CECIL SHARP
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'Cecil James Sharp' (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was the founding father of the folklore revival in England in the early twentieth century, and many of England's traditional dances and music owe their continuing existence to his work in recording and publishing them.
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Sharp was born at Denmark Hill, London, his father was a slate merchant, much interested in archaeology, architecture, old furniture, and music. His mother, Jane Bloyd, was also a music-lover. Sharp was educated at Uppingham, but left at 15 and was privately coached for the University of Cambridge, where he rowed in the Clare College boat and graduated B.A. in 1882.
It was necessary for him to find work and Sharp decided to try Australia. He arrived in Adelaide in November 1882 and early in 1883 obtained a position as a clerk in the Commercial Bank of South Australia. He read some law, and in April 1884 became associate to the chief justice, Sir Samuel James Way. He held this position until 1889 when he resigned and gave his whole time to music. He had become assistant organist at St Peter's cathedral soon after he arrived, and had been conductor of the government house choral society and the cathedral choral society. Later on he became conductor of the Adelaide Philharmonic, and in 1889 entered into partnership with I. G. Reimann as joint director of the Adelaide school of music. He was very successful as a lecturer but about the middle of 1891 the partnership was dissolved. The school was continued under Reimann, and in 1898 developed into the Elder conservatorium of music in connexion with the university. Sharp had made many friends and an address with over 300 signatures asked him to continue his work at Adelaide, but he decided to return to England and arrived there in January 1892. During his stay in Adelaide he composed the music for two light operas, ''Sylvia'', which was produced at the Theatre Royal Adelaide, on 4 December 1890, and ''The Jonquil''. The libretto in each case was written by Guy Boothby. He also wrote the music for some nursery rhymes which were sung by the cathedral choral society.
Sharp taught and composed music, he was interested in folk songs and music, and became interested in traditional English dance when he saw a group of Morris dancers at the village of Headington Quarry, just outside Oxford, at Christmas 1899. At this time, Morris dancing was almost extinct, and the interest generated by Sharp's notations kept the tradition alive.
The revival of the Morris dances started when Mary Neal, the organiser of the Esperance Girls' Club in London, used Sharp's (then unpublished) notations to teach the traditional dances to the club's members in 1905. Their enthusiasm for the dances persuaded Sharp to publish his notations in the form of his ''Morris Books'', starting in 1907.
Between 1911 and 1913 he published a three-volume work, ''The Sword Dances of Northern England'', which described the obscure and near-extinct Rapper sword dance of Northumbria and Long Sword dance of Yorkshire. This led to the revival of both traditions in their home areas, and later elsewhere.
Sharp often published versions of the songs he collected, which included a part for piano that Sharp composed himself. It appears that the traditional singers (who always sang ''a cappella'') found Sharp's piano parts to be just distracting noise. However, the piano versions did help Sharp in his goal of teaching English folk music to children in schools, thus "reacquainting" them, as he felt, with their national musical heritage.
The schools project perhaps also accounts for Sharp's practice of heavily bowdlerizing the lyrics, which, at least among the English songs, often emphasize sex and violence. Thus, there are often great differences between the songs as recorded in Sharp's field notes and what he published. An extreme case is the song ''The Keeper'', whose original lyrics evidently celebrate rape. Sharp's revised lyrics turn it into a comic hunting song.
Sharp also helped instigate a period of nationalism in English classical music, the idea being to reinvigorate English composition by grounding it in its national folk music. Among the composers who took up this goal was Ralph Vaughan Williams, who carried out his own field work on folk song.
In 1911 Sharp founded the 'English Folk Dance Society' which promoted the traditional dances through workshops held nationwide, and which later merged with the Folk Song Society in 1932 to form the 'English Folk Dance and Song Society' (EFDSS). The current London headquarters of the EFDSS is named Cecil Sharp House in his honour.
During the years of the First World War, Sharp found it difficult to support himself through his customary efforts at lecturing and writing, and decided to make an extended visit to the United States. The visit, made with his collaborator Maud Karpeles during the years 1916–1918, was a great success. Large audiences came to hear Sharp lecture about folk music, and Sharp also took the opportunity to do field work on English folk songs that had survived in the more remote regions of the southern Appalachian Mountains, pursuing a line of research pioneered by Olive Dame Campbell. Traveling through the mountains of Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee, Sharp and Karpeles recorded a treasure trove of folk songs, many using the pentatonic scale and many in versions quite different from those Sharp had collected in rural England. Generally, Sharp recorded the tunes, while Karpeles was responsible for the words.
Sharp was greatly struck by the dignity, courtesy, and natural grace of the people who welcomed him and Karpeles in the Appalachians, and he defended their values and their way of life in print.
Sharp's work in promoting English folk song dance traditions in the USA is carried on by the 'Country Dance and Song Society' (CDSS).
Maud Karpeles lived on for many decades after Sharp, and gradually succeeded in converting the collected Sharp manuscript materials into massive, well-organized volumes. These books are now out of print, but can be found in some libraries.
★ ''Cecil Sharp's Collection of English Folk Songs'', Oxford University Press, 1974; ISBN 0-19-313125-0.
★ ''English folk songs from the southern Appalachians, collected by Cecil J. Sharp; comprising two hundred and seventy-four songs and ballads with nine hundred and sixty-eight tunes, including thirty-nine tunes contributed by Olive Dame Campbell'', edited by Maud Karpeles. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1932.
For a sampling of English folk songs as they emerged from Sharp's editorial pen along with his piano accompaniments, see:
★ ''English folk songs, collected and arranged with pianoforte accompaniment by Cecil J. Sharp'', London: Novello (1916). This volume has been reprinted by Dover Publications under ISBN 0-486-23192-5 and is in print.
Sharp also wrote up his opinions and theories about folk song in an influential volume:
★ ''English Folk Song: Some Conclusions'' (originally published 1907. London: Simpkin; Novello). This work has been reprinted a number of times. For the most recent (Charles River Books), see ISBN 0-85409-929-8.
The following is a biography of Cecil Sharp:
★ ''Cecil Sharp'', by A. H. Fox Strangways in collaboration with Maud Karpeles. London, Oxford University Press, 1933. Reprinted 1980, Da Capo Press; ISBN 0-306-76019-3.
★
★ Sue Tronser, 'Sharp, Cecil James (1859 - 1924)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, MUP, 1988, pp 579-580.
★ [http://www.talkingelephant.co.uk/titles/title.php?Title_Ref=2254&Genre_id=all&Artist_Ref=2220 'AS I CYCLED OUT ONE MAY MORNING' from [Talking Elephant]]
★ [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12926/ http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12926 from [Project Gutenberg]]
★ English Folk Dance and Song Society
★ Country Dance and Song Society
★ Complete online version of Sharpe's 1917 Book, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians
.jpg)
'The Morris Book' by Cecil J. Sharp and Herbert C. Macilwaine (Part 1) 2nd Edition, published by Novello and Company, London, 1912
| Contents |
| Early life |
| In Australia |
| Return to England |
| Sharp in America |
| Books |
| References |
| External links |
Early life
Sharp was born at Denmark Hill, London, his father was a slate merchant, much interested in archaeology, architecture, old furniture, and music. His mother, Jane Bloyd, was also a music-lover. Sharp was educated at Uppingham, but left at 15 and was privately coached for the University of Cambridge, where he rowed in the Clare College boat and graduated B.A. in 1882.
In Australia
It was necessary for him to find work and Sharp decided to try Australia. He arrived in Adelaide in November 1882 and early in 1883 obtained a position as a clerk in the Commercial Bank of South Australia. He read some law, and in April 1884 became associate to the chief justice, Sir Samuel James Way. He held this position until 1889 when he resigned and gave his whole time to music. He had become assistant organist at St Peter's cathedral soon after he arrived, and had been conductor of the government house choral society and the cathedral choral society. Later on he became conductor of the Adelaide Philharmonic, and in 1889 entered into partnership with I. G. Reimann as joint director of the Adelaide school of music. He was very successful as a lecturer but about the middle of 1891 the partnership was dissolved. The school was continued under Reimann, and in 1898 developed into the Elder conservatorium of music in connexion with the university. Sharp had made many friends and an address with over 300 signatures asked him to continue his work at Adelaide, but he decided to return to England and arrived there in January 1892. During his stay in Adelaide he composed the music for two light operas, ''Sylvia'', which was produced at the Theatre Royal Adelaide, on 4 December 1890, and ''The Jonquil''. The libretto in each case was written by Guy Boothby. He also wrote the music for some nursery rhymes which were sung by the cathedral choral society.
Return to England
Sharp taught and composed music, he was interested in folk songs and music, and became interested in traditional English dance when he saw a group of Morris dancers at the village of Headington Quarry, just outside Oxford, at Christmas 1899. At this time, Morris dancing was almost extinct, and the interest generated by Sharp's notations kept the tradition alive.
The revival of the Morris dances started when Mary Neal, the organiser of the Esperance Girls' Club in London, used Sharp's (then unpublished) notations to teach the traditional dances to the club's members in 1905. Their enthusiasm for the dances persuaded Sharp to publish his notations in the form of his ''Morris Books'', starting in 1907.
Between 1911 and 1913 he published a three-volume work, ''The Sword Dances of Northern England'', which described the obscure and near-extinct Rapper sword dance of Northumbria and Long Sword dance of Yorkshire. This led to the revival of both traditions in their home areas, and later elsewhere.
Sharp often published versions of the songs he collected, which included a part for piano that Sharp composed himself. It appears that the traditional singers (who always sang ''a cappella'') found Sharp's piano parts to be just distracting noise. However, the piano versions did help Sharp in his goal of teaching English folk music to children in schools, thus "reacquainting" them, as he felt, with their national musical heritage.
The schools project perhaps also accounts for Sharp's practice of heavily bowdlerizing the lyrics, which, at least among the English songs, often emphasize sex and violence. Thus, there are often great differences between the songs as recorded in Sharp's field notes and what he published. An extreme case is the song ''The Keeper'', whose original lyrics evidently celebrate rape. Sharp's revised lyrics turn it into a comic hunting song.
Sharp also helped instigate a period of nationalism in English classical music, the idea being to reinvigorate English composition by grounding it in its national folk music. Among the composers who took up this goal was Ralph Vaughan Williams, who carried out his own field work on folk song.
In 1911 Sharp founded the 'English Folk Dance Society' which promoted the traditional dances through workshops held nationwide, and which later merged with the Folk Song Society in 1932 to form the 'English Folk Dance and Song Society' (EFDSS). The current London headquarters of the EFDSS is named Cecil Sharp House in his honour.
Sharp in America
During the years of the First World War, Sharp found it difficult to support himself through his customary efforts at lecturing and writing, and decided to make an extended visit to the United States. The visit, made with his collaborator Maud Karpeles during the years 1916–1918, was a great success. Large audiences came to hear Sharp lecture about folk music, and Sharp also took the opportunity to do field work on English folk songs that had survived in the more remote regions of the southern Appalachian Mountains, pursuing a line of research pioneered by Olive Dame Campbell. Traveling through the mountains of Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee, Sharp and Karpeles recorded a treasure trove of folk songs, many using the pentatonic scale and many in versions quite different from those Sharp had collected in rural England. Generally, Sharp recorded the tunes, while Karpeles was responsible for the words.
Sharp was greatly struck by the dignity, courtesy, and natural grace of the people who welcomed him and Karpeles in the Appalachians, and he defended their values and their way of life in print.
Sharp's work in promoting English folk song dance traditions in the USA is carried on by the 'Country Dance and Song Society' (CDSS).
Books
Maud Karpeles lived on for many decades after Sharp, and gradually succeeded in converting the collected Sharp manuscript materials into massive, well-organized volumes. These books are now out of print, but can be found in some libraries.
★ ''Cecil Sharp's Collection of English Folk Songs'', Oxford University Press, 1974; ISBN 0-19-313125-0.
★ ''English folk songs from the southern Appalachians, collected by Cecil J. Sharp; comprising two hundred and seventy-four songs and ballads with nine hundred and sixty-eight tunes, including thirty-nine tunes contributed by Olive Dame Campbell'', edited by Maud Karpeles. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1932.
For a sampling of English folk songs as they emerged from Sharp's editorial pen along with his piano accompaniments, see:
★ ''English folk songs, collected and arranged with pianoforte accompaniment by Cecil J. Sharp'', London: Novello (1916). This volume has been reprinted by Dover Publications under ISBN 0-486-23192-5 and is in print.
Sharp also wrote up his opinions and theories about folk song in an influential volume:
★ ''English Folk Song: Some Conclusions'' (originally published 1907. London: Simpkin; Novello). This work has been reprinted a number of times. For the most recent (Charles River Books), see ISBN 0-85409-929-8.
The following is a biography of Cecil Sharp:
★ ''Cecil Sharp'', by A. H. Fox Strangways in collaboration with Maud Karpeles. London, Oxford University Press, 1933. Reprinted 1980, Da Capo Press; ISBN 0-306-76019-3.
References
★
★ Sue Tronser, 'Sharp, Cecil James (1859 - 1924)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, MUP, 1988, pp 579-580.
External links
★ [http://www.talkingelephant.co.uk/titles/title.php?Title_Ref=2254&Genre_id=all&Artist_Ref=2220 'AS I CYCLED OUT ONE MAY MORNING' from [Talking Elephant]]
★ [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12926/ http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12926 from [Project Gutenberg]]
★ English Folk Dance and Song Society
★ Country Dance and Song Society
★ Complete online version of Sharpe's 1917 Book, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians
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