Dark haired Beauty
I have decided on my first folk song for arrangement. It is 'Turn ye to Me', a traditional Gaelic folksong, but with a poetic and lyrical English version by Christopher North.
The song praises nature and has a flowing and slow waltz feel. The boy in the story is asking his 'Mhairi-dhu' to look upon him with love.
Mhairi - dhu means Black, or more probably Dark Mary, clearly she had the beautiful coal shiny coloured hair which is so prominent in this neck of the woods, indeed I have a couple of pupils who could easily be called ********dhu ! There are tales of Spanish Armada ships grounding on the treacherous rocks around these Isles, marrying local maidens and producing black haired beauties with creamy pale skin. Whether or not there is a single shred of truth in these stories, there certainly are many black haired pale complexioned lovelies locally, and it makes for a delightful story.
Having now decided all I need to do is get on with it!
I don't think I ever mentioned what a great time I had on Christmas Eve playing the organ for the Watch Night service in the local church. There is something so all consuming playing the instrument which allows one to be a whole orchestra. It is a powerful place to be, and in some ways almost like a great out pouring of music which is hard to beat!
I managed to work out the manuals and even added a 'trumpet' stop to the final verse of O Come all ye Faithful ! What a feeling of being in charge ! Yet on the other hand, giving a good resonant sound makes the congregation feel 'covered', not so exposed, and so the sound from the 40 or so hardy folk who had braved the ice and snow sounded like the chorus at La Scala Milan!
Playing the organ is akin to a great relaxed sigh, and totally fulfilling for the player and singer.
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