A collection of music
long ago played, and now remembered.
Long before MP3's,
CDs, Vinyl and even Edison's Phonograph, an evening's musical entertainment
often involved singing songs around a piano in the family's parlor. Family
and friends would gather to play and sing songs of their day from printed sheet
music. Many of the songs dropped out of popularity as newer
songs were printed and sung. Eventually, the old sheet music was set aside and
forgotten. AntiqueMusic.net is bringing some of those songs back from
obscurity.
James (or JP to
friends) is a member of the Celtic band
Dileab
Phriseil. He has been singing since a very young age. His love of
music was apparently passed down through the generations as chronicled
in the historic journals of his ancestors. Now, his inherited melodic Irish
tenor voice brings these antique songs to life.
These projects have enabled him to combine three of his favorite
pastimes; Genealogy, Music and Computers.
In the Summer of 2013, I re-read
the journals of Lucy Hamilton Stevens Kerr, my great-great grand mother.
In these journals, Lucy chronicled the early years of her marriage to
newly elected US Congressman, the Honorable John Bozman Kerr. She
mentioned that her voice was one of the qualities that her husband
admired. She would also, from time to time, mention playing piano and
singing for him and the company they kept. In reading the journals, I
ran across the titles of some songs and went in search of what they
sounded like. But to no avail. However, at the US Library of Congress
website, I was able to find copies of sheet music she likely played and
sang from. I also found a treasure trove of other sheet music that also
likely hadn’t been played or sung in many years.
