Since I discovered the "English Folk Dance and Song Society" based at the Cecil Sharp House in Camden, London, I have thought of a reason good enough to take a chance and explore the resources of their fabulous library - the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Not that the librarians aren't friendly and open-minded - by contrast, I must thank Laura Smyth for being incredibly helpful and welcoming. No, the truth is: I couldn't spoil a visit to the library by asking "Can I have a look at Child's collection of British ballads?" - it's like going to a very prestigeous tea shop, famous for their peculiar blends; when asked "Would you like to have a free tasting of one of our products?" one answers "Sure, a cup of English Breakfast please!". I'm not saying that English Breakfast is a silly choice. Actually, it might even be the most intelligent move - English Breakfast is a benchmark when it comes to tea, isn't it? Then by sipping it one could immediately notice if the taste is different, and therefore appreciate any unexpected aroma... On the other hand, one does miss the opportunity to explore new territories, so to speak. I suppose one might try a braver strategy, such as "Thank you - I was wondering, would it be possible to try two blends?" - it may work, after all. Then one would... Wait a minute. How did I find myself writing about tea and free tastings?
I ended up spending about four hours in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (VWML): all of my readings and listenings were centred on one ballad, "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow". The line of thoughts that determined this choice was quite linear:
- isolating one song and checking different comments and annotations by various collectors/lyrics/recordings would give me the opportunity to appreciate the richness and vastity of the library resources while maintaining a clear direction of exploration.
- when I learn a new tune, I tend to refer to one, perhaps two versions of it that I like. What is worse, I then tend to sing it that way - with hardly any personal input on neither the lyrics nor the tune. I thus figured that one possible way out of this habit might be to go back to the roots of one specific song, so to say; reading books instead of liner notes (and information found on the internet) and listening to a number of versions (sometimes in the form of original field recordings - unpolished, not post-processed/post-produced and therefore amazing, most of the times!) may help me to finally come up with my rendition of the ballad.
- how to choose one song though? Recently I have been focussing on English tunes, so a Scottish ballad sounded like a good start. Also, I knew "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow" but never learnt it. After a few searches I discovered not only that it is a "border ballad", which is pretty much what I was looking for, but also that a few of the available recordings come from Scottish travellers, who together with Irish travellers share an absolutely fenomenal musical knowledge (and taste) that has always fascinated me.
I came back to Oxford with handwritten notes and tunes that I kept on humming for a few days (and which I recorded before they faded away) - soon to come is a new "FolkRec" post...
