Grainger and schmaltz
Here via grace_poppy, so I'm now going to blame her for my whistling 'Brigg Fair' under my breath over and over again - it must be one of the most adhesive tunes I know! I suppose that's one way traditional folk songs survive.
I know the song via the Grainger choral version, which I love for its combination of his shamelessly, even self-indulgently, rich harmony with the simplicity of the original tune. (Is this a common theme with these composers? GCSE Music was a long time ago, but I seem to recall VW in particular making a point of exploring modal and otherwise 'folky' sounding harmony in his music. Hence 'Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis', another of my all time favourites, although of course that's a hymn rather than a folk song.) In contrast, another of his settings, 'Shallow Brown', left me cold although the soloist I heard (Stephen Varcoe) was giving it everything he had.
The few people I've talked to about Grainger all seem to dislike his music or love it passionately (I apparently do both!), and I wonder if this over-the-topness is to blame: it's glorious, but can tip over almost into a parody of itself. I remember singing one of his Jungle Book settings, a deeply melodramatic description of how different Inuit races were being corrupted by contact with The White Man. At the climax there must have been at least ten vocal lines, four of them tenor, with a fortissimo top C in the highest tenor line. (It was a pretty small hall too, so I bet I wasn't the only one half-deafened!) One of the best concerts I've ever done.
I know the song via the Grainger choral version, which I love for its combination of his shamelessly, even self-indulgently, rich harmony with the simplicity of the original tune. (Is this a common theme with these composers? GCSE Music was a long time ago, but I seem to recall VW in particular making a point of exploring modal and otherwise 'folky' sounding harmony in his music. Hence 'Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis', another of my all time favourites, although of course that's a hymn rather than a folk song.) In contrast, another of his settings, 'Shallow Brown', left me cold although the soloist I heard (Stephen Varcoe) was giving it everything he had.
The few people I've talked to about Grainger all seem to dislike his music or love it passionately (I apparently do both!), and I wonder if this over-the-topness is to blame: it's glorious, but can tip over almost into a parody of itself. I remember singing one of his Jungle Book settings, a deeply melodramatic description of how different Inuit races were being corrupted by contact with The White Man. At the climax there must have been at least ten vocal lines, four of them tenor, with a fortissimo top C in the highest tenor line. (It was a pretty small hall too, so I bet I wasn't the only one half-deafened!) One of the best concerts I've ever done.