C John Taylor's "Islands of Beauty"
Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 5:04 pm
On the recent Chentleman's Cruise, I was greatly honoured to be presented with BlueMoment's 2009 Tip of the Year Award for my post "Advice that could save a life".
There was stiff competition, but, I suppose, quality shines through every time.
Anyway, the Award consisted of one of C John Taylor's most renowned tea towels, The Famous Bridge Over The Altantic, which has a very moving poem, and the sheet music for the wonderful "Islands of Beauty" (if you click this link, you can hear a narration by the great man himself).
It's really nice to hear this tune as it should be played. TCM did try it with his fiddle, and the tubular leg of a table, but he really wasn't up to the composition's complex internal rhythms. For the musicians amongst you, it's in the key of F, ¾ time, but, very unusually for a waltz, seems to have three beats to the first bar, two beats for each of the second and third bars, four beats in the fourth, and two in the fifth.
Perhaps, with some practice, we could try it again next year.
There was stiff competition, but, I suppose, quality shines through every time.
Anyway, the Award consisted of one of C John Taylor's most renowned tea towels, The Famous Bridge Over The Altantic, which has a very moving poem, and the sheet music for the wonderful "Islands of Beauty" (if you click this link, you can hear a narration by the great man himself).
It's really nice to hear this tune as it should be played. TCM did try it with his fiddle, and the tubular leg of a table, but he really wasn't up to the composition's complex internal rhythms. For the musicians amongst you, it's in the key of F, ¾ time, but, very unusually for a waltz, seems to have three beats to the first bar, two beats for each of the second and third bars, four beats in the fourth, and two in the fifth.
Perhaps, with some practice, we could try it again next year.
