In Celebration of the Human Voice - The Essential Musical Instrument

The Cuckoo

"The Cuckoo" is a traditional English folk song, also sung in the United States, Canada, Scotland and Ireland. It has been covered by many musicians in several different styles. An early notable recorded version was performed by Appalachian folk musician Clarence Ashley with a unique banjo tuning. The song is known by many names, including "The Coo-Coo", "The Coo-Coo Bird", "The Cuckoo Bird", "The Cuckoo Is A Pretty Bird", "The Evening Meeting", "The Unconstant Lover, Bunclody" and "Going to Georgia".

The Cuckoo

Premiered at the 2008 ACDA Eastern Division Conference, this lively and playful arrangement of an American folk tune will be an excellent feature for young mixed choirs. The scat-like middle section adds to the fun. Duration: ca. 3:00.

Voicing: SAB

Songbooks, Arrangements and/or Media

Displaying 1-3 of 3 items.

John Rutter : The Sprig of Thyme

Featured on the Cambridge Singers' album of the same name, 'The Sprig of Thyme' is a beautiful cycle of folk-song settings, each setting giving plenty of opportunity for different voices in your choir the opportunity to shine!

Songlist: The Bold Grenadier, The Keel Row, The Willow Tree, The Sprig Of Thyme, Down By The Sally Gardens, The Cuckoo, I Know Where I'm Going, Willow Song, O Can Ye Sew Cushions, Afton Water, The Miller Of Dee

Various Arrangers : American Folk Songs Vol 2

This excellent collection of songs is sure to add some wonderful breadth to your choir's folk music repertoire. 'Bagels & Biscuits' is an exciting piece that should be performed with fun, laughter, and abondon; it includes a solo in the middle of the song that can be sung by either a tenor or soprano. Stephen Foster wrote 'Camptown Races' for a minstrel show around 1850, subtitling it 'Gwine to Run All Night' and composing the text in a minstrel-show dialect. This standard english version, by Melinda Bargreen, pays great tribute to the original. 'The Cuckoo' is a simple mountain ballad and should be sung in a flowing, legato style. The pianisimos in measures 10 and 25 are to remind singers not to "pounce" on the melodic leaps, but rather to maintain the quiet reflective mood of the song. Inspired by stories of Sudanese basket weavers, 'Famine Song' exprresses the pain and hope experienced by those in the famine of the 1980s. In the midst of hardship, a wonderful new sense of creativity emerged when women began weaving baskets as a means of survival. Central to the song is a section of improvisation over shifting chors - VIDA's (the folk vocal group who wrote this piece) recorded improvisation is written as a guide on the top of the staves. VIDA saw the two improvising voices as the voices of women from other cultures raised in empathy.

Songlist: Bagels & Biscuits, Camptown Races, The Cuckoo, Famine Song

William Applby : Firsts and Seconds

Rounds and canons drawn from the folk and classical repertoire provide an introduction to two-part singing.

Songlist: Canon, The Cuckoo, All who sing, and wish to please, The hart he loves the high wood, Now we are met, Haste thee, nymph, The Sandman, Blow the Wind Southerly, The Miller's Flowers, The Shepherd, Scotland, and Charlie?, Sweet Kate, Summer, How merrily we live, The Loadstars, Ho-la-hi, Song of Farewell, Li'l David, play on yo'harp, Cielito Lindo

Individual Folios

Displaying 1-4 of 4 items.

Robert Hugh : The Cuckoo

Arranger: Robert Hugh

John Purifoy : The Cuckoo

This traditional Appalachian folksong has a haunting, modal tonality and a weaving tapestry of accompaniment for a pleasing and accessible concert feature from high school through adult community choirs. Excellent for a program based around American folk music! Available separately: SATB, SAB, TTB. Duration: ca. 3:20.

Arranger: John Purifoy | Country: Appalachia