Prairie Sunflower: A Song History

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"Prairie Sunflower" appears in 30 Old Time Tunes, a set of two compatible books, one for mountain dulcimer and one for autoharp, by Neal Walters and Heidi Cerrigione, published by the two authors, in which each song is arranged in two keys; this one is given in D and in C.[1] The download also breaks out each arrangement as its own PDF and includes MP3 demo tracks, but the listing names no composer or traditional source for this tune.[1] Walters, who lives in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, has taught dulcimer, autoharp, banjo and guitar for nearly forty years, according to his DulcimerDownloads biography; he was a member of the Mill Run Dulcimer Band for more than two decades, and he and Coleen Walters perform with John and Heidi Cerrigione as Doofus.[2] The Cerrigiones, of Ellington, Connecticut, play old-time sentimental music on instruments including autoharp and mountain and hammered dulcimer, and their repertoire takes in early American fiddle and dance music along with other traditional material.[3]

Oil painting of two cut sunflower heads lying on a blue ground

Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers, oil on canvas, 1887. Shown for the sunflowers in the title; it has no connection to the tune.

Whether the tune is traditional or newly composed could not be settled from the sources consulted here: none of them names a composer, a date or an early recording, and The Fiddler's Companion, Andrew Kuntz's index of fiddle tunes, lists no tune of this title among its "Prairie" entries.[1][4] Taken purely as a name, "prairie sunflower" is also a common name for Helianthus petiolaris, a yellow-flowered annual of sandy, open ground on prairies and plains, native from the Great Plains south to Texas, Arizona and adjacent Mexico; nothing in the sources consulted here connects the tune to the plant.[1][5]

Our book that contains the song "Prairie Sunflower"

Browse more tunes like this: Old-Time & Fiddle Tunes Dulcimer Tab

Sources

  1. Neal Walters and Heidi Cerrigione: "Neal Walters And Heidi Cerrigione, 30 Old Time Tunes".
  2. DulcimerDownloads: "Neal Walters".
  3. DulcimerDownloads: "Heidi Cerrigione".
  4. The Fiddler's Companion (Andrew Kuntz): "PRAI - PRIM".
  5. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas at Austin: "Helianthus petiolaris".
  6. Image: Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers, oil on canvas, 1887. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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