Like musicians around the world during the Covid19 pandemic, fiddler Gretchen Koehler & pianist Daniel Kelly were not able to perform before large audiences in 2020. Instead, through an Artist Residency with “Hill & Hollow Music” (October 2020) the duo recorded a "LIVE” concert album as an alternative way to offer music to listeners this season. Koehler & Kelly performed for an “empty house” at the historic Methodist Church in Saranac, NY with a handful of masked H&HM board members listening in as Russell Feher captured their music. Below enjoy descriptions of the tunes, photos, as well as sheet music for Gretchen’s compositions.

To order the album, visit gretchenkoehlermusic.com/store.

1. The Cock & The Hen/The Killavil Jig/I Buried my Wife and Danced on her Grave/The Wife’s Jig (Gretchen Koehler)

I have the habit of thumbing through my tune books when a student is late to lesson. One day the tune “I Buried My Wife and Danced on her Grave” popped off the page. Like many fiddlers, I had played this tune without knowing the name! I enjoyed the jig, but couldn’t play it in good faith anymore without offering the wife a counter jig, to be played at the same time as her husband’s jig! Her full title is, “My husband, my husband, oh what a pest! He keeps dancing and won’t let me rest.” -Gretchen

Scroll to bottom of page for The Wife’s Jig sheet music.

Click here to watch Gretchen tell the full story of The Wife’s Jig.

2. The Fox’s Wedding (Gretchen Koehler)

This tune was written after the death of two cherished friends, one in his early thirties and the other in her early nineties. With this huge loss, my emotions felt like a "sun shower" with rain & sun filling my heart. I wrote this tune to release myself (melody) from the rain (pizzicato) as my feelings oscillated between heartbreak and gratitude. Since “The Sun Shower” was already taken as a tune title, I learned that some cultures make reference to the Fox King getting married during a sun shower, thus the title. This tune is dedicated to the loving memory of Kathryn “Kay” Trithart and Francesco “Paco” Clark-Bouchard. -Gretchen

Scroll to bottom of page for The Fox’s Wedding sheet music.

Click here for a split scene 5 part rendition of this tune.

3. Crazy Weasel 123 (Gretchen Koehler)/Julia Delaney/The Drunken Landlady

I gave my son a tune as a present. He was mildly impressed, so I quickly offered him the task of naming his piece. He lit up and insisted on using “Crazy Weasel 1-2-3,” his alias on Scratch -a popular children’s programming language. -Gretchen

Scroll to bottom of page for Crazy Weasel 1-2-3 sheet music.

4. Born of a Summer’s Day (Brian Pickell)

Brian Pickell is one of my favorite Canadian composers. He wrote this piece on the occasion of the birth of Benôit Schryer-LeFevre. In Brian’s words “The day Julie’s [Schryer] son Benoit was born, the air was still, the insects sang and the fields shimmered in the hot July sun.” -Gretchen

5. The Banks of Lough Gowna/ The Stolen Purse

One of the joys of playing with a jazz pianist is the playfulness of crossing into another genre for rhythmical & harmonic inspiration. -Gretchen

6. Gondolin (Noah VanNorstrand)/Catharsis (Amy Cann)

These driving reels are a favorite among the dance crowd and we enjoyed playing this set at the epic Dance Flurry, Saratoga Springs, NY, for an incredible pre-pandemic floor filled with 400 contra dancers. -Gretchen

7. Sky Top (Gretchen Koehler)

This piece is dedicated to an anonymous couple that I had the pleasure of sitting next to on the famous “Rocking Chair Porch” (Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, NY). We sat together, yet separately, gazing up at the striking Sky Top Tower. -Gretchen

Scroll to bottom of the page for Sky Top sheet music.

Click here to read the full story of this enchanting encounter, including photos of Mohonk Mountain House.

8. This Moment (Daniel Kelly)

During the pandemic, Daniel wrote this tune about acknowledging, appreciating and savoring each moment. -Gretchen

9. Wizard’s Walk (Jay Ungar)

A crowd favorite, we love playing Jay Ungar’s energetic contra dance tune with a Salsa groove. We hope this tune is as fun to listen to as it is for us to play. -Gretchen

10. Midnight on the Water (Luke Thomasson)

The bow “wobble” at the start of this Texas waltz mimics the gentle swaying of a canoe on calm water. I enjoyed a paddle one breathtakingly colorful summer eve with Daniel across the street from my home in the “North Country” of Northern New York. As the sun went down, we found ourselves floating on the Raquette River, immersed in the setting of one of our favorite tunes. -Gretchen

11. Bonaparte’s Retreat

This tune was spread beyond the folk world after it became the centerpiece of composer Aaron Copland’s suite, “Rodeo.” From there it became part of pop culture and is a “familiar” melody that people know, but can’t often pinpoint. We celebrate this simple melody in the key of D and treat it to different harmonic settings and many variations. This tune is often our concert closer and results in grand applause. For the recording, we had a big smile when we ended this piece and let the notes resonate in the beautiful large space, in silence. -Gretchen

All tunes traditional, except where noted. All tunes used with permission. Crazy Weasel 1-2-3, The Fox's Wedding, Sky Top, The Wife's Jig, (Gretchen Koehler) © & ℗ Field Note Publishing 2020, This Moment (Daniel Kelly) © & ℗ 2020 Amalgam Music (ASCAP), Wizard's Walk (Jay Ungar) © 1993 Swinging Door Music (BMI)