Hi, Anne--

What a marvelous project!  I've long thought that period music should better be incorporated into classroom and other educational settings.  (See caveat below)

Here are a couple of sites that might help you out; the titles on the sites might give you a place to start (even if you can't find the specific CDs or works referenced):

Music from the Time of Christopher Columbus
http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/phi32821.htm

Music of the Court of King James VI (James I of England)--for Pocahontas in court
http://www.music.gla.ac.uk/HTMLFolder/Resources/SMIC/html/James.html

There's an enormous range of musical styles when it comes to Native American music--the drums and flutes of the Southern Plains tribes, for instance, are very different from the drones and semitones of the music of the Pacific Northwest.  The music of the Powhatan Confederacy seems to have concentrated on the use of the water drum.  If you can't narrow in on traditional native music of Virginia (you might contact members of the Nansemond, Mattaponi or other local nations), I would try to find recordings of eastern woodlands tribal music.

I suspect that Sailor's Hornpipe (or College Hornpipe) dates from a period later than Columbus, though I have no hard proof.  It strikes my ear as sounding like it comes from the British Isles rather than Italy or Spain.

There is quite a lot of music available from the period of the Revolution, both Loyalist and American, that can be categorized as field music (e.g. fifes and drums), secular chamber music (e.g. Haydn), sacred music, dance music, ballads, etc.  Yankee Doodle is today probably the most famous piece of field music from the time and would certainly be appropriate.  It would certainly get instant recognition.  If you wanted something a bit more obscure, you might contact Colonial Williamsburg or the U.S. Army's Old Guard Fife & Drum Corps about other possibilities.

Finally, some general resources for American popular music through the years:

American Music Timeline
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/musictime1.html

Popular Songs in American History 
http://www.contemplator.com/america/

American Popular Music Before 1900
http://www.nhmccd.cc.tx.us/contracts/lrc/kc/music-1.html

The caveat to all the above is the fact that you have to be careful about incorporating copyrighted material into "public performances," which typically include websites, classrooms, and educational material available for sale.  Most recorded musical performances are copyrighted even if the song performed is traditional.  However, I'm not much of an expert on this so I would suggest consulting with someone who is.  Best idea is to get permission from the holder of the copyright!

Hope this helps.

All my best,

--Eric

Eric D. M. Johnson
Proprietor
The Village Factsmith Historical Research & Consulting
http://www.factsmith.com/
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  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Anne Pemberton 
  To: [log in to unmask] 
  Sent: Monday, September 16, 2002 11:08 AM
  Subject: Background Music for Famous Americans


  Folks and especially Randy Cabell,

           I've recently learned how to make instructional applications in
  Macromedia Flash. This allows me to include graphics, animations plus a
  sound track which is compressed to a 1/10 the size of the original wave
  file. I've been experimenting with playing the music low and narrating over
  the music. I'd like to start converting my current Famous American pages at
  http://www.educationalsynthesis.org/famamer to Flash presentations so that
  primary children don't need someone to read the information to them. I'd
  like to use appropriate background music.

           Would the Sailor's Hornpipe be appropriate background for
  Christopher Columbus? I have some Native American CD's with interesting
  drums. Would that be good for Pocahontas? What music could represent her
  visit to the Court of England? What about George Washington? Would Yankee
  Doodle be good, or can you suggest some other lively music from his time?
  I'm kinda partial to midi music, but suggestions for CD's are welcome as well.

           If someone knows of a good music history site that can provide
  help on this project, I'd appreciate it as well.

           Thanks for your consideration and help.

                                           Anne


  Anne Pemberton
  [log in to unmask]

  http://www.erols.com/stevepem
  http://www.geocities.com/apembert45
  http://66.92.112.50/edu

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