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In late 2006 I had the idea of weaving a musical tapestry from quotes and passages of historically-related folk songs.  The radio baton makes using simultaneous conflicting meters and juxtaposed melodic passages in unrelated harmonies very much easier to realize than human performers would find, and that is what I was mostly interested in compositionally.   

I researched over 250 American folk songs and separated them into 3 historical periods: pre-civil war, civil war, and post civil war.  Between January and March of 2007,  I composed the first movement of Tapestry using sixteen song quotes, all from the pre-civil war period.  In the future I'd like to complete Tapestry by composing movements for both the civil war and post civil war periods.

While working on the music for deaf children project, it occurred to me that Tapestry might be useful educationally in the classroom as well as for melodic recognition research.  My research colleagues concurred and it was incorporated into the project as documented in the journal article.

Program Notes

Song quotes in order of appearance

* Oh! Susanna - Stephen Foster wrote the original lyrics in 1847.  During the California gold rush it was set to new lyrics and became known as the '49ers theme song'.  The tune was based on a Scottish marching song whose melody could be easily carried on the chanter of the bagpipes.  Though it appears first in the Tapestry, it was the last to be written of all of the songs in this pre-civil war period.

* Yankee Doodle -  A British Army surgeon named Dr. Richard Schuckburg was reportedly credited with writing the tune in the early 1750s during the French and Indian war.  Some scholars believe it is a variant of the nursery rhyme Lucy Locket. The song gained much popularity with the colonials who created their own versions and lyrics, many of which made fun of themselves and even their own officers, including General George Washington.  It is believed that when Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, the Americans played Yankee Doodle, and the song remains a standard in the American folk tradition to this day.

* Free America  -  The lyrics were written by one of the original minutemen, Dr. Joseph Warren, the man who sent Paul Revere to Lexington to warn John Hancock that the British were coming.  He set the words to the English song "British Grenadiers" whose exact origin is unknown, though it is believed the original verse could not predate 1678 since that is when the regiment was created. Some sources place the original tune as far back as the Elizabethan era, but the current words and music were found on a British Grenadiers 18th century manuscript.

* Yankee Whalermen -  This tune was based on the old Naval song called "Spanish Ladies".  According to the Oxford book of Sea Songs the earliest known reference is from 1796, and the tune was a capstan shanty (sung while raising the anchor as the capstan was turned).  The tune was sung in the Movie Jaws by the character who played the captain of the fishing boat.

* Amazing Grace - Widely considered to be the most popular hymn in the English language, it appeared as early as 1829 in the "Baptist Songster" by R. Winchell. The words were written around 1772 by John Newton. The original tune is believed to be Scottish or Irish in origin.  The hymn was very popular during the Civil War, with both sides.  It was frequently sung by the Cherokee in lieu of giving their dead a full burial while on the 'trail of tears' (the forced relocation of the five civilized tribes from the southern United States to the West) and has sometimes been called the Cherokee National Anthem.

* Star Spangled Banner - the melody was first published around 1780 as "To Anacreon in Heaven" and is believed to be from the British composer John Stafford Smith.  The words were penned by Ralph Tomlinson.  Both men were members of the Anacreontic Club of London, a wealthy group of men, and this was their theme song.  The melody became popular in America, especially around the time of the War of 1812, and several Americans wrote patriotic lyrics to the tune, including Francis Scott Key, a lawyer, who while aboard an American ship witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry. When the bombardment was over he saw the flag was still there and wrote a poem, 'The Defense of Fort McHenry". The words were then set to the tune "To Anacreon in Heaven" and published in 1815, with the new name of 'The Star Spangled Banner'.  The song was adopted first by both the Army and Navy as the National Anthem, and in 1931 by an Act of Congress became the official National Anthem.

* The Girl I Left Behind Me - This tune has quite a history of folklore associated with it, the actual origins being placed at various periods/places by different sources. It is possible the original tune dates back to the Elizabethan era.  It became known in America around 1650 as a traditional fife tune, imported from England as "Britian Camp'.  It was especially popular during the Revolutionary War period.

* Billy Boy -  The earliest printed version of the tune was "Lord Ronald, my Son" printed in 1787, and is thought to have been based on an Italian ballad of the 1600s. The tune as we know it today probably originated in the 1800s from England and was called 'Willie Lad' and 'Charming William'.

* Long Long Ago - Written in 1833 by Thomas Haynes Bayly, this song became widely known and was the most popular song in America in 1843.

* Over the River and Through the Woods  - Originally published in 1844, this was written by Lydia Maria Child, one of the earliest American women to make a living from her writing.  It relates her childhood memories of visiting her grandmothers house and remains popular today, especially around Thanksgiving.

* America - This tune is also known as 'God save the King' and is based on an English air.  The words we know today were written by Samuel Francis Smith on July 4th, 1832, and the tune remains one of the most popular patriotic songs in America.

* Arkansas Traveler - This tune has been credited by some to Colonel Sandford C. Faulkner, a prominent figure in Arkansas, who in 1840 came upon a mountain fiddler while traveling in Pope County, Arkansas.  The song was printed in New York circa 1850 and became part of a hit play of the period. A  later reprint in "The Arkansas Traveler's Songster" credited  Mose Case as both author and composer.

* Buffalo Gals - Scholars have suggested various originations, from Germany to England, for this tune which became popular in pre-civil war minstrel shows throughout the United States.  It was published in America in 1844 with the title 'Lubly Fan' , written by John Hodges. The name in the title changed to reflect the location of the performances.  In other words, Buffalo referred to the city, not the animal.

* Turkey in the Straw - Very popular during Andrew Jackson's presidency, this tune traces its origins to an Irish ballad called "The Old Rose Tree'.  In America, it was popular as a fiddle tune and one of  the earliest American minstrel songs. It  was published along with words in 1834 as 'Old Zip Coon'.

* Polly Wolly Doodle - Daniel Decatur Emmett and the Virginia Minstrels played this tune in the 1840s.  The exact origins of the song are unknown, though it has been thought to be a song sung in the south by slaves.  It has remained a popular traditional children's song.

* Marine's Hymn - This tune derives from a song in Jacques Offenbach's comic opera "Genevieve de Brabant", called "Two men in the Army".   The lyrics were composed by a Marine circa 1847 while stationed in Mexico, and were originally sung to a traditional Spanish folk song. After the debut of  Offenbach's opera at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1868,  marines began singing the lyrics to 'Two men in the Army'. The Unites States Marine Corps made the song their theme in 1920.