Dulcimer Fanfare: A Song History
"Dulcimer Fanfare" is one of twelve pieces in Ellen Pratt's Ensemble Arrangements For The Mountain Dulcimer, Volume 6, a book of multipart dulcimer ensemble arrangements that Pratt publishes herself.[1] It is set in five parts: melody, harmony, bass and chord back-up in DAD tuning, plus a baritone part in ADA.[1] Pratt's contents page lists it in 4/4 time and names no composer for it, as with several other titles, while crediting other pieces to Arbeau, Bach, Pachelbel, tradition and, in one case, Pratt herself.[2]
Trompette Demilune, brass, ca. 1810. Shown for the trumpet calls the word fanfare names; it has no connection to the tune.
Pratt describes the book as a mix of original and traditional arrangements, but the sources consulted here do not say which kind this piece is, or when and why it was written.[1][2] Her own dulcimer music dates from around 2004, and she turned to ensemble writing after joining a dulcimer orchestra in northeastern Connecticut.[3] Merriam-Webster traces the word fanfare to French and dates its first known use, in the sense of a brief, spirited call on trumpets, to 1605.[4]
