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SFSF TUNES OF THE MONTH FOR 2004

by Cherry Clark (Jan - May ) and Kim Hughes ( June - Dec)

JANUARY — At this time of year, people who live very far north often have celebrations to welcome the

lengthening of the day and “return of the sun.” One of several Viking fire festivals takes place in Lerwick,

Shetland, the festival of Up Helly Aa. Initiated in the 19

century, the celebration culminates in a torchlight

parade with “Guizers”wearing costumes/disguises towing a Viking galley, which is then ceremoniously

burned. Gideon Stove (1874-1954) was a Shetland fiddler and composer who wrote “The Guizer’s March”

and “Galley March” with reference to this tradition. Stove taught Willie Hunter, whom some of you may

remember from Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School. The other tune for January comes from

another group of islands off the north coast of Scotland, Orkney. “The Heroes of Longhope,” composed by

Orcadian Ronnie Aim, commemorates a lifeboat crew from Hoy. In March, 1969, during an effort to rescue

the crew of a freighter in the Pentland Firth, all members of the lifeboat crew died. This air was recorded by

the Wrigley sisters, also from Orkney, on their album “Watchstone.”

FEBRUARY — Here are three tunes with an Irish connection that you can work on to celebrate St. Patrick’s

Day. “The Highlander’s Farewell to Ireland” is a good strong strathspey. You can hear it on Buddy Mac

Master’s CD, “Cape Breton Tradition.” Hanneke Cassel has also recorded it on her CD “My Joy.” Both of

these versions have some additional parts that might explore to see how you can take a tune into new

territory. “Irish Lamentation” is a simple and very lovely air from Peter Barnes’ English Country Dance

Tunes collection. Alasdair played this tune a couple of years ago in our spring concerts. “Crossing to

Ireland” is 12/8 tune, found in the Simon Fraser Collection, that was adapted by Winston Fitzgerald as a

waltz. Originally the tune was in F Dorian; you will no doubt be happy to learn that Fitzgerald changed it to

E Dorian, thereby going from 4 flats to two sharps.

MARCH — Here are four tunes that are on the spring concert list. Two of them, the “Silk Waltz” and the

“Sleng Polska,” were taught by Ellika Frisell at the 2003 Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School. The

transcriptions here are from Shelley Phillips, who included all the double stops and the harmony for the

waltz. Thank you, Shelley. Ellika plays the waltz with lots of twiddles and grace notes. If you listen to her

play it on the SFSF practice CD, you will hear all of this, plus the way she varies the tunes with each

repetition. We will also be playing a beautiful slow air composed by Scottish pianist Muriel Johnstone.

Entitled “Eyemouth Harbour,” it should reflect “the mood of a calm early morning sea,” according to Muriel’s

notes. The final tune is a very old one, “Sean truibhas Uilleachain,” or “Willie’s Old Trousers.” Much lovelier

to hear than its name suggests, it was recorded by Alasdair Fraser and Paul Machlis on “Legacy of the

Scottish Fiddle, Vol. 1.” Paul uses rather jazzy chords on this ancient tune, which give it a contemporary

feel. Alasdair will play the tune in the spring concert, and there will be a dance performed with the music.

APRIL — Here are the last two tunes from the Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School concert of 2003.

Both were taught byEllika Frisell, and both are played with the G string of the fiddle tuned up to A. This

gives the A drones that are an important part of both tunes. Here’s a tip from Bruce Molsky to help prevent

string breakage when you are tuning strings to a higher than normal pitch. Loosen the string and rub the

point of a #2 pencil in the groove in the nut that holds the string. This lubricates the groove and keeps the

string from catching – a major cause of breakage. The haling is a Norwegian tune, played for a traditional

extemporaneous dance for men. A fair maid stands on a chair, holding a pole out in front of her, with a hat

on the end of it. Each man in turn dances all the fancy steps he knows, building to a leap in which the

object is to kick the hat off the pole. If he succeeds, the contest ends, and he has won the company of the

fair maid for the evening. The polska is great fun, and a little hypnotic, with its syncopated rhythm and

modulation from D minor to D major. At VOM, these tunes were played without accompaniment, but the

music here includes some suggestions for chords for those non-fiddle players who don’t want to be left out

of the fun.

MAY — We are celebrating the month of May with two tunes by SFSF members. If you have been hanging

out with the club, you probably have heard both. “Wandering Balloon” was composed by Kim Hughes.

Kim’s story behind the name is as follows: "I wrote "The Wandering Balloon" at Valley of the Moon last year.

The tune was nameless for several days until, in the middle of a high-energy percussion class, with a

dozen people whaling away on all kinds of drums, a white balloon floated slowly and serenely in over our

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