wrote:
Probably anything played on “wierd” instruments will sound Celtic to the noninitiate. To make it sound “Christmassy” as well I would stick with carols most people will recognize. Even a lot of the French ones, though very lovely, will be unfamiliar to many or most.
I dunno. The ones I mentioned are frequently heard at Christmas in the States, particularly “Angels From the Realm of Glory” (“Angels We Have Heard on High”). All of them are firmly established in the repertoire of Christmas Carolers, and would definitely be recognized by music majors and educators, even if they don’t know them by name. Heck…I’ve even heard all of them in the Christmas “Musack” at the mall.
Interestingly, it’s the English carols that seem to be less likely to be recognized here. Most will recognize the tune of “The Holly and the Ivy” as Christmas music (though relatively few people seem to know the words, or that it has words), but Sussex Carol is rarely heard outside of churches or choral society concerts, and Sans Day Carol (one of my favorites to play on the whistle) is rarely heard at all.
Redwolf
Wow, I am getting great ideas. Thanks so much!! I am especially interested in trying the Christmas Eve Reel/Jingle Bells combination!!
My absolute favourite is Glenmorangie!
Ye canna go wrong.
I have been told that whiskeys imported
into the US have additives which affect the flavour. Anyone know if this is so?
My absolute favourite is Glenmorangie!
Ye canna go wrong.
I have been told that whiskeys imported
into the US have additives which affect the flavour. Anyone know if this is so?
On 2002-11-28 08:06, Lizzie wrote:
My absolute favourite is Glenmorangie!
Ye canna go wrong.I have been told that whiskeys imported
into the US have additives which affect the flavour. Anyone know if this is so?
Hmmm…did you mean to post in the thread about Scotch?
Redwolf
Well, I’m excited to say, it’s coming together! Over my Thanksgiving break (a whole three days off classes-- short ‘n’ sweet!) I sat down and brainstormed and played every Christmas song I could think of on each of my instruments. =) Thanks for suggesting the Christmas Eve Reel with Jingle Bells… that has proved to be delightful on the accordian! A medley of Some Children See Him, O Come O Come Emmanuel, and the Huron Carol goes beautifully on the low whistle. Some friends are helping me by playing violin, guitar, and Bodhran for a set combining I Saw Three Ships, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, and Bring a Torch Janette Isabella. A friend and I are doing a flute/mountain dulcimer duet of In the Bleak Midwinter. I’m also playing a medley of carols on the mountain dulcimer, tuned AAA: Baloo Lammy, The Holly and the Ivy, and Here We Come A-Caroling. The Nepali flute and shruti box together add an exotic ethnic flare to Joy to the World and The First Noel. Fum, Fum, Fum is great on the accordian! Sing We Now of Christmas and Pat-a-pan sound really cool on the concertina, with the shruti box droning along. And, there’s some other stuff too, but I won’t bore you with all the details. Thanks to everyone for the advice… I do believe it’s coming together!!
That’s great! Try Patapan on the high whistle too…it sounds great, especially with a few well-placed trills, and if you can get someone to play along on a tambour or some other type of drum (even a bodhran), it would have really an authentic ring.
Wish I could be there to hear it…sounds like the kind of concert I would really enjoy.
Redwolf