Ashokan Farewell
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"Ashokan Farewell" is a piece of music composed by the American
folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
ian
Jay Ungar Jay Ungar (born November 14, 1946) is an American folk musician and composer. Life and career Ungar was born in the Bronx, New York City. He frequented Greenwich Village music venues during his formative period in the 1960s. In the late 1960s, ...
in 1982. For many years it served as a goodnight or farewell
waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...
at the annual Ashokan Fiddle & Dance Camps run by Ungar and his wife Molly Mason, who gave the tune its name, at the Ashokan Field Campus of
SUNY New Paltz The State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz or New Paltz) is a public university in New Paltz, New York. It traces its origins to the New Paltz Classical School, a secondary institution founded in 1828 and reorganized as an ac ...
(now the
Ashokan Center The Ashokan Center (formerly the Ashokan Field Campus, listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as the Ashokan Field Campus Historic District is an outdoor education, conference, and retreat center located in the Catskill Mountain ...
) in
Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...
. The tune was used as the title theme of the 1990
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
'' The Civil War''. Despite its late date of composition, it was included in the 1991
compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
''
Songs of the Civil War ''Songs of the Civil War'' is a compilation album, released in 1991 by Columbia, that presents an assortment of contemporary performers recording period pieces and traditional songs, most of which date back to the American Civil War. Track list ...
''.


Background

The piece is a
waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...
in
D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...
, composed in the style of a Scottish
lament A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about somethin ...
(e.g.,
Niel Gow Niel Gow (1727 – 1 March 1807) was the most famous Scottish fiddler of the eighteenth century. Early life Gow was born in Strathbraan, Perthshire, in 1727, as the son of John Gow and Catherine McEwan. The family moved to Inver in Perthshi ...
's "Lament for His Second Wife"). Jay Ungar describes the song as coming out of "a sense of loss and longing" after the annual Ashokan Music & Dance Camps ended. The most famous
arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
of the piece begins with a solo
violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
, later accompanied by
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
and
upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
. Another arrangement, featuring Ungar, Mason, and their family band, is performed with two
violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
s, an
acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
, and a banjo, with the piece beginning with a solo violin. Before its use as the television series theme, "Ashokan Farewell" was recorded on ''Waltz of the Wind'', the second album by the band Fiddle Fever. The musicians included Ungar and Mason. ''Ashokan'' was the name of a former village in the Catskill region that is now mostly covered by the
Ashokan Reservoir The Ashokan Reservoir (; Iroquoian languages, Iroquois for "place of fish") is a reservoir (water), reservoir in Ulster County, New York. It is at the eastern end of the Catskill Park, and is one of several in the region created to New York City ...
.


Use in ''The Civil War'' documentary series

In 1984, filmmaker
Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary film, documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle United States, American History of the United States, history and Culture of the ...
heard "Ashokan Farewell" and was moved by it. He used it in two of his documentary films: ''
Huey Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...
'' (1985), and ''The Civil War'' (1990), which features the original recording by Fiddle Fever in the beginning of the film. ''The Civil War'' drew the greatest attention to the piece. It is played 25 times throughout the eleven-hour series, including during the emotional reading of Sullivan Ballou's letter to his wife in the first episode. The song underlies nearly an hour of film. Viewers of ''The Civil War'' frequently believe the melody is a traditional tune from the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
era; in fact, it is the only modern composition on the film's soundtrack, as all other music is authentic 19th-century music. In the wake of the success of the series and its soundtrack album, the track was released as a single by Elektra Nonesuch, backed with the "Sullivan Ballou Letter" recording featuring narrator
David McCullough David Gaub McCullough (; July 7, 1933 – August 7, 2022) was an American popular historian. He was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States ...
and actor
Paul Roebling Paul Roebling (March 1, 1934 – July 27, 1994) was an American actor noted for ''Blue Thunder'', ''Prince of the City'' and '' Carolina Skeletons''. In the 1990 Ken Burns PBS documentary '' The Civil War'', Roebling was the voice of Joshua ...
reading the part of Ballou. It subsequently received airtime on some
country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
-formatted radio stations, which was timely as the United States entered
Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
. Elektra Nonesuch director of media relations Carol Yaple told ''Billboard'' magazine, "I think Ashokan Farewell'was the theme that people could sort of attach the series identity to. However... he series' musicis really all of the period. There's nothing sexy or contemporary about it, really, except that it was attached to that series and is good music, certainly." The song was later used in the ''
Louie Louie may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Louie'' (American TV series), by comedian Louis C.K. * ''Louie'' (French TV series), animated series about a young rabbit who draws pictures which come to life * "Louie" (song), by Blood Raw * ''L ...
'' episode "The Road: Part II", where Louie dresses up in a Civil War uniform for an old-time photograph. Most recently, the song is used in the 2018 premiere of the television series ''Yellowstone''.


Other versions

The song has been covered and rerecorded numerous times: *1992 – Cape Breton fiddler Jerry Holland performed the tune on his album ''The Fiddlesticks Collection''. *1993 – Country violinist
Mark O'Connor Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961) is an American fiddle player and composer whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Musician Of The Year awards ...
released ''Heroes'', containing an "Ashokan Farewell" duet with
Pinchas Zukerman Pinchas Zukerman ( he, פנחס צוקרמן, born 16 July 1948) is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor. Life and career Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Jewish parents and Holocaust survivors Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zuk ...
. *1994 – Acoustic guitar duo Wind Machine on their album ''A Show of Hands''. *1994 – Bluegrass guitarist
Tony Rice David Anthony Rice (June 8, 1951 – December 25, 2020), known professionally as Tony Rice, was an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and a ...
covered it on his release ''Live''. *1994 –
Priscilla Herdman Priscilla Herdman (born February 11, 1948) is an American folk singer, whom ''The New York Times'' called "one of the clearest and most compelling voices of contemporary folk music." Although she has written songs, she is notable chiefly for her ...
also released it on ''Forever and Always,'' with lyrics by Grian Mac Gregor. Both Ungar and Mason accompanied her. *1994 – Folk guitarist Tommy Emmanuel recorded it on his album '' Terra Firma'' with his brother Phil Emmanuel. He also does a version of the song with his band which includes drumming from the Civil War time period, a standing bass, and a second harmony guitar. *1996 – LeRoy Mack on the album ''LeRoy Mack And Friends''. *1997 – James Galway and Phil Coulter, featuring James Galway on the flute. *1997 – Joe Trio ( Allen Styles, Cameron Wilson and Laura McPheeters) on the album ''A Cup of Joe'', *1997 - The Adagio Trio recorded it on the album ''Stillpoint'' arranged for cello, harp, and flute *2001 – A cover version appears on
Chuck Leavell Charles Alfred Leavell (born April 28, 1952) is an American musician. A member of the Allman Brothers Band throughout their commercial zenith in the 1970s, he subsequently became a founding member of the band Sea Level. He has served as the pri ...
's solo piano recording ''Forever Blue''. *2002 – Solo fingerstyle guitarist Larry Pattis plays a moving version in DADGAD tuning on his album "Hands of Time." *2002 – Americana band Scythian on the album ''Dance at the Crossroads.'' *2003 – The violin duo group "Duel" consisting of Greg Scott and Craig Owen released a cover on Ashokan Farewell on their 1st Album entitled "DUEL" the Album went to number 1 in the UK classical charts for several weeks. *2005 – The all-female Irish musical ensemble
Celtic Woman Celtic Woman is an all-female Irish musical ensemble conceived and created by David Kavanagh, Sharon Browne and David Downes, a former musical director of the Irish stage show ''Riverdance.'' In 2004, Downes recruited five Irish female music ...
released a cover version by
Máiréad Nesbitt Máiréad Nesbitt ( , ) is an Irish musician. She is known for performing Celtic and classical music and being the former fiddler for '' Celtic Woman''. She was also one of the two original fiddlers in Michael Flatley’s '' Lord of the Dance'' ...
(violin/fiddle) in their first album and live DVD recording of the same name. *2006 –
Time for Three Time for Three (Tf3) is a classically trained string trio that explores a variety of musical genres. The members of the group are Nicolas (Nick) Kendall (violin), Charles Yang (violin), and Ranaan Meyer (double bass). Because of their eclectic ...
covered it on ''We Just Burned this for You'', recorded live at Bowling Green State University in Ohio on January 13. *2008 – British vocal band
Blake Blake is a surname which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory, presuma ...
covered the song for their self-titled debut album. *2008 – North Dakota fiddler Loy Larson performs it on his album ''Loy Larson, On Track''. He performs all the instruments heard in this tune and all tunes on the album. *2011 –
Keith Kenniff Keith Kenniff is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and electronic music producer. He composes ambient/electronic music under the moniker Helios and post-classical piano music under Goldmund. He is also one half of the independent music, indie ...
, under his moniker Goldmund, covered the song on his album ''All Will Prosper''. *2011 – The Band Of Her Majesty's Royal Marines released a cover of Ashokan Farewell *2011 – The Ebony Hillbillies on their album ''Barefoot and Flying''. *2011 – Circa Paleo on their album ''Tideland''. *2012 – Muckle Flugga on their album ''Back To The Light''. *2012-2013 – In the BBC America TV series ''
Copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
'', which takes place in the Five Points of New York City in 1864, almost 120 years before the tune was written. *2013 – On the album ''Strike the Tent'', the Second South Carolina String Band covers the song. *2013 – Electric violinist Bridgid Bibbens covered the song on her debut album ''Sugar&Steel''. *2013 – Performed by solo violinist Major John Perkins of The Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines was voted no. 36 in Classic FM's (UK) Hall of Fame. *2013 – Burning Bridget Cleary on their album ''Pressed for Time''. *2013 – Broderick & Broderick, on their eponymous EP, include a track entitled "Ashokan Farewell". *2014 – Nicola Benedetti: Homecoming, Rory MacDonald & BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, soloist Nicola Benedetti, Decca. *2015 – The Coal Creek Boys perform it on their album ''Out West''. *2015 – A remixed version is used in the soundtrack of the Japanese Anime TV series Owarimonogatari called Euler, Composed by Kei Haneoka. *2019 – Jenny Oaks Baker performed a Kurt Bestor arrangement of it with the Lyceum Philharmonic orchestra, filmed in an outdoor setting, with the Sullivan Ballou farewell love letter from "The Civil War" documentary by Ken Burns overlaid throughout. *2019 – James Dunne closed his album ''Family Songs, Vol.1'' with it, featuring mandolin, harmonica, guitar and violin. *2021 - Valentina Lisitsa - piano - recorded by Music Lab Collective - on album Classical Chill released June 2, 2021


See also

* Music history of the United States during the Civil War era


References


External links


Sample file by the Brassworks BandAshokan Farewell FAQAshokan Fiddle & Dance Camp
{{authority control 1982 songs 1990 songs Television drama theme songs American songs Waltzes