David Kraus: The Listening Room
Rebecca's Child
David Kraus ~ acoustic steel and nylon string guitarsBuy the Album
Gary Gordon ~ flute
Mark van Gulden ~ vibraphone
Jamie Masefield ~ mandolin
Clyde Stats ~ acoustic bass
Initially conceived as an Irish influenced jig, this piece began to morph into a slightly different feel with the colors of a Baroque gigue finding their way into the musical form. Since a "gigue" and a "jig" are both in the same time signature of 6/8, which is felt more like a lively 2/4 in eighth note triplets for dancing, it was natural that this might happen, especially because of my classical studies and my familiarity with Irish music (having played countless sessions and contra dances with traditional music loving friends.) The jig is essentially the Irish adaptation of the German word gigue, a Baroque dance which was created a century and a half before the Irish picked it up. In Bach's music the gigue was always the last piece in a suite of dance forms used for extemporaneous composition. His six cello suites are some of his most famous. Each begins with a prelude, followed by either one or even two of several different dance forms such as allamandes, courants, minuets, and more, but always ending with a lively gigue. Here in "Rebecca's Child" the melody and rhythmic motion brings up an aural image of a jig. But the chord progression and harmony, and the complex instrumental orchestration move it beyond the folk sound and into a more classical piece. By slowing the tempo a bit I was able to keep it from becoming too much like a contra dance tune, though it is still retains a certain liveliness of a folk dance.
It is in the key of Gmajor, though it begins and ends on an Eminor chord, which is also heard between each melodic section giving the sense that the song is indeed moving alternately between Eminor and Gmajor. There are two guitars, one playing all of the steel string finger picked rhythms, the other playing the melodic refrain or "B" sections on nylon string between each of the main melodic "A" sections. The flute is the instrument leading the melody throughout the tune, both on the "A" sections and with the guitar and bass on each Eminor chord heard between each Gmajor section, which is heard three times while the nylon string plays the alternate melody on the "B" sections between each "A"; the first time the flute plays it alone, on the second the vibraphone joins in, and on the third time the mandolin adds its voice. The chord progression moves quickly with one chord played in triplets on each beat. The harmonies are in sequence: Gmajor-B7-Eminor-Dmajor, one beat each, then Eminor for two beats followed by Dmajor/Ebass for two beats and played twice, then a Cmajor chord to a Dmajor chord and back into the opening Eminor pedal sequence played by steel string, bass, and flute. This is followed by the melody heard on the nylon string guitar in the "B" sections, the chords being Cmajor to Dmajor/Cbass three times to Eminor. This repeats and tumbles back into the main melody in Gmajor. There is a middle or "C" section which lifts the music out of the initial feel and gives a reprieve before returning to the main melody. Quick harmonics in time can be heard from the guitar on a Cmajor7#11 chord while the bass plays a singing melody all its own, and each time answered by a short two note slide from the flute and mandolin over an Eminor chord. After repeating four times, there is a breaking line played by all which introduces the listener again to the main melody and leading us into the ending played on the pedaled intro chord of Eminor by the whole band. This culminates into a ritard on the Eminor with a slow simple melodic figure played with high plucked harmonics on the steel string guitar with the vibraphone doubling in perfect harmony. I do like this piece and it is a crowd pleaser, due I think to its lively Irish/Baroque triplet rhythm. But, writing about this piece feels a little more complex than just playing it. I think the success of the piece is that the music sounds much simpler than it is. In the end, music is meant to be performed and experienced, not talked about. No doubt then that everyone can agree with the words of Goethe on my Homepage. Please enjoy.
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