Variations on an English Folksong for organ
This piece was written in 1998 and is based on the song ‘Hangèd I shall be’, which was transcribed from a Norfolk folksinger by the composer E.J. Moeran in 1921. The song gruesomely recounts how a man, on discovering that his lover is pregnant, brutally murders her and throws her in a river. Justice catches up with him, and he is sentenced to death by hanging. It is a million miles away from the 'As I walked out one May morning' genre of English folksong.
This set of variations attempts to capture both the violence of the story, and the harmonic and rhythmic ambiguities of the original folksong.
Score (27 pages, 2.5 MB)
MARTINEK RECORDING RELEASED BY NAVONA RECORDS
In July 2011 a recording of Variations on an English Folksong was released by Navona Records. This features an arresting performance by the brilliant young organist Karel Martinek, made in September 2010. The recording took place in the church of St Maurice, Olomouc, Czech Republic, on the Michael Engler organ. I’m delighted to have had the chance to work with Navona Records to bring this recording to the attention to a wider audience.
The piece appears on an album entitled ‘Heavy Pedal’ that also features works by Tadd Russo, Curt Cacioppo, Ron Nagorcka and Wilhelm Middleschulte. ‘Heavy Pedal’ can be ordered from Amazon and is also available to stream or download from a range of digital music outlets including iTunes, Spotify and emusic.
"British composer Michael Summers' four-movement 'Variations on an English Folksong' is a similarly intriguing work, manipulating its source material in striking and ingenious ways".
Stephen Eddins, Allmusic
"Michael Summers's urgently dramatic 'Variations on an English Folksong' goes against the pastoral grain of the genre by taking up a grim tune, 'Hanged I shall be', about a man who kills his pregnant lover."
Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone, December 2011 (p.13, Sounds of America supplement)
