solo harp CD:
Pleasantries
and Diversions Softly
Soothing and Gently Cheerful Refreshment for the Soul Barbara
Ann Fackler, harp Chicago, IL
What a delightful
recording! Some great old songs and tunes.Bill
Bukowski, Music Host/Operations Coordinator, WSCL 89.5
FM/Public Radio Delmarva
I received the CD and
listened to it
yesterday afternoon while the snow continued to fall quietly outside,
and continued, and the CD was the perfect music for gentle falling snow
and calm, it definitely lives up to the title. J.H.
Colorado
I love the CD. I play it
when I get a lot of anxiety and it really helps. M.
Ohio
I suffer from chronic
pain. Listening to Pleasantries & Diversions helps me more than
anything of late. C. Illinois
$15.00
includes shipping: US and Canada
only
Please inquire regarding foreign shipping and bulk discounts.
Liner notes were created after production: download a PDF to print and trim
to fit inside your CD case.
Current free music download: Promises (low quality mp3)
Available locally:
Purchase CDs through secure this website(USA and Canada only):
Printable form for mail in orders: PDF download
Digital
downloads now available from the iTunes Store.
Pleasantries & Diversions on the radio:
Titles in blue are clickable links to hear a short demo(mp3)
Notes:
1) The Pleasant Ohio is
a
lovely tune from the region where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers
converge. It's a song of hope celebrating the richness of the
region found by new homesteaders as settlers moved
westward.
2-4) How
Can I Keep From
Singing had an interesting evolution,
beginning as
a hymn tune. This haunting melody from the late
1800s can be found in two different meters,
both included in my arrangement. Eva Cassidy, Enya, Judy Collins, and
Bruce Springsteen have also
recorded this song. Wondrous Love
and Simple Gifts
are also early American hymn tunes that have found popularity
outside of the church. I love how the words to each fits the music
perfectly.
5) Westphalia
Waltz began, according to some, as a Polish
waltz, became wildly popular in Texas and eventually returned to Poland
and Germany through American musicians. It's sweetly gentle and
soothing at the same time.
6) I
Would Love You All the Day, better known as
Over the Hills and Far
Away, was popular enough in its day in
England that D'Urfey included it in several of his collections of music
and poetry, (Pills to
Purge Melancholy, 1706). Also very popular in
America, especially the
early American west, there are several different lyrics set to the
tune. My favorite, from John Gay's The
Beggar's Opera (1728) includes these lyrics:
And I
would love you all the day,
Every
night would kiss and play,
If with
me you'd fondly stray
Over the
hills and far away
D'Urfey included a more traditional folk lyric to the tune. New
words were added when the tune was used as the underscore for the PBS
TV series, Sharpe(1993-2008).
There are two slightly
differing
versions of this tune, both of which are included in this arrangement.
7-10) Silberjahr-Ländler
were
my husband's 25th anniversary gift to me. I've always thought Wagner's
birthday gift to his wife (1870) was one of the most wonderful
gifts ever. The Siegfried
Idyll is
my favorite of Wagner's compositions. His presentation must have
been magical as he hired a group of friends to wake her with a
performance which took place on the stairs of their villa. When
Dan presented these delightful pieces to me on our anniversary I was
surprised beyond words.
Each time I perform these dances, my joy is renewed as I see the
delight and wonder in my audiences at their first hearing. I'm often
asked to repeat them on subsequent visits. What I have-- that
Cosima didn't-- is the ability to hear this music any time I wish.
What a shame that that most wives have to settle for some store bought
trinket on their anniversary! One very astute man told me,
during
a recent recital that I'll never need another annversary gift. He's
absolutely correct. Silberjahr-Ländler Nr.1Silberjahr-Ländler
Nr. 2Silberjahr-Ländler
Nr. 3Silberjahr-Ländler Nr. 4
11-15)Greensleeves,
my mom's favorite request, is probably the oldest English tune we have
on record. Saltarello,
Italiana and Siciliana
were used by Respighi in his Ancient Airs and Dances.
The
versions here were taken from the original lute music. The Pavane is here just
because I like it, stately, slow and organized, it's a pleasant form.
16) I love the music of Vaughan Williams, especially his Five Variants of
Dives and Lazarus. I learned, while studying this
music, that the variants are settings of five of his favorite
tunes to which the text
'Dives and Lazarus' was set. My setting includes three favorite
variants, all under
the name Kingsfold,
the name Vaughan Williams gave to the variant that he used in
a hymn setting.
17-18) I just really like some of these ancient songs. The haunting
melodies, La Rosa
Enflorece(Traditional Sephardic) and The Snow It Melts the Soonest,
are so easy to listen to over and over that I never tire of them.
Sometimes the most simple of compositions are the most delightful.
19) Promises,
whether made bride to groom,
parent to child, or God to His people never change, yet never look the
same from day to day. While not stated in every measure, the
foundation of this piece, a descending a-minor scale, never
changes.
Like a promise faithfully fulfilled, each iteration of the melody is a
new interpretation of the promise. This is dedicated to Ron Price, my
friend and mentor from Healing Harps.
20-21) Laua Fako Utley kindly gave me copies of her compositions, Contemplation and Peace and I fell in
love with them. She has graciously allowed me to include them on this
CD, in my own arrangements. She uses them when playing in a local
hospital and I've found them useful in my hospice work as well as for
weddings, church, and background music.
22-23) What collection of soothing music would be complete without
lullabies? Hush
a Bye and All
the Pretty Little Horses are two of my favorites, and if
you pay attention, you'll hear brief quotes from two others. We think
of
lullabies as children's music, but in Europe, lullabies are commonly
heard during the Christmas season. There's no reason not to enjoy them
at all stages of life. There are so many beautiful lullabies!
24) The Irish Fantasia
is my setting of Londonderry Air (also known as Danny Boy) included for
my father, for whom I learned it
years ago. It is placed last on the CD in memory of Mary Jo, who always
played it last as a signal for her husband to help load up her harp.
Appropriate as well for Dad, who was often waiting for me to finish
performing so he could move the harp home again. It wasn't until I left
home for college that I realised I was going to have to move the harp
myself.
$15.00
includes shipping: US and Canada
only
