Description
French Impressions of Scarborough Fair.:
The song, which is a variant of The Elfin Knight, lists a number of impossible tasks given to a former lover who lives in Scarborough. The “Scarborough Fair” variant was most common in Yorkshire and Northumbria, where it was sung to various melodies, with refrains resembling “parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme” and “Then she’ll be a true love of mine.”
The famous melody, which uses the Dorian Mode (typical of the Middle English period), was collected from Mark Anderson (1874–1953), a retired lead miner from County Durham England, by Ewan MacColl in 1947. This version was recorded by a number of musicians in the 20th century, including the version by the 1960s folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, who learned it from Martin Carthy.
So, I have turned it arranged it away from ye old English Dorian Mode into a late French impressionist mode, but not Debussy or Ravel mode, more Poulenc, Milhaud, Honegger, using whole tone scales and large tone shift harmonies but in a L’apres Midi setting. Suitable for most bands young/intermediate/ mid-section and would sit nicely in any summer programme. https://youtu.be/8nb55XN9mok
