# Music by Genre > Celtic, U.K., Nordic, Quebecois, European Folk >  Free book of tunes for winter

## harper

Dear Mandolin Friends,

I put this little book together for my mandolin practice group.  I hope you enjoy playing through it.

Best wishes for the holidays,
Evelyn

----------

4 Course Meal, 

albeham, 

Andy Boden, 

Beanzy, 

Ben Cooper, 

bigskygirl, 

bro.craig, 

DavidKOS, 

derbex, 

dhbailey, 

Franc Homier Lieu, 

Fretless, 

Hany Hayek, 

JCook, 

Jim Garber, 

John McCoy, 

Joseph Baker, 

kohaylan, 

Ky Slim, 

Larry Ayers, 

Mandophile, 

Marty Jacobson, 

Neapolitan Duck, 

Niavlys, 

Nigel Gatherer, 

Phil Vinyard, 

Rob Zamites, 

SlowFingers, 

violmando

----------


## Ben Cooper

Wow, cant wait to try some of these!

----------

violmando

----------


## JeffD

Wonderful stuff. Thank you.

----------


## Martin Jonas

Great tunes in this one! I got this by email from Evelyn a few days ago, and we have already played several of these great arrangements at our band rehearsal on Thursday.  Here is my recording of Captain O'Kane from Evelyn's book:



Martin

----------

Fretless, 

Joseph Baker

----------


## Joseph Baker

I pulled up Canticle of the Turning on You Tube so I could hear what it sounds like
What a great song !

Thank you very much for posting this sheet music!

Joseph Baker

----------


## Jim Garber

Thanks, Evelyn!! Nice book.

----------


## violmando

THANK YOU! My husband and I usually do mandola duets for the holidays, but he hasn't been playing dola lately so we're doing violin and pennywhistle duets...THIS IS FANTASTIC!!!

----------


## harper

violmando,

Thanks for your note and kind words.  I wrote the harmony line to be good for mandola, and I made another version in which that line is transposed up one 5th. That way I can read it in treble clef but play it in the correct key while while pretending the mandola is a mandolin.  If you would like that version, I would be happy to send it.

Evelyn

----------


## steve V. johnson

Thank you very much, Evelyn!

stv

----------


## wundo

"I wrote the harmony line to be good for mandola, and I made another version in which that line is transposed up one 5th."  
I'd like to see a that version.
Thanks!

----------


## John Goodin

Evelyn,

This is a beautifully put together collection. Thanks very much!

John G.

----------


## harper

> Evelyn,
> 
> This is a beautifully put together collection. Thanks very much!
> 
> John G.


John, you are most kind.  I am very much enjoying your Telemann transcriptions for mandolin and your James Oswald divertimenti.  He is a favorite Scottish composer of mine.

Thanks,
Evelyn

----------


## harper

> "I wrote the harmony line to be good for mandola, and I made another version in which that line is transposed up one 5th."  
> I'd like to see a that version.
> Thanks!


Wundo,
It is attached.
Regards,
Evelyn

----------

derbex

----------


## woodenfingers

Hi Evelyn,  Thanks very much.  Just in time form some Christmas Jigs!!

Bob

----------


## dustyamps

Thank you for this wonderful winter music.

----------


## Neapolitan Duck

thank you for sharing this!

----------


## stevenmando

Thank you so very much , I do so love this music and on this season it is so joyful  and the especially the march of the wooden soldiers , one of my favorites ,thank you so much Steven

----------


## harper

In case anybody needs a little help from TAB, here is a version with the melody lines for each tune in both TAB and standard treble notation.

Best wishes,
Evelyn

----------


## harper

Now that my friends and I have played through these tunes a couple of times together, I discovered a few errors and things I want to change.  I have made 4 changes to my Winters Tale book.  If anyone has found other errors, please let me know.  The four corrected pages are attached.  I will post a revised book in a few days with thes corrections.

1.	Apples in Winter, should have had the harmony for mandolin, but I accidently used mandola harmony (transposed to D Major).  The new version has the harmony line in G Major for mandolin.
2.	In Bottom of the Punch Bowl, I corrected the pick-up notes in the first ending of the B part, melody line (measure 17).
3.	I changed the 3rd line of Duck Us All in Bowls of Barley.  I think this sounds better than the original line I had.
4.	I corrected the descant line of Female Saylor, measure 16 (deleted one note).

Thanks,
Evelyn

----------


## bigskygirl

Wow, thank you!

----------


## Andy Boden

Excellent resource - thanks

Andy

----------


## mrmando

> If anyone has found other errors, please let me know.


Well, a minor nitpick here: 

"Canticle of the Turning" a/k/a "Star of the County Down" may not, in fact, be a traditional Irish tune. 

Rory Cooney's "Canticle of the Turning" lyric is, I believe, from 1990; Cathal McGarvey's "Star of the County Down" lyric was first published in 1936. 

But well before then, the tune was in use in England as the melody to the sacred ballad "Dives and Lazarus," often sung at Christmastime. It was published in England as early as 1829.

And here's a thread claiming that "Gilderoy," a Scots ballad using the same tune, was published in 1726! http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=56384

Anyway, changing the designation from "Irish" to "British Isles" might better reflect the widespread popularity and mysterious origins of the tune. 

Thanks for the book, it looks like great fun.

----------


## harper

> Well, a minor nitpick here: 
> 
> "Canticle of the Turning" a/k/a "Star of the County Down" may not, in fact, be a traditional Irish tune. 
> 
> Rory Cooney's "Canticle of the Turning" lyric is, I believe, from 1990; Cathal McGarvey's "Star of the County Down" lyric was first published in 1936. 
> 
> But well before then, the tune was in use in England as the melody to the sacred ballad "Dives and Lazarus," often sung at Christmastime. It was published in England as early as 1829.
> 
> And here's a thread claiming that "Gilderoy," a Scots ballad using the same tune, was published in 1726! http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=56384
> ...


mrmando, 

Thanks for pointing out the Mudcat blog.  It identifies an earlier source that I did not find when I first researched the tune.  I agree with you that "British Isles" would be a better identifier for this tune than "Irish."

For comparison, here are the three versions mentioned in the blog.  

“The Thresher and the Squire” from Broadwood and Maitland (_English Country Songs_, London: Leadenhall Press, 1883, pp. 68-69).

"We are poor frozen out gardeners" from Chappell (_Popular Music of the Olden Time_, London, 1856, Vol. II, pp. 747-748).

 “Gilderoy” from _Musick for Allan Ramsay's Collection of Scots Songs_ [Tea Table Miscellany] by Alexander Stuart (c.  1726), #43.

I also further pursued the reference to Ralph Vaughan Williams, who used the tune in his “5 Variants of ‘Dives and Lazarus’” in 1939.  I could not find a historical source for the tune by this name. Vaughan Williams also co-edited _The English Hymnal_ (1906) with Percy Dearmer.  It contains the song “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say,” which uses the Kingsfold tune.  The notation for the hymn says: “From an English Traditional Melody.” 

Bottom line:  The tune I previously thought was the earliest printed version was the one in Lucy Broadwood's book, but Chappell predates it.  I don't see any resemblance to the Scottish tune "Gilderoy" used by Allan Ramsey.  Even so, I had designated the tune as Irish because it is popularly considered Irish (usually in 3/4 time), but "British Isles" is the better choice.

Thanks,
Evelyn

----------


## harper

I found something more regarding the provenance of the tune for Canticle.  I read more closely the footnotes in Broadwoods book and happily Thomas DUrfeys _Pills to Purge Melancholy_ (1707) is available from the National Library of Scotland (http://digital.nls.uk/special-collec...fm?id=91519824). Gilderoy is in Vol. 5, p. 39, but I do not see much resemblance to the tune in question (Kingsfold or Star of the County Down).

----------


## mrmando

Francis Child collected it under the title "Dives and Lazarus" in the 19th century. Agreed, that version of Gilderoy looks like a stretch.

----------


## harper

"Dives and Lazarus" is No. 56 in the Child Ballads (Vol. II, p. 10).  Unfortunately, the musical notation is not given.  However, Child refers to two sources, Sylvester and Husk.  I found Husks _Songs of the Nativity_ online at the Cornell University Library (https://archive.org/details/cu31924073426169) and Sylvesters _Christmas Carols_ in Google Books under the title _A Garland of Christmas Carols_ (http://books.google.com/books?id=kXM...page&q&f=false).  In both cases, only the lyrics are given.  I guess the tune was familiar and therefore not given.  

Then I came upon this great website, which helps a lot:   http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas...nd_lazarus.htm. Lazarus is in Broadwood (pp. 102-103) and in Bramley and Stainer, _Christmas Carols New and Old, Second Series_ (London: Novello, Ewer & Co.,  ca. 1871), Carol #39.  The version in Broadmoor is much like Kingsfold.  The one in Bramley and Stainer is another tune, and there is yet a third tune in Terry, _Two Hundred Folk Carols_ (London: Burns Oates & Washbourne Limited, 1933), #33, pp. 58-59.  I have attached Broadwood.  All of them can be seen on the above website.

Thanks for bringing up the topic, mrmando. I always enjoy exploring these historical sources.

Evelyn

----------


## harper

I found several small errors in the book and have corrected them.  I also changed Duck Us All in Bowls of Barley, I hope for the better.  The revised version is attached.  I will try to delete the old version.

Here are the changes:

1.            I put a _D.C. al Fine_ and a _Fine_ in Apples of Winter.  This was not in the source notation, but it sounded like it needed it.  Also Apples in Winter, should have had the harmony for mandolin, but I accidently used mandola harmony (transposed to D Major).  The new version has the harmony line in G Major for mandolin.
2.            In Bottom of the Punch Bowl, I corrected the pick-up notes in the first ending of the B part, melody line, measure 17.
3.            Canticle is now described as an air from the British Isles, rather than from Ireland.
4.            I changed measures 10-16 of Duck Us All in Bowls of Barley.  I think this sounds better than the original parts I had.
5.            In Female Saylor I deleted one note from the descant part, measure 17.
6.            The key signature label in the left corner of the page was wrong for 3 tunes, and they are now corrected:  "Ding Dong Merrily on High," "Frost and Snow," and "Waltz for the New Year."

Regards,
Evelyn

----------

Gary Leonard

----------


## Connor

Evelyn, thank you for putting this collection together. I printed off two copies and took them to our local session last night. Those of us who were reading the music were delighted, while the "ear" players seemed to have a bit less fun - probably because they had more contemporary versions of the tunes in their heads. Personally, I really enjoyed the sense of playing tunes that were familiar, yet different. I suspect a few of the less obviously Christmas tunes will end up in the regular repertoire year round. I'm looking forward to reading these more carefully with a group of all readers with music in front of them so we can sample the harmony lines more carefully.

Again, thanks for sharing your talents in gathering, researching and arranging these tunes. I envy your talent and raise a cup of Christmas cheer in your honor!

----------


## harper

Conner, I've very glad your group is enjoying the tunes.  My practice group just met tonight and we played through many.  We especially like Canticle and Captain O'Kane, neither of which is a Christamas tune.  I really like playing the hornpipes, Apples in Winter and Frost and Snow.  I think these are fairly uncommon.  At least I have not heard them played before.

Shortly I shall post a Hanukkah tune on a new thread, Sevivon.

Merry Christmas!

Evelyn

----------


## Beanzy

Evelyn, thanks for these. 
I really enjoyed playing through them yesterday. They're really interesting choices and much better than just banging out the same ol same old. 
I played them in as many different styles as I could too which works really well for repeats. 

(Also as an aside , my young harpist friend has chosen to do youe  arrangement of "Tango de las Rosas" in a competition we're doing in March as a contrasting piece to Michel Corrette - Sonate in D Maj. So thanks again for that too)

----------


## John MacPhee

Thanks very much for all your great work.
God Bless and Merry Christmas.
John

----------

