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Blackberry Winter is American music. Indeed, this is Tennessee music, as epitomized by the use of the Tennessee music box in the second movement. The music box is believed to have been invented in Southern Tennessee, possibly by Tinkers traveling through the area who used their ingenuity to create a homemade instrument from the materials at hand. It has four strings, three of which are drone pitches. Although they were called music boxes by the people who made and played them, they are truly dulcimers. As with the mountain dulcimer in movements one and three, the music box is used as both the solo voice and as rhythm accompaniment when strummed with a turkey quill.
On the day that I called David Schnaufer to invite his participation in the creation of this, the first concerto for dulcimer, a blackberry winter had descended over Nashville. The colloquialism “blackberry winter” describes a late spring frost that is as unexpected as it is necessary for a rich blackberry harvest. Later, while reviewing folk melodies for consideration in the concerto, the Appalachian folk tune “Blackberry Blossom” was adapted for use in the first movement. The symbolism depicted by the late spring frost - unexpected but fruitful - and the coincidence of using “Blackberry Blossom,” led us to decide that Blackberry Winter was our title.
Conni Ellisor’s diverse background which includes classical training at Julliard and over 15 years in the commercial music business made her the perfect choice of composer to meet the challenge of fusing the folk sounds of the dulcimer into the string orchestra. With David Schnaufer as the ultimate dulcimerist living just across town, she was able to meet frequently with him to learn the intricacies of his folk instruments. About that challenge, Conni writes:
“I felt compelled to work within the folk idiom, utilizing folk or folk-like melodies that are true tot he heritage of the dulcimer. However, much of the momentum of classical composition is related to the shift of tonality, and I never realized how true this was until I began working within the limitation of the dulcimer’s anchored tonality. My solution was to create orchestral interludes in the development of sections that moved into new tonalities and allowed the dulcimer soloist time to retune his instrument for the next melodic statement. In writing this piece, I wanted to be respectful of the rich heritage of both the dulcimer and the classical chamber orchestra, but I felt certain liberty in combining these traditions. Borrowing first from one, then the other, to create a work that is reflective of Nashville, the city that afforded its creation.”
Conni has dedicated Blackberry Winter to David Schnaufer. His gracious and knowledgeable input played a vital role in the creation of this work.
Paul Gambill – 1996
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