Tattered Lives: A Song History

← Back to Browse By Song

"Tattered Lives" appears in Ellen Pratt's Ensemble Arrangements For The Mountain Dulcimer, Volume 4, which DulcimerDownloads sells as a 64-page PDF that Pratt publishes herself.[1] The listing sets the piece out in four dulcimer parts, all in DAD tuning.[1] On Pratt's own contents page for the volume it is listed in 3/4 time, and although that page names John Dowland and Beethoven beside their pieces, it gives no composer for this one.[2] Her store calls the book's contents a mix of original and traditional arrangements without sorting them, so the sources consulted here do not establish who wrote "Tattered Lives."[2] Her DulcimerDownloads artist page reports that she has more than two decades at the instrument, that her own compositions date from 2004, and that ensemble writing followed once she joined a dulcimer orchestra in northeast Connecticut.[3] The sources consulted here do not record when the piece was written or what its title refers to.[1][2][3]

Painting of a letter rack on a wooden board holding a photograph of a girl, a folded newspaper, cards and a battered blue book

John F. Peto, Old Souvenirs, oil on canvas, ca. 1881–1901. Worn and battered keepsakes, shown loosely for the title; it has no connection to the tune.

Our book that contains the song "Tattered Lives"

Sources

  1. Ellen Pratt: "Ensemble Arrangements For The Mountain Dulcimer, Volume 4".
  2. Ellen S. Pratt: "Ensemble Arrangements for Mountain Dulcimer Volume 4".
  3. DulcimerDownloads: "Ellen Pratt".
  4. Image: John F. Peto, Old Souvenirs, oil on canvas, ca. 1881–1901. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

← Back to Browse By Song