Merci A Melanie: A Song History
"Merci A Melanie" is set for four dulcimers, all in DGD tuning, in Ellen Pratt's Ensemble Arrangements For The Mountain Dulcimer, Volume 5, a book published by Pratt and sold on DulcimerDownloads as a licensed download.[1] It is one of just two pieces in the volume tuned DGD, the other being "Baurtregaum," and Pratt's contents page for the book lists it in 4/4 time.[1][2] That contents page attaches a name to just one entry, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" (Willis), and gives none for this tune; the DulcimerDownloads listing credits no composer either.[1][2] Pratt describes the volume as a combination of original and traditional arrangements without saying which category this piece falls into.[2]
Henri Fantin-Latour, Bouquet of Roses, lithograph, 1879. Flowers shown in the spirit of a thank-you; they have no connection to the tune.
The title appears to be French: Cambridge's French–English dictionary renders merci as "thank you" and gives dire merci à someone as saying thank you to them.[3] None of the sources consulted here identifies Melanie, traces the tune to an earlier source, or mentions a recording of it.[1][2] According to Pratt's DulcimerDownloads biography, her first original pieces, from around 2004, were written for a dulcimer whose four strings are evenly spaced; her output now runs to ten volumes of ensemble tablature plus a compilation volume for the First National Dulcimer Orchestra.[4]
Sources
- Ellen Pratt: "Ensemble Arrangements For The Mountain Dulcimer, Volume 5".
- Ellen S. Pratt: "Ensemble Arrangements for Mountain Dulcimer Volume 5".
- Cambridge Dictionary: "Merci" (French–English).
- DulcimerDownloads: "Ellen Pratt".
- Image: Henri Fantin-Latour, Bouquet of Roses, lithograph, 1879. The Cleveland Museum of Art.