Sea Chanteys

Various

• Editorial: Classic Music Collection
• Año: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781528768825
• Categoría: Media & Performing Arts
• Categoría: Folk Music

"Sea Chanteys" is a vintage collection of traditional sailor songs. Also known as shanties or chanteys, these songs were tropically sang by sailors aboard ships in order to boost morale and to be sung during some of the more tedious duties of required by the seafaring life. Each song comes complete with the original lyrics and clear sheet music, and are perfect for those with an interest in learning or performing traditional sea songs. Contents include: "Eight Bells", "Away to Rio!", "As Off to the South'ard We Go", "A-Roving", "Old Man Noah", "High Barbary", "Mobile Bay", and "The Mermaid". Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in a modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new introduction on folk music.

Folk Music

Folk music includes both traditional music and the genre that evolved from it during the twentieth century folk revival. Traditional folk music has been broadly defined as music transmitted orally, without a single 'composer', as contrasted with commercial and classical styles.

A consistent and all-encompassing definition of traditional folk music is elusive however. The terms folk music, folk song, and folk dance are comparatively recent expressions. They are extensions of the term folklore, which was coined in 1846 by the English antiquarian William Thoms to describe ‘the traditions, customs, and superstitions of the uncultured classes.’ The term is further derived from the German expression Volk, in the sense of ‘the people as a whole’ as applied to popular and national music by Johann Gottfried Herder and the German Romantics over half a century earlier. The emergence of the term ‘folk’ coincided with the mid-nineteenth century outburst of national feeling all over Europe, particularly at the edges of Europe, where national identity was most strongly asserted.

Folk music may tend to have certain characteristics but it cannot clearly be differentiated in purely musical terms. One meaning often given is that of ‘old songs, with no kn...