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Book Review for EDS
Book and CD
Mel Bay 9780786680276
Chris Partington, 25/10/2010
Books specifically about English fiddling don’t come along very often, especially from a major music publisher with deep penetration of the mass market, so I am delighted to report that Chris Bartram’s book hits the nail squarely on the head, and should be added to all fiddlers’ bookshelves straight away. Note that I do not confine that recommendation to English fiddlers; all fiddlers should be able to profit from it.
It is not a tutor, nor a suggested repertoire, but “a source for people who can already play the fiddle – or violin – at some level....and who can read music a little”.
A fifteen page exposition covering history and repertoire, and including a not too dogmatic look at style, conjures up a sense of the uniqueness of the genre, and its place within the larger British and European context.
Then come 85 tunes. Some are chestnuts but in unfamiliar
settings, others are unfamiliar, some in the key of C, and even
one each in F and Bb. They are well chosen. You may or may not add
them to your repertoire, that’s not the point; having gone through
them your understanding of English fiddling has grown and what
emerges is a realisation that musical style is a personal artistic
journey rather than a nationalistic artefact.
The enjoyable companion CD features Chris playing 27 of the tunes, mostly solo but with a couple of tracks having appropriate band accompaniment. It bears repeated listening.
Niggles? The claim that the tunes will be arranged by type has
got lost or forgotten, resulting in a partially alphabetical
jumble, including the definite article 39 times! The music
typesetting is only adequate, but that doesn’t detract. I don’t
like Mel Bay’s house style of paper and binding. Small niggles of
little consequence; I’d buy the book anyway.
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