COME DOWN HEAVY

Ev'ry mornin' at six o'clock–
there were twenty tarriers a-workin' on the rock,
and the boss comes 'round and he says "Keep still–
and COME DOWN HEAVY ON THE CAST IRON DRILL..."

The title Come Down Heavy! is taken from a line in the folksong Drill Ye Tarriers upon which the last movement of the piece is based. I grew up listening to my parents singing folksongs--this piece was inspired by memories of my father beating on his guitar, belting out John Henry, and the quiet sadness in my mother's voice as she sang me to sleep. To me, folksongs are not quaint, naive or innocent, as they've often come to be misrepre-sented--they are powerful, sometimes gritty, bitter and ironic, full of the sadness and longing of life. Although these particular songs are part of my past, they are also part of my present–my goal was to avoid casting them in a cloud of nostalgic mist or nationalistic fervor, and to capture some of the raw, rough energy and genuine ache of the music. These are not "arrangements" of folksongs, but rather settings or treatments of them; while the tunes are present, they are often transformed, extended, and even abandoned.
The first movement, Steel Drivin' Man, is based on the worksong John Henry, about the mighty railroad man and the legendary contest pitting his mythical human strength against that of the steam-drill. The style is based upon my father's full-tilt performances of the song and is dedicated to him, (with tips of the hat to Huddy Leadbetter and Doc Watson).
I Gave My Love A Cherry or The Riddle Song is dedicated to my mother; it is one of her favorite lullabies. I've treated it as a mountain lament that uses an unusual violin tuning taken from Scottish fiddle playing.
Oh lovely Appearance of Death was written by the Reverend George Whitefield in 1760. It was a song that my Grandmother used to sing as a lullaby, and I learned it from my father. Although the words are quite morbid, (dealing with a deeply religious aesthetic reaction to death as a release from worldly suffering) I've always been haunted by the melody. It receives the simplest and most unadorned treatment of the songs in this work.
The piece is also informed to a large extent by my involvement with tradi-tional Irish music--the worksong Drill Ye Tarriers is itself rooted firmly in the Anglo-Irish tradition, and is presented first as a modified Irish reel, and later as a jig, layered with the song Patsy on the Railroad. (It is also finally transformed into a wild tarantella, no doubt a direct influence of my wife's Italian-American family!)
The work was written for James Umble and the Cleveland Duo.
Recorded by Quorum on "Cold Water Dry Stone" and by Kyle Horch on "Anglosax".

Delivery Details

We endeavour to dispatch all orders which are in stock on the day the order has been placed. If you need delivery by a certain time please state this clearly on your order and we will do our best to oblige.

For Royal Mail Special Delivery, Airmail (Signed For) and Courier shipments, a signature may be required upon delivery to your address. You are responsible for your order once the package arrives at the supplied delivery address. We cannot be held responsible if the package(s) goes missing once delivered. If any goods are received faulty or damaged on receipt, you must notify us within 7 days of receiving them (via email or telephone) quoting your order reference. We cannot be held responsible for goods that do not arrive with the customer due to errors made by the customer when entering their address details. Please ensure that you check all your details before confirming your order. For more information on deliveries, please click here.