Heard the news that another recording artist has passed away. This time it is Roberta Flack.
She was known as the quite storm in some spul circles , so here is one of her most famous sons, written by the Scottish folk singer, Ewan McColl.

Roberta Flack - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face



Written by Ewan, for his lover Peggy Seeger, singing here.
Roberta Flack's version transformed it to the version that everyone copies and knows today.
Peggy's version is beautiful in its own right, seeing as it was written about her, for her.

Peggy and Ewan did not marry until 1977.

Thinking of that song reminds me that I have a book to finish off.



Peggy Seeger was born in New York in 1935. She met Ewan McColl in 1955 who was two decades older with a wife. She would share the next thirty three years with Ewan. Together they built up the foundations of the British folk revival. They had a daughter, and her name, more famous to pop people, was Kirsty McColl.

Kirsty Maccoll - A New England



This song - A New England - was written by Billy Bragg.

And here is Billy's own version.

Billy Bragg - A New England



Well, R.I.P. kirsty and Roberta.

Some for the night people.

The Pointer Sisters - Black Coffee



Paul Weller - Black is the Colour



Peggy Seeger - Jack Frost



Dante Alighieri - Vide cor Meum



Song
Vide Cor Meum
Artist
Patrick Cassidy/Dante Alighieri
Dante is the author of the Divine Comedy.

ENJOY

Peggy Seeger - The Two Sisters

This is one of those classic folk songs that Peggy Seeger recorded in London after fleeing America with Alan Lomax during the McCarthyism hysterical witch hunt of looking for so called “communists.”
Though collected in the Virginia mountains this song in one of many variations of a European song that in this case relates to how one sister murders the other, how a minstrel comes along and fashions an instrument out of her bones and hair, and of how, when played, the instrument tells the story of the murder. With a change of gender and of the instruments, it is the same story in which Gustav Mahler based his early cantata Das Klagende Lied.

Gustav Mahler - Das klagende Lied - Part 1: Waldmärchen



Das klagende Lied (Song of Lamentation) is a cantata by Gustav Mahler, composed between 1878 and 1880 and greatly revised over the next two decades. In its original form, Das klagende Lied is the earliest of his works to have survived (a fragment, the Piano Quartet movement in A minor, is believed to date from 1876).

Part I: Waldmärchen (Forest Legend)

A beautiful yet scornful queen decides to hold a contest, the winner of which will be awarded her hand in marriage. The knight who finds a red flower in the forest, she announces, will be judged the winner. Two brothers, in particular, one kind and chivalrous, the other wicked and blasphemous, venture into the thicket to find the elusive flower. The gallant brother quickly finds the flower, places it in his cap, and dozes off in the field. Coming upon this scene, the wayward brother draws his sword and kills his sibling, seizing the flower for himself.

Part II: Der Spielmann (The Minstrel)

A minstrel, wandering through the forest, stumbles across a bleached bone in the shade of a willow tree and carves it into a flute. The slain brother sings through the flute, telling the minstrel the details of his unfortunate death. The minstrel resolves to find the queen and inform her of what he has learned.




Part III: Hochzeitsstück (Wedding Piece)

On the same day, the minstrel is to arrive at the castle to divulge his discovery, a celebration in honour of the queen's marriage takes place. The murderer-knight, quiet and pale, reflects morbidly on his rash course of action. The minstrel arrives and plays the slain knight's bone-flute. The king-to-be confiscates the flute, but upon playing it himself is accused by his brother of ending his life early for an unjust reason. Pandemonium ensues: the queen faints, the partygoers flee, and the castle collapses.



So one folk tale with different interpretations.

ENJOY

Time for some music -

John Cale - Paris 1919



Neutral Milk Hotel - Two-headed Boy



Don Nix - Living By The Days



Be Good Tanyas - Oh Susanna



ENJOY

Another mixed bag of musical bifurcations -

Jack Buchanan - Who?



Owen Brannigan - Whittingham Fair (Scarborough Fair)



Branny in a rare romantic mood as he sings "Whittingham Fair" (slight variant of the better known "Scarborough Fair"), a popular song in his native Northumberland.


Owen Brannigan OBE (10 March 1908 – 9 May 1973) was an English bass, known in opera for buffo roles and in concert for a wide range of solo parts in music ranging from Henry Purcell to Michael Tippett. He is best remembered for his roles in Mozart and Britten operas and for his recordings of roles in Britten, Offenbach, and Gilbert and Sullivan operas, as well as recordings of English folk songs.
Brannigan began as an amateur singer and attended music college part-time while working as a joiner until his quality was recognized and he was awarded a scholarship during World War II. Although he had an international opera career, he performed most frequently with English opera companies, particularly Sadler's Wells Opera, and later at Glyndebourne and Covent Garden. Highlights of his broad repertory included creating three roles in Benjamin Britten's early operas, and two more in later Britten operas that were written specifically for him. On record and in concert at the Proms he was a popular interpreter of the bass-baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Brannigan's oratorio and concert repertory was extensive, covering works from many periods.


Simon & Garfunkel - Scarborough Fair/Canticle



East Of Eden - Jig-a-Jig



ENJOY

Time for some music - these are tracks from my purchases today. The first three are from CDs found in a charity shop in Canterbury.

Billie Holiday - One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)



Ernestine Anderson - Welcome To The Club



Marianne Faithfull - The Stars Line Up



These next three are vinyl LP finds in Canterbury.

Barney Kessel - Bewitched



Sarah Vaughan - That's All



Ralph McTell - I'm Sorry, I Must Leave



Ralph McTell - I'm Sorry, I Must Leave.
from "8 Frames a Second" Transatlantic TRA165 LP 1968

ENJOY

And so this is .. loungecore to jazz and other stuff -

Mark Muphy - Madalena



Helmut Zacharias - Tokyo Melody



Long John Baldry - Mexico



Young-Holt Unlimited - Wack Wack



Roy Harper - These Last Days



Bert Jansch - The Black Swan



ENJOY

For the night owls and dark lovers -

Laufey - Street By Street



Sandy Denny / Fotheringay - Wild Mountain Thyme



Greta Lindholm - Eleven Evening



Joni Mitchell - River



ENJOY

This is the very last post to do with the International Women's Day movement.

So, here is another batch of less well-known artists -

Dobrinka Tabakova - Double Piano Concerto [Together Remember to Dance]



Composed for the 2017 premiere in Holland given by the Jussen brothers and followed by a number of repeat performances. This was the first appearance of the work in Britain 2018.

1 Together
2 Remember @ 6.30
3 Dance @ 15:00

Peggy Glanville-Hicks - Tragic Celebration (1964)



Ruth Gibbs - Piano Concerto in G Minor, Op. 34: I. Allegro moderato



Conductor: Charles Peebles
Artist: Murray McLachlan
Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Composer: Ruth Gipps

( Background info on Sussex lass Ruth Gibbs )


Well as Ruth was born in Sussex here is another lass from the same county next to Kent - and well known in folk circles -


Shirley Collins - Wondrous Love





ENJOY

Another mixed bag -


Ron Geesin - Frenzy



Michael Chapman - Rainmaker




Françoise Hardy - Le Premier Bonheur du Jour



Senyawa - Istana



ENJOY