Folksong Suite for string quartet
An arrangement of four European folksongs: two from England, and one each from Ireland and Hungary.
- Lady Maisry is a folksong from Somerset, and was transcribed by Cecil Sharp. The lyrics run to nearly twenty verses, and describe a pageboy running to fetch a doctor for Lady Maisry, who lies on her sickbed.
- Sheep Shearing Song also comes from Somerset. The words are lost but might have explained the relationship between this gentle tune and the vigorous activity of shearing sheep. This folksong was set by Gustav Holst in his Somerset Rhapsody.
- Did you see the dark-haired playboy? was collected by the great Irish musicologist Edward Bunting, probably in the early 19th century. The words are also lost.
- Hej, dinom-danom translates as "Hey, let's be merry", and is a spoof on the joys of married life. It appears in Bartok's book on Hungarian folksong, though I am unsure as to whether he ever set it himself.
Folksong Suite was written in 1998. It was first performed on 21 June 1999 in Snape church, Suffolk, and was published in 2002 by SJ Music. Please visit their website for details on how to order the score and parts. The whole suite lasts about five minutes and is of moderate technical difficulty.
Sources:
Lady Maisry: Cecil Sharp's Collection of English Folk Songs, ed. Maud Karpeles (Oxford University Press, 1974)
Sheep shearing song: Folk Songs from Somerset, by Cecil Sharp and Charles L. Marson (Simpkin & Co., London, 1910)
Did you see the dark-haired playboy? Bunting's Ancient Music of Ireland, by Donal O'Sullivan (Cork University Press, 1983)
Sej, dinom-danom! The Hungarian Folksong, by Bela Bartok, ed. B. Suchoff (Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1981)