Location:
on line from The Old Avoca Schoolhouse
504 Garfield St., Avoca, NE, 68307
Event Description:
The Old Avoca Schoolhouse in Avoca, Nebraska will be streaming three on line
“Playford English Country Dance Tunes Workshops” for soprano recorder players, alto recorder players, fiddlers, violists, cellists, bassists, and mandolinists.
The Workshops will be on Tuesday, August 8, 7 PM, Central Time, Wednesday, August 9, 10 AM, Central Time, and Friday, August 11, 7 PM, Central Time. Different tunes will be played at each session.
John Playford (1623–1686/7) was a London bookseller, publisher, and composer,.
He is best known today for his publication of The English Dancing Master in 1651.
We will read, play, and discuss various survival skills for these charming pieces. A treble clef version of the sheet music for the tunes being played will be displayed on the screen during the workshop.
Just as in all of the collections in the Tunes for Two series these books contain the same tunes in the same keys making it easy for you to play with a friend playing another instrument.
There is limited enrollment, and pre-registration is required. The cost for each workshop is $10.00. The cost of each optional book is $15.00 (includes shipping if ordered with workshop registration).
For more information, and to register:
https://greenblattandseay.com/workshops_playford.shtml
Reviews:
As is typical of Deborah Greenblatt’s work, the arrangements of pleasing tunes are well done and accessible to a diverse audience of recorder players.
Page turns are generally avoided by the insertion of blank pages. Spacing on the pages and between staves makes for overall clarity with regard to pitches and other markings. (It is a pet peeve of mine to play from crowded staves that make it difficult to identify pitches that involve ledger lines — no problem with that here.)
These editions are accessible to intermediate players. Rhythms are generally straightforward. The textures are a mix: artfully arranged polyphony or homophony, and some in which one line carries the melody and the other serves an accompaniment function.
This edition would make for great additions to one’s recorder library. Because they contain a mix of easier and a bit more challenging pieces that are pleasingly arranged, they offer less and more experienced players both a challenge and an opportunity to play simply for the enjoyment of the music.
…Victor Eijkhout American Recorder, Fall 2020
Greenblatt has provided us a quick but thorough resource for traditional fiddle music: 37 tunes from the 1651 edition of John Playford’s The English Dancing Master. Like all of Greenblatt’s books, the notation is easy to follow, with a number of recognizable songs such as “Rufty Tufty” and “Mad Robin”. For anyone wanting to have a resource for period music, this should be in that library.
…Matt Merta Fiddler Magazine, Summer 2021