10103 3 American Songs

Traditional. Arranged Roger Harvey
for Treble voices and 10-piece brass ensemble

1. Froggy went a-Courtin'
2. Shenandoah
3. She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain

Difficulty: Easy

Price: £35.00

Programme notes:
This set of songs was arranged for a concert in Kings College Cambridge on July 1 2013 by Kings Junior Voices and Junior Prime Brass, directed by Lynette Alcantara.
The lyrics and melodies of all three, as in many folk-songs, exist in numerous forms so some choices have to be made for a performance edition.
Froggy went a-Courtin' actually has its origins in 17th Century England but was soon adopted by folk singers in the USA where the words have become Americanised. It features a vocalised punctuation at the end of the first and last lines of each verse. The audience can feel free to join in with these moments. Some versions of the words include several verses introducing wedding guests extending the song considerably. The last verse, then, can be an opportunity to bring it to a conclusion.
Shenandoah is a meditative song of the early 19th Century, popular as a shanty with the bargemen on the Missouri river. The meaning of the words is not clear; it could be a lament of a roving trader in love with an Indian girl; it may be the song of escaped slaves. But the original was surely embelished by the many traders and workers who travelled up and down the Missouri river.
She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain, from the late 1800s, was originally a spiritual which refers to the second coming and the Rapture at the end of the world and is in a typical call and response style. It has been altered over the years to refer to other real or imagined arrivals and to become suitable as a song for children.
Performance notes:
The vocal line is intended for choral performance and is, apart from a verse of canon in Shenandoah, entirely unison. The first verse of Shenandoah, however, could be sung as a solo or by a smaller group of voices if desired.
The brass parts are also intended for young players and so avoid any extremes of range and advanced technique.
Balance is a major concern: make sure that brass dynamics are observed and that an appropriate style is adopted.
Percussion is optional.