Henry Street Settlement, 1946
for violin, viola, and bowed psaltery
Henry Street Settlement, 1946 (2019)
This folk song originated in the United Kingdom, but eventually made its way to North America by the early 20th century. A singer and Appalachian dulcimer player from Viper, Kentucky learned this song from an Irish kitchen and dining-room worker at New York City’s Henry Street Settlement in 1946. She put it on record in 1952 and I heard it for the first time in 2016. I communicate this song via klangfarbenmelodie with the violin, viola, and bowed psaltery – the melody slowly unfolds, conveying the dispassion of old love, after new love has faded.
Marguerite Brown: bowed psaltery
Polly Malan: viola
Grijda Spiri: violin