Finzi Bagatelles

Finzi Bagatelles - 4. Forlana

Finzi Bagatelles - 3. Carol

Farewell To The Cookeys

Some notes on the tune from Ann:

Part of the inspiration is my memory of Colin singing along while l played a tune in his workshop, so it needs to sing! That thought led me to listen again to Ray and Colin performing together and choosing this song. I worked it out mostly on pipes, but also used whistle.

The repeated syncopated phrase at the end of sections should be crisp and rhythmic, possibly a little faster and with a slight rall leading up to it, except in the 3rd variation. It’s a mix of 3/4 and 6/8 so I have paired quavers in the bars that have the 3/4 feel rather than chancing the time signature.

Bonny At Morn - A Tribute To Ray Fisher And Colin Ross by Ann Farrington

A collection of slip jigs composed by members of the Fine-Tuning group.

1. Wormsley - Chris Evans
2. Greg's Fearsom Fiddle - Andrew Burn
3. Double Trouble - Jon Shurlock
4. Kitty Frisk - John Gibbons
5. Slippery Jig - David Somerville
6. The Feorthing Wren - Ann Tingey
7. Isolation Slip Jigs - Paul Tabbush

A couple of corrections to what's heard:
The Foerthing Wren - Bar 2, beat 2: B-D-D; I play D-B-D
Isolation Slip Jigs - the 2nd refrain should be repeated

Slip Jigs

A piece inspired by the poem Adelstrop by Edward Thomas and based on the morris tune Old Tom of Oxford. We are heading towards the 75th anniversary of VE Day during a period when birdsong can be heard more clearly over Oxfordshire since, perhaps, the Great War.

Yes. I remember Adlestrop
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat, the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.
No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop—only the name

And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.

And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

All The Birds Of Oxfordshire

Not only a reference to the mad rush to recycling centres when they re-opened after many weeks, but also to the technique of "tipping" on pipes: the rapid and repeated lifting and replacing of a finger or key to produce a series of detached notes on the same tone.

This tune is written in the pentatonic and is a rant at 200 beats per minute. It's fast, but it's the tempo of the rants played by the Shepherds, Joe Hutton, Willy Taylor and Will Atkinson on their album Harthope Burn.

The Opening Of The Tips

Rigaudon

A slightly more experimental composition based on the rhythms of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No 6, BWV 1051, mvt 3, Allegro.

Brandenburg Loops

The first tune is written by Adam Swift in response to my outline: stratshpey in the key of A; 4/4; dotted quaver-semiquaver rhythm, sometimes semiquaver-dotted quaver snap; sometimes triplet quavers; sometimes 4 semiquavers. Range: bottom A to top b. Iron Wharf is a lovely part of Faversham, Kent.

I wrote the second tune as a major-key response to the first, also a stratshpey. Bow Bridge is a stone bridge over the River Thame between Waterperry and Waterstock.

Chris Evans

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