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about
a forty-four smokeless was commissioned by Zeitgeist with funds from the American Composers Forum Jerome Commissioning Program in 2007. The ensemble requested a composition with five-string banjo; composer Paul Elwood wrote the banjo part for himself, and the piece is based on the Appalachian folk tune Little Sadie. Little is known about the factual events in the song about a man named Lee Brown who dispassionately murders a woman named Little Sadie. It is thought the events occurred in North Carolina because that is the only place where a town named Thomasville is only 60 miles from a town named Jericho, where Brown, in the song, says he ran after the murder. It is a curious tune in which the murderer expresses no remorse – and no reason for the killing is given. One verse of the song, not used in this composition, says “ Forty one days, forty one nights, forty one years to wear the ball and the stripes; I'll be here for the rest of my life, and all I done was kill my wife.” In spite of the dark nature of the text, as is the case with many folk songs, the tune has entered the common repertoire of many bluegrass and old-time bands. Some melodic and harmonic material in the composition is derived from Little Sadie, but the piece also wanders freely amongst other musical material exploring the coloristic and harmonic combinations of the diverse instruments in the ensemble. The composition is dedicated to Zeitgeist.
lyrics
Little Sadie (Traditional)
Went out one night for to make a little round
Ran into Little Sadie and I shot her down.
Went back home and got in my bed
A forty-four smokeless under my head.
Woke up the next mornin’ bout half past nine
The hacks and the buggies all standin’ in a line
The gents and the gamblers all standin’ around
Carryin’ Little Sadie to her buryin’ ground.
I began to think what a deed I done
I grab’d my hat and away I run
Gave a good run but a little too slow
They overtook me in Jericho.
Standin’ on the corner just a readin’ the bill
When up stepped the sheriff from Thomasville
He said “Young man ain’t your name Brown?
Remember that night you shot Sadie down?”
I said, “Yes sir, my name is Lee
And I murdered Little Sadie in the first degree.
First degree and second degree,
If you have any papers won’t you read ‘em to me.”
The took me downtown all dressed in black
To put me on the train and started me back
Cram me back in that Thomasville jail
And I had no money for to make my bail.
The judge and the jury they took their stand
The judge had the papers in his right hand
Forty one days and forty one nights
Forty one years to wear the ball and stripes
Lauded for providing “a once-in-a-lifetime experience for adventurous concertgoers,” Zeitgeist is a new music chamber
ensemble comprised of two percussion, piano and woodwinds. One of the longest established new music groups in the country, Zeitgeist commissions and presents a wide variety of new music for audiences in the Twin Cities and on tour....more
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