His Grace: A Song History

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"His Grace" is one of the twelve pieces in Ensemble Arrangements For The Mountain Dulcimer, Volume 4, a 64-page book Ellen Pratt published herself, where it is written for three dulcimers in DAD tuning.[1] The book's table of contents, shown on the listing, puts it in 3/4 time, and the sample page of the first dulcimer part prints Pratt's name under the title along with a 2021 copyright line.[1] That table of contents names John Dowland and Ludwig van Beethoven beside some of the other pieces but gives no outside composer for "His Grace," and the sources consulted here do not establish whether Pratt wrote the tune or arranged an older one.[1]

Engraved portrait of a young man with long hair and a flat cap set in an oval frame of fruit, garlands and drapery, with an inscription below

Jonas Suyderhoef, The Dukes of Burgundy: No. 8. Portrait of Philippe I (the Handsome) of Castile, engraving, c. 1628–86. Shown for the title's courtly ring; it has no connection to the piece.

According to her DulcimerDownloads biography, Pratt has played the dulcimer for more than two decades and began composing for the instrument around 2004.[2] The same biography says that joining a dulcimer orchestra in northeastern Connecticut led her to write and arrange for ensembles, and it counts ten volumes of ensemble tablature to her name.[2]

Our book that contains the song "His Grace"

Sources

  1. Ellen Pratt: "Ensemble Arrangements For The Mountain Dulcimer, Volume 4".
  2. DulcimerDownloads: "Ellen Pratt".
  3. Image: Jonas Suyderhoef, The Dukes of Burgundy: No. 8. Portrait of Philippe I (the Handsome) of Castile, engraving, c. 1628–86. The Cleveland Museum of Art.

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