Willow weep for me - A. Ronell - Uke chord-melody w. pdf. HD

Willow weep for me - Ann Ronell (1932). Ronell, who changed her name from Ann Rosenblatt at the suggestion of George Gershwin, was one of a small group of women active in the world of popular music, a group that includes composers Dana Suesse, Bernice Petkere, Kay Swift, Lil Hardin, and the brilliant lyricists Dorothy Fields and Carolyn Leigh. I’m sure I’ve left out some names; please advise. Oh, Betty Comden! “Willow weep for me” has become a standard, known to all, but when it started out it had three strikes against it. First, there was the problem that it was written by a person of the female persuasion instead of some cigar-chomping guy (maybe she smoked cigars, it’s possible!). Problem #2 is that, at Ronell’s insistence, it was dedicated to George Gershwin, at a time when such dedications were considered ill advised in the music industry. The third problem was more technical: at bar 5 of the chorus, on the words “Listen to my plea” (and the parallel spots: “Sad as I can be,” “When the shadows fall”) she calls for a change in the rhythmic feel, from the relaxed melody of the opening to a bar that functions as a sort of sudden exclamation, or special emphasis. In the sheet music, this is shown through the addition of staccato marks and a change to gapped chords in the piano left hand. Very unusual, and enough to turn some people off, perhaps because that level of prescriptiveness was normally considered as being within the purview of more “serious” music. A late example of “word painting,” reflecting the ancient interplay between dramatic values and more abstract compositional ones. Most recordings ignore the change at bar 5, but one of the earliest performances, by Paul Whiteman (Irene Taylor singing) from 1932 follows it (and also includes the verse). Another artist who covers the verse and also the bar 5 change is Greta Keller from 1933. For the sake of comparison, see also: Ted Fio Rito (Muzzy Marcellino, vocal) - a peppy fox trot also from 1932, Stan Kenton (June Christy), Tony Bennett (from the album “On Holiday”), Billie Holiday (1956), Nina Simone (1959), Lena Horne (1965), Ella Fitzgerald (at bar 5 and similar, the bass changes the feel), Dinah Washington. For my uke version, I tried to capture the change at bar 5 by playing a chord on each of the four eighths, just to add a little starchiness. It works, more or less. You can see in the score that I’ve added accent marks as reminders. Apart from the question around bar 5 and the parallel spots later on, the main event here is the languid, willowy melody, and the way the harmony shifts to accommodate the descending octave leaps. It worked out pretty nicely on the uke. The verse is also interesting, and tricky to sing in tune because of the ascending semitones. It’s built in two arches, the first one starting on E9 and then descending by fifths to F9, with a sudden switch to a cadence on G. This is then repeated a step higher, starting on F#9, ending with a cadence on A, which le