{"product_id":"9781784744540-captains-apprentice","title":"The Captain's Apprentice","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRalph Vaughan Williams and the Story of a Folk Song\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e***AS READ ON BBC RADIO 4***\u003cbr\u003e***WINNER OF THE NEW ANGLE PRIZE FOR LITERATURE***\u003cbr\u003e***LONGLISTED FOR THE HWA AWARDS***\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA beautifully written exploration of the world of Edwardian folk music, and its influence on the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn January 1905 the young Vaughan Williams, not yet one of England's most famous composers, visited King's Lynn, Norfolk, to find folk songs 'from the mouths of the singers'. He had started collecting in earnest little more than a year before but was now obsessed with saving these indigenous tunes before they were lost forever. An old fisherman, James 'Duggie' Carter, performed 'The Captain's Apprentice', a brutal tale of torture sung to the most beautiful tune the young composer had ever heard.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Captain's Apprentice \u003c\/i\u003eis the story of how this mysterious song 'opened the door to an entirely new world of melody, harmony and feeling' for Vaughan Williams. With this transformational moment at its heart, the book traces the contrasting lives of the well-to-do composer and a forgotten King's Lynn cabin boy who died at sea, and brings fresh perspectives on Edwardian folk-song collectors, the singers and their songs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhile exploring her own connections to folk song, via a Hebridean ancestor, a Scottish ballad learnt as a child and memories of family sing-songs, the author makes the unexpected discovery that Vaughan Williams has been a hidden influence on her musical life from the beginning - an experience she shares with generations of twentieth-century British schoolchildren.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished for Vaughan Williams's 150th birthday in August, this evocative, sensitive look at the great composer will also be read on BBC Radio 4. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Her gift is a \u003cb\u003ework of love and infinite care\u003c\/b\u003e' \u003cb\u003eKEGGIE CAREW\u003c\/b\u003e, author of Dadland\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eI thoroughly enjoyed this book\u003c\/b\u003e, and its weaving of biography, social history and folk song' \u003cb\u003eSTEVE ROUD, \u003c\/b\u003eauthor of Folk Song in England\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40324540727393,"sku":"9781784744540","price":18.47,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_32512364.jpg?v=1737654021","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781784744540-captains-apprentice","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}