#ashokan farewell

[dragonfromthewoodlands]

me: yeah so when I play ashokan farewell sometimes I like to drop into seventh position just to show off

@whosamawhatsit: are you okay

[mktilghman]

A playlist for STEP INTO THE SUNLIGHT

My Master Works dulcimer. All of the songs played by Paul, the love interest in my new Ocean City-based novel are beautiful melodies that I’ve learned to play—or, in one case, want to learn. I’ve been studying the hammered dulcimer longer than I’ve been writing novels. About 12 years, believe it or not. My teacher is the great Ken Kolodner, a Baltimore-based musician who performs all over the…

[in-sufficientdata]

Sullivan Ballou was a successful, 32-year-old attorney in Providence, Rhode Island, when Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers in the wake of Fort Sumter. Responding to his nation's call, the former Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives enlisted in the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, where he was elected major. By mid-July, the swirling events in the summer of 1861 had brought Ballou and his unit to a camp of instruction in the nation's capital. With the movement of the federal forces into Virginia imminent, Sullivan Ballou penned this letter to his wife.

His concern that he "should fall on the battle-field" proved all too true. One week after composing his missive, as the war's first major battle began in earnest on the plains of Manassas, Ballou was struck and killed as the Rhode Islanders advanced from Matthews Hill.

Continue reading (link also contains full transcript of video contents)

[martiancount1877]

Jay Ungar's Ashokan farewell by Foundring ( Kylan K. )

The sun is sinking low in the hills above Ashokan. The pines and the willows know soon we will part. There's a whisper in the wind of promises unspoken, And a love that will always remain in my heart.

My thoughts will return to the sound of your laughter, The magic of moving as one, And a time we'll remember long even after The moonlight and music and dancing are done.

Will we climb the hills once more? Will we walk the woods together? Will I feel you holding me close once again? Will every song we've sung stay with us forever? Will you dance in my dreams or my arms until then?

Under the moon the mountains lie sleeping Over the lake the stars shine. Ah they wonder if you and I will be keeping The moonlight and music, or leave them behind.

Under the moon the mountains lie sleeping The magic of moving as one They wonder if you and I will be keeping The moonlight and music or part when they're done

[miss-mollys-ballet-blog]

I understand it’s slightly cliche, but Ashokan Farewell will forever be one of my favorite pieces of music.

[some-old-psyker]

Ana playing her fiddle on a lonely windy night vibes again.

[toshootforthestars]

Adagio Trio   “Ashokan Farewell”  (1997)

[eleanorcrane]

my love for you is deathless

[chiropteracupola]

well it looks like I will never ever ever lose the effects of my years of intermittent obsession over ken burns' 'the civil war'

[finrays]

Thinking this morning about the time I got to witness the universe spank a pedantic asshole that I was about to slap myself.

I was at a folk concert given by the local symphony orchestra with my family, and the guy sitting a row behind us was being just… insufferable. Aside from the fact that he was bloviating excessively about every song on the program, the tone of his voice was just MADDENINGLY smarmy and superior. I was ready to turn around and shove the program in his mouth the whole first half of the concert.

Then we get to Ashokan Farewell, which is a song I really, really like. This fucking moron starts going “Ah yes, it’s an old Civil War folk tune, written by an artist from the South, I believe-“

And if you know anything about the song you’ll know that’s entirely wrong. It’s a rumor that got started because Ken Burns used it as the intro for his Civil War documentary series. The damn thing was written in 1982 by Jay Ungar and his wife Molly Mason, and it originated as a goodbye/goodnight piece at a mountain valley in Upstate New York where they used to hold fiddle and dance camps. One of his companions cautiously ventured this and was summarily dismissed with something like “Oh, well that’s not what *I* heard.”

It took a HERCULEAN effort not to turn around and Well Actually this guy. I strongly feel that if you’re gonna be smart about something, you should be cheery and excitable about it, as if you’re sharing a bag of snacks. The point is to share the knowledge you love, not to try and puff yourself up like a blowfish.

But I was beginning to observe how much smoother my life went if I hid my strangeness at that point, and a lot of that was shutting the hell up. So I just held my tongue, ground my teeth and sat there.

And I was rewarded for it; the conductor must have heard my psychic scream, because he introduced the song by pointing out the Civil War Folk Song rumor and then dismissing it and providing the real info.

Folks.

Mr. Grand High Cultured Muckity Muck. Went DEAD SILENT. I heard not another word from his mouth for the rest of the night. It was magnificent and I immediately had the NEW problem of not giggling and kicking my feet.

Sometimes, if you stay quiet and keep out of the way, an asshole will own THEMSELVES, and it’s glorious to witness.

[quantummindclassicalheart]

@copperbadge something like this?

(voiceover and arrangement by me)

I love being in IT

[cookiescr]

as encouragement for violin: i've played since i was a kid and literally never learned to read music. doing it by ear will get you thru it! (also it is so so fun. try ashokan farewell if you want a fun, fairly easy piece that you can mess with/add flourishes etc.)

That's actually reassuring and I will check it out thank you! Violin just feels like the type of instrument where u have to learn how to read sheet music or you didn't really learn it properly if that makes sense. Though it would be very useful if I ever get to a point of being good enough to do duets with my friend who plays the cello

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

For Billy.

So, hi.

This one is for the RebelYank crowd. :)

I mean, this was kind of the obvious choice for two Civil War guys (but now I have to also give the obligatory "this is not an actual 19th century song, this was written by Jay Ungar in the 1980s" disclaimer).

I was like, "man, this would sound totally awesome and thematically appropriate as a duet!" so I arranged it for one fiddle and one classical violin... completely forgetting that Mark O'Connor and Pinchas Zukerman already arranged a violin duet version of "Ashokan Farewell" years ago. /facepalm

(It's actually Day 195 since I started playing again. I messed up my day count somewhere during the last round of missed practice sessions and I'm not really supposed to be counting anymore but I keep doing it for some reason.)

[densi-mber]

He Plays the Violin

If someone had told 20 year old Marty Deeks that one day he would be sitting on the couch with his girlfriend, watching a rebroadcast of a symphony, he would have scoffed. Yet here he sat, happily doing just that. It had taken a little coaxing to convince Kensi, but now she seemed enthralled by the performance.

During a particularly lively version of Rhapsody in Blue, Kensi nudged his shoulder with her elbow. “You know, something you’ve never shown me—?”

“Can’t be much at this point,” Deeks interrupted, speaking over the music. “I’m pretty sure I’ve shown you everything I’ve got.” He winked at Kensi, just in case she didn’t get the innuendo.

“Yes, it’s very impressive,” Kensi said, pausing to give him a once over. “That’s not what I’m talking about though. It’s something more skill-based.”

“Oh, I’ve got all kinds of skills.” Deeks grinned at Kensi’s groan.

“Deeks, stop it.”

Shifting to face her, he adopted a serious expression. “Sorry, go on.”

Inhaling shallowing, Kensi pressed her palms together. He couldn’t imagine what was about to say.

“Remember when you mentioned taking violin lessons?” she asked.

“Yeeees. Why?”

“Well, this concert reminded me that you’ve never played for me.”

“Kensi—”

“Baby, please?”

“I’m not that good,” Deeks protested, even as Kensi looked at him pleadingly. “I haven’t had a lesson in years.”

“But you’ve played since then, right?”

“Yeah,” he admitted reluctantly. Smoothing her hand up through his hair, Kensi cupped one of his cheeks.

“Hey, I won’t push it anymore if you really don’t want to, but I would really love to hear you play,” she said, which was remarkably convincing.

“Fine.” Sighing, Deeks pushed himself off the couch, heading for his bedroom. He felt Kensi’s eyes on him the entire way.

Even though he didn’t play regularly, he still kept his violin in good condition and stored it along with some other fragile items in his closet. When he came out a few minutes later with the violin tucked under his arm and the bow in his other hand, Kensi sat up, clapping her hands together in delight.

Deeks gave her a wry look, tucking a leg under him as he sat down. He plucked a couple strings, lowering his head in concentration. He spent a several minutes tuning the strings, adjusting the little knobs on either side. When he was reasonably satisfied with the sound, he turned to face Kensi again, and found her watching him.

“To reiterate, it’s been a few years since I even touched this, so listen at your own risk,” he warned Kensi one final time, tucking the violin under his chin, and bringing the bow up.

He chose a piece he’d taught himself in high school. The first few drags of the bow across the strings were a little rough, but he quickly fell into the rhythm, relaxing as motor memory took over. He closed his eyes, leaning into the emotion of the music, letting certain notes swell while other were softer and more subtle.

He played the final note, drawing the bow back slowly to end, and opened his eyes again. Kensi stared back at him, her lips slightly parted, her expression stunned.

“Sorry, guess I got a little caught up in the music,” he said, feeling oddly embarrassed. “My teacher always complained about that. Didn’t remember the audience.”

“No, Deeks, that was—that was beautiful,” Kensi quickly assured him. “I’ve never heard that song before.”

“It’s called “Ashokan Farewell”.

“It’s beautiful.” She leaned forward suddenly, cupping his face as she kissed him fervently. Deeks moved the violin out of crushing range. When Kensi pulled back, there was a fiery gleam in her eyes. “That was one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen,” she told him, fingers slowly, but sure,y moving down his chest.

“Yeah, Mrs. Kayler definitely never said that,” he joked, a little breathless with Kensi’s unexpected response.

Sliding off the couch, Kensi took his hand, tugging him with her. Deeks started to set the violin to the side, but she shook her head.

“No, bring it with,” she said, guiding him back towards his bedroom.

***

A/N: “Ashokan Farewell” is a piece written by Jay Ungar and featured in several of Ken Burns’ documentaries.

Title taken from the song of the same name from the musical “1776”.

[miss-mollys-ballet-blog]

My sister-in-law is starting ballet and she wants me to give her one or two classes before her first class so she doesn't look like she doesn't know anything at all, so naturally I agreed. I was excited that she's starting ballet and love talking about it, but I never expected I would have SO MUCH FUN making combinations. I've come up with so many over the past day or so and can't stop lol. Picking the music is so fun, I'm using music I love dancing to, and then creating a combination to the music is just amazing. Some might be a bit....challenging for a beginner beginner, but I think that's a good thing!

This is the music and what combination each piece goes with!

Warm Up: Chopin's Nocturne Op. 9 no. 2 (obviously)

Plies: The Shire theme from Lord of the Rings

Tendu and degage share music: Faure's Pelleas and Melisandre Sicilienne

Rond de jambes: Ashokan Farewell

Frappes: Solor's variation

Adagio at barre: Gadfly Romance

Grand Battements: Habanera from Carmen

Tendu in center: Tchaikovsky's piano concerto number 1 (duh)

Balances/Waltz: Swan Lake waltz

Petit allegro: Lord of the Rings surprise

Reverance: Nikiya's death

[hjbender]

It has to be me.

Disappointed once again by a book that looked really promising and had an interesting premise, and I'd specifically requested my library to hold for me...

I gave up before even getting to the third chapter. The author was positively murdering the flow of action by info-dumping huge—and I mean fucking HUGE—blocks of text, we're talking a paragraph filling an entire page, each time he introduced new characters, and in the driest, most mind-numbing way possible. He did a good job of mimicking Conan Doyle's diction, as was clearly intended, the only difference being Doyle can actually keep readers awake. Again, maybe it's just me. What I read was extremely well-researched, as I'd expect from period literature, but the presentation was just... boring as fuck. God. The inciting incident was shocking and exciting, but it turned out to be false advertising. One or two exciting bits isn't enough to invest in 498 pages—

Oh. Shit. I just read the author bio when I was looking for the page count.

It was written by a military historian.

No wonder I felt like I was sitting in a lecture hall. I could practically hear Ashokan Farewell in the background.

Dammit. This is the fourth book in as many weeks I've tried and tossed. Seems like I didn't have this problem when I was younger and more focused and had lots of spare time.

This is going to be the thing that finally pushes me into publishing: spite. Pure, seething spite.