Useful links to websites, demo tracks, recorded sounds, video art and sheet music

Maritune Art & Music Presentation (composer C.V.) page.

Facebook page /maritunemusic For updates about the artist and business entity Maritune Art & Music.

Bandcamp digital music store.

CD Baby digital music store.

Score Exchange web shopSheet music to purchase for the right to print out copies (from online, to your own printer) and/or download a copy of a pdf version.

Swirly Music web shop Sheet music to purchase to recieve professionally printed copies (mail order) or a downloaded copy of a pdf version.

LKR Sheet Music web shopBritish web shop where a couple of my songs are available.

Tracks at SoundCloud audio service Some demo files and recordings with examples of my music from the last two decades.

Youtube channel /maljharbourShort movies with new music, art videos, more or less traditional music videos, demo videos with sheet music viewing/listening, and other things.

Tracks at Alonetone audio serviceMostly examples of my musical experiments, raw material recordings and mixes/mashes from my contributions to the online events at the Sound-In collaboration group of composers and improvisers.

Instagram /maljharbourImages of small things, keyboard instruments, sheet music and a harbour.

Twitter /marituneMostly links to new posts elsewhere, seldom discussions, occasionally some few tweets and re-tweets on various topics.

maritune.comPersonal web domain and electronic mailbox address.

article from STM-OnlineEnglish translation of a contribution to a debate about the status of music history in Swedish musicology.

Blondel’s SongSummary of a paper in musicology, written in Swedish in 1996-97.

Beyond Good And Atonal (this blog) Writings and blog things in Swedish or English.

So long, so long ago, Izabella

Baz Booth
(musik och originalrefräng)
So Long Ago Izabella
Några verser om en förlegad kvinnosyn,
riktade till dess fiktiva personifikation, Izabella, av
Maria E. Ljungdahl
Engelsk originalversion 2007
Svensk tolkning 2017
#visjungerut
#metoo
 
 

So Long Ago (Izabella)

In the eyes of Izabella,
any man was good as gold.
That precisely meant a fellow
could be sized for lies he told.
Shiny, sticky, stiff and old.
Always right and often cold.
Bye, so long, so long ago!

In the days of Izabella,
girls believed what they were told.
Women’s ways were not Cruella’s.
Ladies shouldn’t be so bold.
Fluffy, feeble, fair and old.
Always wrong, but seldom cold.
Bye, so long, so long ago!

Hey, nonny, nonny.
Hey, nonny, nonny no.
Fol de rol, and fol de roodle.
Wotcher cock and howdy doodle.
There lived a lass, and also lackaday.
Men were deceivers, or so they say.

In the days of Izabella,
girls believed what they were told.
Women’s ways were not Cruella’s.
Ladies shouldn’t be so bold.
Fluffy, feeble, fair and old.
Always wrong, but seldom cold.
Bye, so long, so long ago!

text: Maria Ljungdahl & Barry Booth, music: Barry Booth, copyright 2007
Rights holders associations: STIM (Sweden) and PRS (UK).

—-
Izabella – Det är dags att sjunga ut

Har ni hört att Izabella
trodde alla män om gott?
I hennes ögon var de snälla
– både Adolf och Pol Pot.
Lögner, skällsord, svek och brott.
Fel blev rätt, med andra mått.
Bye, so long! Adjöss för gott!

I dina dagar, Izabella,
flickor följde detta bud:
inga kvinnfolk skulle gnälla,
eller våga sjunga ut.
Vaga, svaga, höll sin trut.
Alltid fel, och utan krut.
Det är dags att sånt tar slut!

Hej, lilla flicka!
Kom! Dansa i en ring.
Kom till dvärgar sju, och prinsen.
Säg goddag till två poliser.
Det fanns en Lasse, som var liten då.
Nu är han vuxen, och gråter ej.

Varför skulle Izabella
se varenda karl som Gud?
När han ljög som mest, nej, snälla,
varför putsa på hans skrud?
Välsmord, häftig, styv och ball.
Sällan sjuk, men ofta kall.
Bye, so long! Nu är det slut!
Det är dags att sjunga ut!

text: Maria Ljungdahl & Barry Booth, music: Barry Booth, copyright 2007/2017
Rights holders associations: STIM (Sweden) and PRS (UK).

Barry Booths notsida på Score Exchange

(url https://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/60820.html )

OBS! kom ihåg att STIM-rapportera eventuella framföranden av verket som “So Long Ago” och/eller “Izabella”!*

*text: Maria Ljungdahl & Barry Booth, music: Barry Ernest Booth, copyright 2007/2017
Rights holders associations: STIM (Sweden) & PRS (UK).

Kommentar angående sångtexten

Den engelska versionen från 2007 började med att jag (Maria Ljungdahl) skrev ett par verser på engelska om “Izabella”, en fantasifigur med anknytning till äldre tiders kvinnoideal. Mailade texten till Barry Booth* med en fråga om han hade några idéer om en tonsättning, eftersom jag inte kom någon vart alls själv med att skriva musik till verserna. Barry fick mailet när han kom hem från en spelning sent på natten, men satte sig direkt och komponerade en melodi, och skickade noter och en instrumental demo så att jag hade dem i inboxen nästa morgon. Han bidrog också med en refrängtext, späckad med Cockney-uttryck och Shakespeare-citat.
*(url http://www.bazboothzone.co.uk )
Den svenska versionen av sången påbörjades något år efter originalet skrevs, men blev inte klar förrän i början nu i december 2017.

#visjungerut #närmusikentystnar #metoo

Journey Home och ArtistShare

“Journey Home” with Maria Schneider Orchestra:

Maria Schneiders skivor går inte att köpa i vanliga skivaffärer längre, sedan hon anslöt sig till ArtistShare, som är ett alternativ till skivbolag. Därifrån kan man beställa redan utgivna cd-skivor direkt (även som downloads, förstås) och får då på köpet tillgång till lite bonusmaterial på sajten. Ännu ej utgivna skivproduktioner kan sponsras i förväg, så får man skivan några månader senare, när den är färdig, och under tiden kan man följa processen med konserter och inspelningar genom extramaterial som läggs ut fortlöpande på ens kundkonto på ArtistShare.

Så här skriver de om sin syn på artister, musikutgivning och ny teknik:

“The explosion of digital downloading has shaken the roots of the music industry as we’ve known it – the concept of creating music for sale has become a tenuous prospect, as record labels and artists continue to lose profits due to “illegal” file sharing. A variety of solutions have cropped up to prevent music from being devalued – from digital rights management to completely new pricing models. ArtistShare, however, is not looking to fight these emerging technologies; rather, we work with this new platform to the benefit the artist.

At ArtistShare, we believe that the true value of music lies in the artist’s individual creativity and the unique process each artist uses to create their music. Since its inception, ArtistShare has been redefining the music industry by allowing fans to finance artist projects in exchange for access to the artist’s creative process. By reaching out directly to the consumer and focusing on the innate value of music, ArtistShare has created a model that is immune to changes in the industry.

ArtistShare artists don’t fear technology – they embrace it, understanding that the forces that threaten to devalue music only make the creativity of the artist all the more valuable.”

Kanske lite väl högtravande om konstnärsskapets mysterier, och kanske inte ens modellen med exklusivt bonusmaterial som morot för att köpa musiken istället för att kopiera den håller i längden – det kräver ju att alla kunder är lojala och snikna och inte frestas dela med sig av godbitarna till kamrater… Men idén med ett mera artistkontrollerat distributionsbolag och att sprida det ekonomiska risktagandet inför skivinspelningar bland fansen i stället för att sitta och vänta på en kommersiell finansiär eller en välvillig kulturfond är intressant.

Jag har köpt flera skivor genom åren från ArtistShare, och även om jag inte tyckt att bonusmaterialet varit sådär jättespännande att det var värt allt upphaussat snack om insikt i den kreativa processen så har det känts som ett vettigt sätt att köpa musik på om man tycker om att köpa något som ännu inte finns, och sedan vänta och vänta i spänning på att det skall levereras.

Yin & Yang

I saw in my stats that someone printed the score to the piano version of my piece Yin & Yang yesterday, so if there are any more fans of my music out there, here is a link to the page where the score is published, and an mp3 of a midi demo! Another demo version can be found at YouTube (see below), with the leadsheet and mp3 published on SibMus.

Claude Ranger

My good friend Terry King has mentioned [on this tribute site] our introduction to Claude Ranger in 1970:

“I was playing jazz violin in Montreal around 1971, when I met Claude along with my friend, bassist Mike Morse. At that time we had never played with a musician of Claude’s stature (I’m not sure I’ve ever played with anyone of his stature since, either).”

We were the house band in a jazz coffee house in Val David called Jazz et Café. Some amazing people trooped through there, including Marius Coulthier, Peter Leitch, a very young Steve Hall, and Brian Barley. Brian amazed us, of course, and told us about Claude’s playing and writing. He showed us some of Claude’s tunes, and explained some things about Claude’s unique and insightful concept of harmony, based on the extensions of a seventh chord.

Terry and I went down to Old Montreal, and heard him with Billie Robinson, Peter Leitch, and Freddie McHugh. Growing up in NJ/NYC, I had already heard many great musicians — but nothing like this. The energy and creativity never flagged for a second, nor did the utter beauty of sound from the drums.

Shortly afterwards, Terry and I asked Claude to play a set at a college concert. To our amazement he said yes, and even agreed to do a rehearsal. We played in the basement of the McGill student centre. Claude was affable but quiet, setting up with seeming unconcern. The first tune we called was Claude’s “Le Pingouin,: which we had learned from a record of Claude, Brian, and bassist Daniel Lessard. The bass line is a simple chromatic pattern in half steps. I started playing it, and after a few measures, Claude started to play. That first few moments was one of the defining moments of my life. He was playing the most complex things I had ever heard from a drummer, yet it fit so beautifully and simply with the bass line he composed.

We finished the rehearsal, and played the concert a few days later, in a kind of ecstatic daze. We finished our set, and had to find the promoter to get our salary. 20 or 30 dollars for all three of us? Something like that; we gave it all to Claude, naturally. In any event, Claude waited backstage. The next act had already started, a loud rock band. When we found Claude, he was sitting with his back to the wall, which shaking from the volume of the rock band–composing music! Thunderstruck, we asked how he could do this, and he said something like “only what you hear inside matters.”

Many folks have rightly mentioned Claude’s capacity to turn any musical event into something extraordinary and artistic. I remember once going to hear Claude up on St. Hubert someplace, with Terry and Jerry Labelle. The group was just a trio, an amiable but utterly pedestrian organist, singer — and Claude.

The music was the most banal bar trash of the day. One of the numbers was a merengue. The hook to the commercial merengue beat is four sixteenth-notes on the snare drum at the end of the second bar of the pattern, leading to the downbeat: ducka-ducka-DUM; ducka-ducka-DUM. When the tune started, my friends and I suddenly felt something utterly marvellous, and didn’t know immediately what it was. We soon figured it out. Claude was playing all of the standard accents for merengue, but was playing the principle figure on the ride cymbal instead of the snare. The first sixteenth note, he left out altogether. The next was piano-pianissimo, the next pianissimo, and the fourth and last piano, in a slight, incedibly controlled crescendo. The effect was magical, profoundly musical, and danceable, too! Even if someone else had thought of this ingenious variation, it demands virtuoso control of dynamics to pull it off. Who else but Claude could do that?

Claude always played the complete music, never just a drum part. I had the opportunity to work four nights with Claude in Ottawa, a trio gig with baritone saxophonist Charles Papasoff. It was all standards and jazz tunes, and Claude played with such sensitivity to the music that you actually hear the chord changes, both in his accompaniment and solos. Here was a drummer on the level of the greatest in jazz, a composer and theorist of the same calibre, and a profoundly inspiring bandleader and teacher to several generations of musicians.

I once spent half a year composing a postcard to Claude, in French. The substance was: if I have been able to glimpse a small part of the true glory of music, revered friend, it is thanks to you above all.

MW Morse

Here is a tune inspired by Claude Ranger’s musical ideas.

Beat Your Swords Into Timeshares

Time shared

This short fanfare for MW Morse’s jazz ensemble is a musical sign for life; the good power of music, and the ideal of people living in peace and joy together. However, the witty title Beat Your Swords Into Timeshares suddenly reminds me – not of the Bible, not of holiday cottages – but of the unfortunate events with a sacred sword in The Transposed Heads, a funny and horrible story by Thomas Mann, after a legend from India:

“How in thy breast must generosity and despair have gone hand in hand, in sacrificial dance, ere thou couldst slay thyself! Oh woe, Oh woe! Severed the fine head from the fine body!”

And I guess it is snowing in Southern Ontario today. Also a good sign. Even if Mike had to fire the bassist in his band, employ a new musician, and find a new job for the old bassist. That’s like what happened in the story: the head severed from the body…