Composed & arranged C. Ormston
Recorded in 1987 for the inclusion on the NPS New Horizon LP but withdrawn for contractual reasons involving Bulmer.

Catherine O'Dea/Molly's Cauli's - Recorded 1987

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

Pesky Polska and Out Of Key by David Somerville
Two tunes that stay within a single octave and so do not need any keys when played on the pipes. Pesky Polska is an attempt to write a tune in the style of a Swedish polska. Out Of Key is a jig which deliberately makes quite a lot of use of notes that clash with the drones.

Pesky Polska And Out Of Key

"Over the Wall" and "Up the Tree" by David Somerville - two single octave 4 bar reels.

All The Birds Of Oxfordshire

Chris Evans

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