Fireside Gathering: A Song History

← Back to Browse By Song

Ellen Pratt's Ensemble Arrangements For The Mountain Dulcimer, Volume 7, a book she publishes herself, sets "Fireside Gathering" in four parts, all in DAD tuning: Dulcimer 1, Dulcimer 2, a third part for standard or bass dulcimer, and a fourth for chord backup.[1] The DulcimerDownloads listing says the book mixes traditional and classical tunes with some original melodies, and Pratt's store page speaks of original and traditional multi-part arrangements, yet neither assigns this piece to a composer, so the sources consulted here do not settle who wrote it or when.[1][2] In her DulcimerDownloads biography, Pratt dates her composing for dulcimers with four equidistant strings to around 2004 and says she took up ensemble writing and arranging once she had joined a dulcimer orchestra in northeast Connecticut.[3]

Line etching of a cottage kitchen where a family gathers by the hearth, a woman holding a pan toward small children, with a dog and a cat nearby

Henri Merke, Cottagers, with Fireside, etching (proof before aquatint or mezzotint), 1799. Shown for its subject; it has no connection to the piece.

Our book that contains the song "Fireside Gathering"

Sources

  1. Ellen Pratt: "Ensemble Arrangements For The Mountain Dulcimer, Volume 7".
  2. Ellen S. Pratt: "Ensemble Arrangements for Mountain Dulcimer Volume 7".
  3. DulcimerDownloads: "Ellen Pratt".
  4. Image: Henri Merke, Cottagers, with Fireside, etching (proof before aquatint or mezzotint), 1799. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

← Back to Browse By Song