A Sheraton Farewell (Ashokan Farewell)

The title of this musical posting is an attempt at humor—and, is a reference to when I played/performed as keyboardist for several years (1977-1979) with “The Reflections” dance-band at the Sheraton’s Wooden Nickel (Huntsville, AL, USA) restaurant. The included Civil-War era costumed picture of me was taken during a promotional campaign for the Wooden Nickel in 1977, or thereabouts. Or, was it 1877? Sure seems like a hundred years ago!

Like many other folk, I first heard Jay Ungar’s self-described Scottish lament: “Ashokan Farewell” as the principal musical theme of Ken Burns’ “Civil War” documentary .

Here, Mr. Ungar recounts that he composed “Ashokan Farewell” at the conclusion of Molly Mason’s and his summer Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Camps in 1982. He also discusses his emotional attachment to the song.

The song serves as an emotion-charged musical background for this pictorial tribute to the students slain during the Virginia Tech massacre.

I transcribed this song (using pencil, paper, and lots of erasers) from the two online versions linked above. I have attempted to faithfully channel the spirit and instrumentation of the original performances. My arrangement consists of two verses. A slightly stage-left solo violin plays the first half of the first verse and is then joined by an accompanying, slightly stage-right, acoustic steel-stringed guitar. At the beginning of the second verse, the violin and guitar are joined by an upright, acoustic (plucked) bass (fiddle). Finally, at mid-verse, two additional violins join the solo violin, guitar, and bass-fiddle until the arrangement’s conclusion.

I hope that you enjoy listening to this beautiful song as much as I enjoyed recording it.