Farrington - Raggle Taggle Tunes: PDF download
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Raggle Taggle Tunes is a three movement organ work, inspired and influenced by British folksongs. It is partly a tribute to the work of Gustav Holst in the English town of Thaxted, where he made a valuable contribution as a composer, arranger and conductor. Holst was a keen enthusiast of folksongs and traditional dances, and incorporated a number of them into his own compositions. Raggle Taggle Tunes combines some of the melodies and characteristics of folk music with jazz and modern styles. The first movement is called Step Up, and has a lively dance character. It alternates an original jazz-folk inspired melody with the folksong Raggle-Taggle Gypsies. The second movement Lazarus Blues is based on the folksong Dives and Lazarus. Holst made a choral arrangement of the song for the Thaxted Festival when he was living there, and Vaughan Williams also famously set it for strings and harp. The song tells of the rich man Dives being sent to hell for his lack of compassion towards the poor Lazarus. This piece turns the song into a brooding blues, with a feeling of a passionate spiritual. Finally, Whirligig Jig is an energetic folk dance with jazz harmonies, using the traditional song The Keel Row in a joyous conclusion.