Cool September Rain: A Song History

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"Cool September Rain" is a tune by Molly Mason, who is credited with it in the mountain dulcimer edition of her and Jay Ungar's tune book sold through the duo's own online store.[1] Mason sings and plays piano and guitar alongside the fiddler Ungar, her partner in a duo that makes its home in New York's Catskills; Ken Burns's PBS series The Civil War, whose soundtrack had Ungar's "Ashokan Farewell" at its core, brought the pair their widest recognition.[2]

Japanese woodblock print of figures hurrying across a long wooden bridge in heavy rain

Utagawa Hiroshige, Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake, from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, woodblock print, 1857. A summer shower rather than September rain, shown in fun; it has no connection to the tune.

Their collection Catskill Mountain Waltzes and Airs prints the tune on page 19.[3] Melanie Johnston includes it, in DAD tuning, in 22 Selections From Jay Ungar & Molly Mason's Book "Catskill Mountain Waltzes And Airs", a set of mountain dulcimer tablature arrangements drawn from the duo's book.[4]

Our book that contains the song "Cool September Rain"

Sources

  1. Jay Ungar & Molly Mason: "Catskill Mountain Waltzes & Airs for Mountain Dulcimer".
  2. Library of Congress, Folklife Today: "Homegrown Plus: Jay Ungar and Molly Mason".
  3. Jay Ungar & Molly Mason: "Catskill Mountain Waltzes and Airs".
  4. Melanie Johnston: "22 Selections From Jay Ungar & Molly Mason's Book Catskill Mountain Waltzes And Airs".
  5. Image: Utagawa Hiroshige, Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake, from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, woodblock print, 1857. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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