Quiet in the Meadow Album Liner Notes

Quiet in the Meadow (2000)

Album Liner Notes

1. Waltz for Little Girls (La valse pour les petites jeunes filles)—trad. French Canadian. This sweet waltz learned from Malcolm Dalglish becomes our gathering song: Come, join in!
T.S.: hammered dulcimer, bowed and plucked psalteries, guitar, bamboo flute (bansuri), shaker, bodhran, glockenspiel, melodica, keyboard; Henry Smith: bass

2. Quiet in the Meadow—©Timothy Seaman, 2000. Light breezes sift the moonlight.
T.S.: bamboo flute

3. Skyland—©T. Seaman, 2000. High on the ridge beside Stony Man is a quiet cabin resort, a highland haven of joy and peace among rocks, trees, and refreshing streams. Places of Abundance musical motifs compose this new countermelody: The notes ABBA, Aramaic for “Father”; the 5th-3rd interval for the National Parks; octaves linking past, present and future. This Is My Father’s World (Terra Beata)—Franklin Sheppard, 1915; words by Maltbie Babcock, 1901.
T.S.: hammered dulcimer, flute; Laurie Jean Seaman: vocals; Henry Smith: bass

4. Si Bheag, Si Mhor (Big Hill, Little Hill)—Turlough O’Carolan, 17th C. Legend has it that the great Irish harper began his composing career with this masterpiece.
Phillip Skeens: guitar; T.S.: flute

5. Shepherd’s Wife’s Waltz/ Midnight on the Water—trad. American. Joe Healey and Margaret Davis brought us the former, and Jerry Read Smith the latter.
T.S.: hammered dulcimer, melodica, bowed psaltery, keyboard, harmonica

6. Lullaby—Johannes Brahms, arr. ©J. Paulette Blair Murphy, 2000. Ask Paulette about the tunes she’s written for her own young children!
Paulette Murphy: piano, keyboard; T.S.: flute

7. Jock O’Hazeldean—trad. Scottish, 17th C. Our Trio StringWind played this favorite air of ours live in the studio.
Ardie Boggs: Celtic harp (clarsach); Phillip Skeens: guitar; T.S.: hammered dulcimer

8. All Through the Night (Ar Hyd Y Nos)—trad. Welsh. The Celtic folk of Wales have such a profound voice!
T.S.: hammered dulcimer, bowed psaltery; Henry Smith: keyboard

9. Angels Watching Over Me—trad. African American spiritual, arr. ©Henry Smith, 2000. It sounds as if Henry recorded this while thoughtfully swinging on his back porch. Hear any crickets or spring peepers?
Henry Smith: guitar, vocal

10. The Lord Is My Shepherd, No Want Shall I Know (Poland)—Thomas Koschat. This setting of the 23rd Psalm is a favorite of my mother’s from her childhood.
T.S.: flutes

11. Sleep, My Beloved (Schlafe, Mein Liebster)—J. S. Bach, from Christmas Oratorio, 1733. The greatest musician of all time wrote one of the sweetest lullabies.
Millie Becker: piano; T.S.: flute

12. The King of Love My Shepherd Is (St. Columba)—trad. Irish, arr. ©Ardith Boggs, 2000. Ardie joined a friend to sing this in church with guitar years and years ago; I learned it from Lorraine Duisit.
Ardie Boggs: Celtic harp (clarsach); T.S.: whistles in A and low D

13. Big Meadows Twilight— ©Timothy Seaman, 2000. The oldest field in Virginia was kept burned clear for centuries by the First Americans of the Blue Ridge; my daughter Karen and I debuted this air in that exquisite high meadow engulfed in a March sunset.
T.S.: hammered dulcimer, whistle, bamboo flute, bowed psaltery, keyboard

14. Laudate Dominum—W. A. Mozart, from Solemn Mass for Vespers; transcribed by Timothy Seaman. Many thanks to Christopher Parkening for his heavenly version on the disc Simple Gifts.
T.S.: guitar, hammered dulcimer, flute

15. Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us (Shepherd)—William Bradbury, 1859; arr. ©J. Paulette Blair Murphy, 2000. The pure simplicity of Bradbury’s Civil War Era melodies continue to stir us today: “He Leadeth Me,” “Just As I Am”, “The Solid Rock”, Jesus Loves Me”, “Sweet Hour of Prayer”, and this shepherd air.
Paulette Murphy: piano; T.S.: flute

16. Taps—Gen. Daniel Butterfield, c. 1861. Countless calm starry nights have begun with this timeless soft song of celebration: “Day is done/Gone the sun/From the lake, from the hills, from the sky/All is well/ Safely rest/God is nigh.” Have you drawn in a whiff of tonight’s fresh air? Quiet in the Meadow (reprise)—©Timothy Seaman, 2000.
T.S.: bamboo flutes

17. Westphalia Waltz—trad. American. Steve Bennett and Bill Gurley gave us this reassuring tune, and Joe Weed the harmonica mood idea. Have a wondrous night beneath the open sky!
T.S.: hammered dulcimer, guitar, harmonica