THE SEAFARING FIDDLER +CD

by Edward Huws Jones

22 fiddle tunes from the golden age of sail, featuring dance tunes, shanties (work songs), recreational 'forebitters' and composed melodies which give the landlubber's take on the romance of the sea. Edward Huws Jones explains that 'during the heyday of sail, the busiest sea-routes of all were the North Atlantic crossings, especially between Liverpool and the American cotton ports; it was the heady mixture of African-American and Irish music which gave birth to the mid-century flowering of the sea shanty. Meanwhile English-speaking vessels were sailing to the Cape, India, Australia and many other far-flung destinations, carrying a two-way traffic of song and dance.' The tunes in this collection can all be played as unaccompanied fiddle tunes, which is how they would have been played in the days of sail. But as in other books in the Fiddler series, the flexible format allows a wide variety of different combinations and ensembles. Suitable for intermediate and elementary standard performers.

112 pages, Sheet music

Published January 1, 2015

About the author

Edward Huws Jones is a composer, arranger and music educationalist with a particular interest in music for young string players. His music is played and enjoyed all over the world.

Edward draws on a rich and varied musical background. After the University of York and the Royal Academy of Music his early career was as a specialist in renaissance and baroque music. Edward went on to gain extensive experience as a string teacher, with a particular focus on effective group teaching within the state system. His numerous original compositions for children and young people have a firmly-established place in the educational repertoire. He is the founder of the Mostar Strings Project, a project initiated to provide group musical activities and violin teaching to children and families in Bosnia.

Edward has also travelled the globe researching fiddle playing traditions and has endeavoured to make much of this colourful music available in print for the first time. His enormously popular Fiddler series for Boosey & Hawkes now comprises more than 15 collections, including Jigs, Reels and Hornpipes, The Klezmer Fiddler and The Tango Fiddler. A recent addition to the series, The French Fiddler, was published in 2011 and The Nordic Fiddler is planned for release in 2014.

Since 1996 he has acted as a consultant and editor for ABRSM and has worked on numerous projects including the selection of five successive violin examination syllabuses. He was also involved in the development of Music Medals, an innovative approach to encouraging and assessing the achievement of young students taught in groups.