In Celebration of the Human Voice - The Essential Musical Instrument

Sea Shanties

For more than 400 years, the sailors of the seas sang sea chanties while they worked – the chanties kept the repetitive tasks from getting boring, and helped them keep their movements synchronized. While the best known sea chanties are sung in English, other cultural groups had shipboard work songs, and we’ve got some of them here. These albums are collections of stirring music that celebrates a way of life long gone – they evoke a memory both historical and musical, and even if you don’t come from a seafaring background, you’ll find the chanties irresistible!

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My Old Kentucky Home

Norman Luboff Choir : Songs of the South / Songs of the Sea

Review: Two great LPs on one CD, Norman Luboff's "Songs of the South" and "Songs of the Sea," both issued in 1956, bring us the NLC in their popular prime. All songs feature the patented Luboff satin-smooth arrangements and rich harmonies, and this one has lots of great a cappella on it! "My Old Kentucky Home," "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen," "Deep River," Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Dixie" and "Eternal Father" are all sans accompaniment, and the lovely "Shenandoah" and "Lowlands" are only minimally accompanied. These tunes clearly show that the NLC was one of the best a cappella bands of any era. A total of 29 nostalgic winners--just listen to "I Must Walk That Lonesome Valley," "Un Deux Trois," "The Ballad of the Boll Weevil," "Homeward Bound," "A Roving"--these songs were passed on from generation to generation because people loved them and sang them a lot, not because they got a lot of radio play. A tremendous value and recommended!

Various Artists - Chants De Marins : Sea Shanties - Leave Her Johnny

Review: This album includes traditional shanties from the early days of navigation around the New Zealand coasts. Shanties were divided into halyard shanties (hauling songs), windlass or capstan songs used for heaving the anchor, and pump songs, used for pumping the ship out. On this recording we have tried to bring together as many types of sea shanty as possible, as well as sailors' hornpipes. The songs range from the famous "Drunken Sailor" to "Orpheus," relating the tragic loss of HMS Orpheus on the west coast of North Island. They are sung by members of the New Zealand sail training ship "Spirit of Adventure."

Songlist: Leave Her Johnny, South Australia, Orpheus, 10000 Miles Away, Nick Young, Trumpet Hornpipe, Donkey Riding, Across the Line, Philomena D, Drunken Sailor, Captain Matheson, Talcajuano Girls, Liverpool Joddles, Auckland To The Bluff, Tom's Gone To Hilo, Dead Horse Shanty, Hornpipes, Shore Whalers

Jonathan Wilcocks : Three Sea Shanties

Review: From noted English choral arranger Jonathan Wilcocks a collection of sea songs. A more serious central shanty, Demons, is framed by two light-hearted settings, Enticement and Drunken Sailor. The ending is extrovert and rumbustious and almost guaranteed to bring the house down.

Songlist: Enticement, Demons, Drunken Sailor

Various Arrangers : Sea Chanteys for 2 Parts

Review: "Party, Me Heartey" - Hoist the sail and join the pirate crew with this fun and novel pirate original song. Shiver me timbers, this will transfer your choir into singing pirates and it's sure to make a swashbucklin' showstopper! Perfect for costumes, movement and staging."I'se the B'y" -Young singers will love this spirited Newfoundland folk song that dances with a sea chanty text. There's energy from start to finish with a moving piano line that supports individual, unison, and part-singing. Great fun for your guys too!"Pirate for a Day" - Avast ye mateys! This rollicking original will be the hit of any concert. Perfect for men or treble choirs your students will have a blast with some easy 'pirate' choreography."Across the Western Ocean' - Originally arranged in 1948, Dougherty's sea chanties have been a staple of the solo repertiore. This choral edition brings this compelling repertoire to a new generation of singers. Well-crafted and expressive.

Songlist: I'se the B'y, The Drunken Sailor, Across the Western Ocean, Party, Me Heartey, Pirate for a Day

Various Arrangers : Sea Shanties

Review: Add a breath of salty sea air to your repertoire with one of these traditional sea chanties. Lots of fun to sing and with performance notes. Originally from England, where "All for Me Grog" was heard in music halls as well as on ships, the shanty was sung while working the capstan and the halyard. Swedish composer and conductor, Robert Sund wrote this playful arrangement of "What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?" leaving ample room for both women and men to excel in this well-known sea chantey. The tongue-twisting text brings this arrangement to an impressive ending!

Songlist: Blue Whale, Slugs, Fish, Fish, Fish, Fish

Various Arrangers : Sea Songs for Male Voices

Review: Sea shanties are an early tradition in a cappella music and are great fun to sing. Here we offer a selection of classics for male voices. The English sea shanty "All For Me Grog", already a success in SATB and 3-Part Mixed voicings, is now available for men's chorus, just the way it would have been heard originally when sung by sailors as they pulled long heavy ropes on early Navy vessels. Noted arranger Vijay Singh brings us three classics that will provide excellent programming materials for male quartets, ensembles and choirs. "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her" is a playful arrangement in which the ensemble encourages one of its own (Johnny) to bid farewell to his female shore leave companion. Encourage the singers to imagine they are loading the ship for departure and watching with amusement as young Johnny tries to bid his lady farewell. 'Bangidero" is derived from a traditional sea chantey in which a crew sings of admiration for its captain and his tales of shore leave opportunities in South America. "Her Bright Smile", based on the plaintive words of an anonymous sailor poem, details the sailor's loneliness and longing for his ladylove. Marshall Bartholomew, arranger for much of the Yale Glee Club repertoire, does a fine job with the traditional "What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?".

Songlist: What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?, Leave Her, Johnny Leave Her, Bangidero, Her Bright Smile, All For Me Grog

Celius Dougherty : Folksongs and Chanties - High Voice

Review: American composer Celius Dougherty (1902-1986) created lovely arrangements of favorite folksongs and sea chanties. These collections for both High and Low Voice include: Buffalo Boy - Colorado Trail - Red River Valley - Rio Grande - Shenandoah - Wayfaring Stranger - and others. With many selections never before published, these editions offer exciting multicultural literature for voice students and teachers.

Songlist: Barbara Allen (arr. Dougherty), Bring My Lulu Home (arr. Dougherty), Buffalo Boy (arr. Dougherty), Colorado Trail (arr. Dougherty), Come All You Fair and Tender Maidens (arr. Dougherty), I Wish I Were on Yonder Hill (arr. Dougherty), The Lady Who Loved a Pig (arr. Dougherty), O Waly Waly (arr. Dougherty), Red River Valley (arr. Dougherty), Riding to Heaven (arr. Dougherty), Shady Grove (arr. Dougherty), Stewball (arr. Dougherty), The Water Cresses (arr. Dougherty), Wayfaring Stranger (arr. Dougherty), What You Gonna Do When the Meat Gives Out? (arr. Dougherty), Across the Western Ocean (arr. Dougherty), Blow, Ye Winds (arr. Dougherty), Mobile Bay (arr. Dougherty), Rio Grande (arr. Dougherty), Shenandoah (arr. Dougherty)

Voicing: High

Celius Dougherty : Folksongs and Chanties - Low Voice

Voicing: Low

Per Skriver : Four Sea Songs

Review: Highly regarded Danish composer and choral conductor Per Skiver composed these delightful songs of the sea based on the lyrics of four famous poets. English text for mixed choir a cappella.

Songlist: Break, Break, Break, There Comes A Mumur, At Dover Cliffs, Dreams of the Sea

Sheena Phillips : Six Sea Shanties

Review: Rarely are women's choirs given such strong and heroic songs to put their mark on. These offer a wonderful opportunity for your women's choirs to show their dynamic and emotional ranges.

Songlist: Santiana, Blood Red Roses, Boney, The Dead Horse, All For Me Grog, Time To Leave Her

4278b | Songbook | $6.25 | SSA || Sea Shanty Arrangements