Notated and harmonised in a rough, pragmatic way by musicians of the time, these pieces are not learned or complex enough to be taken seriously as "high" art by most music historians. This, the everyday music of villages and towns, represents a hybrid tradition. The partsongs, marches, anthems, jigs, and ballads we perform for you here were all part of American life during the early decades of the country's existence: between the founding of the Republic and the Civil War. But, on the other hand, can we get closer to our roots than heretofore? Can we eliminate some of the distortion and noise? At least as far as music goes, I am convinced that a cleaner, truer approach is possible. Talk about static! Can we ever, then, experience our collective past as it "really" was? Hardly - those days are gone forever.
Our view of the American past is shaped by many things - dimly remembered history lessons from our earliest school days the posturings of present-day public people and, perhaps most importantly, by the popular media - radio, television, and the movies. This recording was made possible in part thanks to a generous grant from The The Harvard University Music Library, the Newburyport, MA Public Library Ģ3 The Rose Tree (The Knoxville Harmony) 2'06 We would like to thank the following for the use of original source material:
Robert Mealy and Anne Black violin, violaĪnd members of the HARVARD UNIVERSITY CHOIRĬover: The Fourth of July in the country, color drawing by Charles G.
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