Rose of Tralee

The Irish folk ballad "The Rose of Tralee" was likely written by poet C. Mordaunt Spencer and London musician Charles William Glover in 1846, but the Tralee town council endorses that it was composed by one William P. Mulchinock, a young Protestant man who fell madly in love with his parents' Catholic maid, Mary O'Connor. The less-likely second story is far more charming.

The pale moon was rising above the green mountain,  

2014 Rose of Tralee, Philadelphia's Maria Walsh

The sun was declining beneath the blue sea;
When I strayed with my love to the pure crystal fountain,
That stands in the beautiful vale of Tralee.
     She was lovely and fair as the rose of the summer,
     Yet 'twas not her beauty alone that won me;
     Oh no, 'twas the truth in her eyes ever dawning,
     That made me love Mary, the rose of Tralee.

The cool shades of evening, their mantle were spreading
And Mary all smiling sat listening to me;
The moon through the valley, her pale rays were shining
When I won the heart of the rose of Tralee.
     She was lovely and fair as the rose of the summer,
     Yet 'twas not her beauty alone that won me;
     Oh no, 'twas the truth in her eyes ever dawning,
     That made me love Mary, the rose of Tralee.

((The following inferior verse is not in many versions:))

On the far fields of India, mid war's bloody thunder,
Her voice was a solace and comfort to me,
But the cold hand of death has now torn us asunder.
I'm lonely tonight for my rose of Tralee..
     She was lovely and fair as the rose of the summer,
     Yet 'twas not her beauty alone that won me;
     Oh no, 'twas the truth in her eyes ever dawning,
     That made me love Mary, the rose of Tralee.

The inspired-by-the-song "Rose of Tralee" International Festival seeks the world to crown a young Irish (or descendant) lady "lovely and fair as the rose in the summer."  Surrounded by global celebration of Irish culture, the  Festival takes place mid-August in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland with street entertainment, carnival, live concerts, theater, circus, markets, funfair, fireworks and an internationally renowned Rose Parade. 


We Portlanders are reminded of another Rose Festival.

Timberliners performance routine

I've never quite written up the Timberliner's routine for a performance before, but this is a good opportunity, since we have, instead of a regular rehearsal, 2 gigs:

First:  The Pythian home, 3406 Main St, Vancouver Wa

6:00 pm arrive and gather.  Find a warm up room

6:05 Do an easy warm up in four steps.
    +++And if a singer runs late (traffic will be thick), one can do these solo on the way.
    +++ And if I'm running late, any assistant or section leader can run these
1 ~ breathe in, sing and hold long E, F or G  on  "aw" for 15 seconds,  Make it beautiful, easy and loud.  Several times.
2 ~ while you do that, relax jaw, face, shoulders, stretch.
3 ~ Next, slide that beautiful note around low and high, loud and soft.
4 ~ Next, several 9 note scales key of B, C, C#, D, E, F, F#, relaxed and easy and in tune.

~  Get in something close to our standing order, se we can hear each other and 
~  Sing MayMeMyMoMu, balance and blend and tune, keys G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E.

6:12  Confirm our EmCee and Pitcher and Conductor.   
6: 13 Get out the song list for this gig and sing the starts thus:
    take a pitch, take the chord,  sing two measures.
If it's good, go on.  If it's not, try again.

During this, run one or two songs that likely need it: 
   (This week, though, we likely have them all well :)
6:25  Look at uniforms, gather stuff, then head to the performance room.
 
6:28 Set up chairs, say hello to folks, get in position.
6:30 We sing, EmCee, Pitcher and Condutor get us thru it.
7:00  We stop and greet this audience real friendly.

Note:  One thing we DO NOT DO is criticize our performance where any audience member can hear, EVER.  If you have to tell somebody about a mistake we made, tell us sometime when no one outside the group can possibly hear us.  On the other hand, ALWAYS COMPLIMENT what is WELL DONE in front of anyone you like. 




7:08  Drive to the next gig:
Second: Kirkland Union Plaza, 1414 Kaufman, Vancouver
 
7:13 Set up chairs, say hello to folks, get in position.
7:15 We sing.
7:45  We stop and greet this audience real friendly.
7:55  Drive to  wherever you like next.


Yours,  Gary