Search - Various :: Jack, Jill and all their Friends

Good old-fashioned nursery songs Traditional nursery rhymes and children's songs in new, stylish arrangements using traditional instruments of the past. Lovely tunes, innocent words, and not a synthesiser or artificial drum machine to be heard - just high quality music making. All your favourites are here, from 'Sing a song of sixpence' to 'The grand old Duke of York'. Some of the songs, such as 'Ding dong bell' have been given more sophisticated treatment than others, and last several minutes, with repeats, and instrumental solos, just as they may have been performed hundreds of years ago. Some of them are so simple: just a solo voice and around 15 seconds of music! Some are nonsense songs, such as 'Hey diddle diddle' some of them, such as 'The grand old Duke of York' or 'Humpty Dumpty' provide historical commentary on events of the past. Some of them are both. Often the tunes are as memorable as the words: 'Over the hills and far away' is given a particularly beautiful rendition and its haunting melody will stay in your mind long after the music has moved on. We have included several action songs, such as 'Here we go round the mulberry bush', some purely cheerful numbers such as 'Aiken drum' and some gentle, lyrical songs such as 'Lavender's blue'. We have also included a handful of less familiar songs, where we thought that the sheer beauty of their words or music demanded it, and we hope that you will enjoy listening to this collection of nursery rhymes as much as we enjoyed making it! Nursery rhymes: kids stuff, certainly, but they are also more than that. In turn witty and amusing, moving and emotional, or overlaid with historical commentary about real characters or events of the past, these songs hold plenty of interest, in both their music and their texts, for adults and the young at heart. This album assembles some of the best nursery rhymes of the past, in new arrangements specially created for the recording. The instruments themselves are old, or of old origin. Voice, recorder and bells are obvious, but some of the other, old-fashioned instruments are not so well known. The hurdy-gurdy is a striking looking and sounding instrument which was very popular in the seventeenth century. It has a rotating wheel rubbing against a set of strings to produce various drones, while the player can also use play melodies by using a small keyboard attached to the side of the instrument. Lute, guitar, and cittern are all plucking instruments in a similar style. The viol is similar to a cello in size and method of performance, except that it has frets like a guitar. The accordion used in this recording is a large, powerful nineteenth-century German instrument. The dulcimer is a flat, broad string instrument which is played on the knees or at a table. The sound is made by hitting its strings with wooden sticks, one for each hand. About the Artist Performed in a traditional way using many different and fascinating instruments. Sara Stowe, voice, recorder and bells Matthew Spring, voice, hurdy-gurdy, lute, guitar, cittern and viol Jon Banks, voice, harp, guitar, accordion and dulcimer Producer Martin Souter Recorded in the church of St Michael and All Angels, Summertown, Oxford, by kind permission of Rev Anthony Gann and St Michael's District Council