by Octavia Randolph
Abductions into the realm of Faery. Roses which sprout from the hearts of forsaken lovers - and briars from the hearts of those who spurned them. An English lord who sends his bride away at their wedding feast at the return of his long lost Turkish lover. Crows discussing their next meal. A queen of the Other World who restores her lover to Earth to save his soul and bestows him with a parting gift that he may only speak the truth. Runaway brides who outwit their murderous husbands. Demons vying for souls. Lovers dying for love. And John Henry.
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These and other characters haunt the dreams and fill the music of composer/musician Daniel Dutton. His four CD Ballad Project explores some of the most enduring old ballads in the English language folk tradition, a number of which will be unfamiliar even to listeners who consider themselves students of the genre. At times he takes as his point of departure a traditional tune - and American roots music icon Jean Ritchie has been a long time source of inspiration - but much of the music is his original composition. Likewise he has sifted through reams of traditional lyric versions and chosen (or amended) what seems to convey the message best. His original music is fresh, engaging, and memorable, and his mastery of guitar, harpsichord, dulcimer, harp, hurdy-gurdy - not to mention wine glass - serve him well in providing diverse soundscapes. His rich and resonant voice conveys the full range of emotions explored in these ballads, and he employs his impressive guitar work in an equally expressive manner.
But the story of each song is foremost, be it dramatic or humorous, and his arrangement, playing and vocal phrasing makes the most of the inherent action. His 31 verse "Tam Lin" presents a far fuller version than most other recordings, and his "turning" sequence - in which the knight Tam Lin is turned by evil forces progressively into a serpent, snarling dog, fierce lion, and white hot bar of iron in an attempt to thwart his redemption by the woman who loves him - conveys the desperation of the ever-escalating yet frustrated attempts and the steadiness and courage of Margaret as she holds firm to the man she loves despite his terrifying transformations.
The well-known "House Carpenter" - surely one of the most unsettling songs in the literature - is done with a brooding background in which one feels the danger growing not only to the erring woman's life but to her immortal soul. Likewise the driving rhythms in "Rosefoal", about an enchanted horse, propel the song onward in the most riveting way.
Some things almost startle with their freshness, such as the rollicking harpsichord on "Little Soldier Boy". "John Henry" gives powerful new life to an old folk chestnut that some may think beyond resurrection. Dutton's version is virile, deadly serious, grim - everything that the man himself would have had to be.
Despite his virtuosity on a multiplicity of instruments, his spare acappella "Hangman" demonstrates the obvious - when the song is the right song, it needs only the beautiful human voice to put it across.
The material is arranged over the four disks in a subtle but intriguingly self-referential way, and the listener progressing through them stumbles over similar situations or phrases - always with a twist - that recall earlier pieces. Love, death, redemption, and sex are the most basic and eternal of themes, and this is the stuff of The Ballad Project.
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OCTAVIA Randolph has long been fascinated with the development, dominance, and decline of the Anglo-Saxon peoples. The path of her research has included disciplines as varied as the study of Anglo-Saxon and Norse runes, and learning to spin with a drop spindle. Her interests have led her to extensive on-site research in England, Denmark, Sweden, Gotland, and Iceland. In addition to her essays and The Circle of Ceridwen Trilogy, she is the author of Ride, a retelling of the story of Lady Godiva.
She is a member of the London-based early English history group Tha Engliscan Gesithas (The English Companions) and The International Society of Anglo-Saxonists. Visit her website here.