I regularly tear up when I hear this soulful, gorgeous piece of music. I can understand why Jay Ungar cried when he wrote it. Sometimes we are fortunate enough to be given gifts, and sometimes those gifts pass through us and are shared with others in profound and moving ways. Ashokan Farewell is one of my all-time favorites. And you, Celia Farber, are fast becoming one of my all time favorites, too. You have received the gifts of brilliance, insight, and courage. Thank you for being who you are, and for sharing your gifts so generously with all of us. I am grateful!
This beautiful piece was composed following the model of a Scottish Lament. The originator, Jay Ungar did not have the Am. Civil War in mind while he was at the Ashokan Camp for fiddle and dancing music, (a summer arts program), at the Ashokan Field Campus of SUNY New Paltz. Jay Ungar was, in part, inspired by his journey through Scotland where he came up with the idea of writing a tune to conclude the summer arts program--his wife actually suggested the song's title. And so Ungar and Mason performed this with Fiddle Fever—recorded the song, including it as part of their 1983 album Waltz of the Wind, (nice album all around). Ken Burns, a year later was searching for a song for the documentary The Civil War--and it became the haunting melody forever associated with the story. For Ungar, the fact that “a Scottish lament written by a Jewish guy from the Bronx” would become the de facto anthem of The Civil War tells of how emotional connections can be made in surprising ways. I have played the tune myself and agree: it has the capacity to engage one's bittersweet memory.
I regularly tear up when I hear this soulful, gorgeous piece of music. I can understand why Jay Ungar cried when he wrote it. Sometimes we are fortunate enough to be given gifts, and sometimes those gifts pass through us and are shared with others in profound and moving ways. Ashokan Farewell is one of my all-time favorites. And you, Celia Farber, are fast becoming one of my all time favorites, too. You have received the gifts of brilliance, insight, and courage. Thank you for being who you are, and for sharing your gifts so generously with all of us. I am grateful!
From YT commenter, Harvey Pennington:
This beautiful piece was composed following the model of a Scottish Lament. The originator, Jay Ungar did not have the Am. Civil War in mind while he was at the Ashokan Camp for fiddle and dancing music, (a summer arts program), at the Ashokan Field Campus of SUNY New Paltz. Jay Ungar was, in part, inspired by his journey through Scotland where he came up with the idea of writing a tune to conclude the summer arts program--his wife actually suggested the song's title. And so Ungar and Mason performed this with Fiddle Fever—recorded the song, including it as part of their 1983 album Waltz of the Wind, (nice album all around). Ken Burns, a year later was searching for a song for the documentary The Civil War--and it became the haunting melody forever associated with the story. For Ungar, the fact that “a Scottish lament written by a Jewish guy from the Bronx” would become the de facto anthem of The Civil War tells of how emotional connections can be made in surprising ways. I have played the tune myself and agree: it has the capacity to engage one's bittersweet memory.