I'm really pleased to offer this short compilation from Pasolini's Canterbury Tales. As a film it is not highly rated by aficionados of Chaucer or Pasolini, but it remains one of my favourite ever movies. Bawdy, earthy, sacred and profane.
What we have here is a labour of love. It's taken me a long time to find all the information for the soundtrack, finding the songs themselves hasn't been so difficult and this is due to some generous folks who run blogs and frequent forums. No soundtrack was released for the film, despite it's utilising substantial portions of authentic English folk song, a couple of Medieval dance tunes composed by Ennio Morricone performed on authentic instruments and some fine liturgical music. I am still attempting to track down some of the religious music from the film, but what I offer today is the majority of English folk tunes as they appear, presented in sequential order.
here is the tracklisting
1. Ould Piper - Frank McPeak (from Jack of all Trades)
2. Jug of Punch - Edward Quinn (from Jack of all Trades)
3. Paddy West - Timothy Walsh (Songs of Sailormen and Serving Maids)
4. The Coolin - Paddy Taylor (Songs of Courtship)
5. Dairy Maid - John Maguire (Jack of all Trades)
6. Bundle and Go - John Doherty (Jack of all Trades)
7. The Wind Blew the Bonnies Lassie's Plaidie Awa' - Jimmy McBeath, Duncan Burker, Jeannie Robertson (Songs of Seduction)
8. The Wee Weaver - John Doherty (Jack of all Trades)
9. Behind the Bush in the Garden - Seamus Ennis (Songs of Seduction)
10. Merry Haymakers - Bob & Ron Copper (Jack of all Trades)
11. Torna Ma Goon - Jimmy McBeath (Songs of Seduction)
12. The Liverpool Packet - Billy Barber (Songs of Sailormen and Serving Maids)
13. Gower Wassail - Phil Tanner *
14. Oxford City - Mary Doran (Fair Game and Foul)
15. Newlyn Town - (Fair Game and Foul)
16. The Brown Thorn - Seamus Ennis (Songs of Seduction)
17. Our Wedding Day - Francis McPeake (Songs of Courtship)
18. Hal An Tow - The Watersons *
19. Campanero - Bill Cameron (Songs of Sailormen and Serving Maids)
20. The Roving Journey Man - Blanche Wood (Jack of all Trades)
21. Our Gallant Ship - William Howell (Songs of Sailormen and Serving Maids)
22. Napolean Bonaparte - Robert Cinnamond (A Soldier's Life for Me)
* I am not certain who performs the versions in the film, so have substituted Phil Tanner's and The Watersons' versions of these songs, respectively.
Massive thanks to the Gonzo archive (http://gonzo-archive.blogspot.com/) for making available restoring and sharing the out of print "Topic Folk Songs of Britian" archive. If you like what you hear here, you should check out Topic Records (http://www.topicrecords.co.uk/) "Voice of the People series" which is an absolute treasure trove of authentic folk music from the British Isles.
http://www.mediafire.com/?82odfkf7ck596k3
7 comments:
Nicholas sings a phrase from Veni Sancte Spiritus in the Millers tale. It is a fine pun on the latin. "flecte quod est rigidum" refering no doubt to something bawdy :) The trouble is the phrase, though it comes from the authentic chant is actually at the wrong point in the tune which might put some people of the scent. I knew all about the folk songs and was amused when I saw the movie back when it first came out, to recognise that Pasolini seemed to have ripped off the Alan Lomax recordings with no acknowledgement. It's also rather fun trying to spot the historical locations,as one critic said at the time, it seemed to have been shot on a coach tour of Englands heritage sites. Pasolini, if he had been more of a scholar might also have realised that some of the folk songs he used were far more contemporary than medieval, Paddy West, for instance referring to a 19th century boarding house for seamen in Liverpool.
Oh and a correction to your list, it is not Hal an Tow, but the Padstow Obby Oss song that you hear for the Wife of Bath's tale, and I believe it was recorded during the actual ceremony and so presumably is available on the "songs of ceremony" LP.
Hello there!
Quite right about the Padstow connection, I recently purchased the BFI's "Here's a Health to the Barley Mow" DVD which features Alan Lomax's short film "Oss Oss Wee Oss". However, Hal an Tow also features in the film and can be found on the Songs of Ceremony album too. This compilation is a little incomplete, and one of the songs missing is the "Cornish May Carol" which is indeed the Padstow Oss Oss song. I will be posting a more complete version of the soundtrack in the coming weeks. As for Pasolini's choice of songs, I don't believe he was aiming for absolute medieval authenticity, the presence of Robert Cinnamond's "Napolean Bonaparte" would bear that out. I think he was trying to evoke a feel for the common folk and the English landscape with the soundtrack. He used music very freely and effectively in his films, for example, in his "Gospel According to Saint Matthew" he made liberal use of Odetta's "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" and Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark Was the Night..." and in his film "Medea" he used classical Persian music, Tibetan ritual, Bulgarian polyphony as well as Chinese and Japanese music. There is a credit for the soundtrack in the beginning credits of The Canterbury Tales (Topic, Caedmon and Phillips records are all mentioned, although Caedmon's involvement seems to be that they had released the Topic "Songs of..." series in the States). Why the soundtrack never materialised I simply don't know. I don't believe he was ripping anybody off. I'm not sure how the licensing of the soundtrack works out, but Topic certainly aren't shouting about the music that was used in the film, which is a missed opportunity on their part, considering the Canterbury Tales has had an excellent restoration, blu-ray and DVD re-release through the BFI recently. I got all the information for the individual folk songs from an Italian academic work on the music in Pasolini's films. Unfortunately, although the book listed the titles of the religious pieces there was no performance information given for the liturgical music used, which is a real loss and a shame.
My recollection is imperfect then because I don't remember Hal an Tow, though I do know the recording on songs of ceremony. There has been a CD release of some of those original recordings. I think it is the Caedmon issue that I recall. I have an earlier BFI DVD of the Tales, it is annoying because it is in Italian and subtitled whereas when I first saw the movie it was in English, the Italian seems to be dubbed over the English as certainly Tom Baker and Hugh Griffith did not mime there parts. The Gospel according to St Matthew is certainly Pasolini's masterpiece in that it is (considering Pasolini as an Atheist) the most authentic representation of the Gospels I have seen and yes I think he went for the atmosphere rather than absolute historical accuracy, yet the people look right and so does the background.
I am not sure that the credits were there in the cinematic release, but then it is a long time since I saw it in that form. I do think Italian directors are notorious for not giving full credits, I don't know whether you know Fellini's Satyricon but there is a particular Gamelan recording there which I recall from the Oiseau Lyre music from the morning of the world issue. There is some speculation on Mudcat as to what the liturgical sounding track in the Pardoner's tale might be.
As for the Cornish May Carol, yes I have seen the Lomax documentary and the wee lad who leads the procession taking over from his grandfather is still leading it today I believe. There is an even older recording http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=2976
Of course in the movies the oss gets another outing in the Wicker Man, another movie full of folksong and folklore.
Incidentally I stumbled across your blog while searching for the lyrics of "Tor na ma goon"
One of the tracks of particular note to me before I go off back into obscurity is Paddy Taylor's rendering of the Coolin. Paddy Taylor Played a Boehm flute rather than the "traditional" Irish flute. In the movie a bamboo flute is shown. Well I have to say the fingering is out, as this was one of the first flute tunes I set myself to learn on the tin whistle. Now that I play both a Bansuri (traditional Indian Bamboo Flute) and a Boehm flute I have to say I do not play the way Paddy did as I prefer to start on D and he starts on C but that is folk music for you, you play it as you will and having played in sessions long ago I tend to go for D.
You can be forgiven for missing Hal An Tow as a few of the songs in the film sometimes play for a matter of seconds in the background of a scene.
I have two copies of the DVD, both BFI versions. The earlier edition only has the Italian dub, whilst the restored version includes an English dub, voiced in the most part by the actors. The italian dub is annoying as everybody seems to shout their lines.
Oh, and I started that discussion over on Mudcat. I'm still searching for the version of "Haec Dies" heard in the Pardoner's Tale. I've got a neighbour looking into it. He builds harpsichords and is involved with the Early Music music scene. I may finally get an answer one way or the other.
And the Wicker Man is another favourite of mine.
The Paddy Taylor track is one of my favourites. And you are right, the actor in the film isn't really convincing with his "playing". It's a great image though. Can you recommend any similar recordings of Boehm flute?
Here are a couple of quotes from Pasolini regarding his atheism
"If you know that I am an unbeliever, then you know me better than I do myself. I may be an unbeliever, but I am an unbeliever who has a nostalgia for a belief."
"When I say God,I do not mean a Catholic God. He could belong to any religion, a peasant religion. All religions are really peasant religions. That is why religion is in crisis today. We are passing from a peasant world to an industrial world. But a world does not die, so the peasant civilization lives within us, buried within us. It is buried, along with the sense of the sacred, within the factory owner and his family in ‘Teorema.’ "
"I suffer from the nostalgia of a peasant-type religion, and that is why I am on the side of the servant. But I do not believe in a metaphysical god. I am religious because I have a natural identification between reality and God. Reality is divine. That is why my films are never naturalistic. The motivation that unites all of my films is to give back to reality its original sacred significance."
That is an interesting quote from Pasolini, the first part reminds me of Thomas Hardy's "the Oxen" though I think Hardy was more of an agnostic than an out and out atheist.
Oh well that reminds me of flutes in "Far from the madding crowd" I vaguely recall at least three. The one "played" by Alan Bates to Bushes and Briars definitely looks authentic to the period, I have one just like it dated around 1807, a shepherd in the 1840's would likely have had a second hand or hand me down. Again it is not suited for Irish music, I got it after an insurance payment for my "Irish" flute that was stolen. I can't recall anyone else playing traditional on the Boehm other than Paddy Taylor though I guess a lot amateurs have a go like me, though to be honest they are not ideally suited for reels and jigs, the keys just get in the way.
I shall have to get the new BFI DVD.
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