Choice Songs

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CHOICE SONGS FOR MUSIC

Category- Irish Traditional Songs

Title:An raicín Álainn

Composer: Unknown, Performer – Lasairfhíona Ní Chonaola

Song Type: Love song about a man who falls in love with a

woman, leaves(with her comb-raicín), she longs for his return.

Traditional Features:

-Jig Rhythm 6/8

-In Irish

-Repeated Notes

Non Traditional

Features:

-Accompanied by guitar and fiddle

Keywords: Macaronic Songs – songs in both irish and english, Sean-ós, Ornamentation.

Category:

Folk Songs from Other Countries

Title:

The Jamaican Farewell

Song

type: Folk Song in Calypso Style, can be sung as a quodlibet

with Island in the Sun

Features:

Repeated

Notes

8/8

time signature – Calypso – 3+3+2

Syncopated

Rhythm

Keywords:

Quodlibet- when two songs can be sung together.

Category:

Songs Composed by the Great Masters

Title:

The trout (Die Forelle)

Composer:

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Song

Type: A Lied – A german art song for solo singer with piano

accompaniment. The accompaniment highlights the meaning of the text

and reflects the mood.

Features:

Sextuplets

in piano = fish darting in the water

Changes

to minor when he catches the fish (verse 3)

Triadic

Melody

Category: Historical and Modern Ballads

Title: The fields of Athenry

Composer: Pete St John

Song Type: A historical Ballad which tells the story of a man

who is exiled to Australia for stealing during the famine

Features:

Repeated Notes

Dotted Rhythm

Syncopation on the word

'Michael'

Keywords: A ballad is a song that tells a story.

Historical- story happened in

the past

Modern – Comment on issues e.g

homelessness

Category:

Popular Songs including Negro Spirituals, Jazz and Blue Songs

Title:

Saints and Sinners

Composer:

Paddy Casey

Song

Type: Pop Song

Features:

Verse

chorus structure

Syncopated

Rhythm

Unusual

phrase lengths in chorus

Keywords:

Vamping is improving a simple chorus accompaniment on a

keyboard instrument

Category:

Accompanied and Unaccompanied Vocal church music and carols

Title:

May the Road Rise to Meet You

Composer:

Unknown, words-traditional Irish blessing

Song

type: Hymn

Features:

Stepwise

melody in the refrain

Descant

part in the refrain

Some

syncopation in the verses

Category:

Songs from operas, operettas, stage musicals, etc.

Title:

Maybe from Annie

Composer:

Charles Strouse

Song

Type: From the musical Annie - song about Annie's parents and

her hopes that one day they will take her away from the orphanage

Features:

Opening

melody is triadic

Wide

Range of Notes

Syncopation

in B section

Keywords:

Recitative – a type of singing in which the words are more

important than the melody

Category:

Songs involving simple descants, ostinati, rounds and canons

etc.

Title:

Three Blind Mice

Composer:

Unknown – nursery rhyme

Song

type: Round

Features:

12/8

time signature

Repeated

Notes

Singing

it as a round gives it polyphonic texture

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