Canasg Choral Music Publishing

Canasg Music

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WT2011

Whistle, daughter, whistle

words and tune traditional English

arranged by Douglas Cook
for soprano, alto, tenor and bass chorus

SATB performance time approx 1m 45s

Arranger's note

This is a fun piece about a young girl who is impatient to get married. Her mother preaches caution, and holds out the prospect of owning sheep and cows instead, but this doesn't go down very well with the daughter.

It can work very well with soloists playing the parts of mother and daughter, in which case the other soprano and alto voices take the accompanying 'ah's and 'da dum's, etc. 'Ah' can be replaced by 'ooh' if you need to reduce the volume of the accompaniment.

The pause before the girl starts whistling should convey her astonishment that her mother is finally giving her a chance to be married. She whistles tentatively at first but then with growing confidence.


Music

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Hear a MIDI file of the song


Words

Whistle, daughter, whistle

'Mother I long to get married, I long to be a bride,
I long to be with that young man, for ever by his side,
For ever by his side, o how happy I should be,
For I'm young and merry and o so weary of my virginity'.

'Daughter, I was twenty before that I was wooed,
And many a long and lonesome mile I carried my maidenhood'.
'Oh mother that may well be but it's not the case with me,
For I'm young and merry and o so weary of my virginity!'

'Whistle, daughter, whistle and you shall have a sheep'.
'I cannot whistle mother, but I can sadly weep.
My maidenhood does grieve me, it fills my heart with fear,
For it is a burden, a heavy burden, it's more than I can bear'.

'Whistle, daughter, whistle and you shall have a cow'.
'I cannot whistle mother, indeed I know not how.
My maidenhood does grieve me, it fills my heart with fear,
For it is a burden, a heavy burden, it's more than I can bear'.

'Whistle, daughter, whistle and you shall have a man'.
(…whistles...) 'You see how well I can!'
'You saucy impudent jade, what makes you whistle now?'
'Oh, I'd rather whistle for a man than either sheep or cow!'

traditional English song



Price

The price of this piece depends on the number of singers in your group. This is a single payment for a licence to make as many copies as you need for your group to rehearse and perform the song as often as you wish. Copies of the song must not be given, lent or sold to any other group.

Number of singers in your group
up to 12 singers13 to 24 singers25 singers or more
£5 (approx US$8.00)
£10 (approx US$16)
£15 (approx US$24)
Please note that your Paypal transaction will be in sterling but it should automatically
be converted if your credit card draws on a different currency.


Companion pieces

Browse the 'World folk and traditional' section of the Canasg catalogue for more songs like this one. To go there now, click on the 'catalogue' box to the right.
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Canasg Choral Music Publishing

Canasg Music




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ã Page updated by Peter Hill Jan 2006