In this issue:

• A Personal Note from Sylvia Woods   
• Brenda Bowen Cox PDF Sale  
• How to Use Our Promo Codes 

    Brenda Bowen Cox

I'm starting a new feature in this month's newsletter, highlighting one of the composers or arrangers whose music is available through harpcenter.com. The featured composer's music will be that month's sale.  

I'm beginning this series with Brenda Bowen Cox, a composer/arranger from Arkansas who is best known for her books of music from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.   I've asked Brenda to tell us about herself and her music, and here's her response. 

 

My first two books are collections of tunes from Cape Breton.  In the summertime on "the Cape" it would be difficult to avoid music.  There are ceilidhs and dances every night all around the island.  One of my favourite Cape Breton pieces to play on the harp is the Glencoe March.  It is in my first book, A Cape Breton Bouquet , an easy arrangement and a fun tune to play as well.  The first time I went to the Thursday night dance at Glencoe Mills the directions I was given to get there were quite intriguing, and frankly, a little scary.  I was told to go south out of Inverness, turn left at the Mother of Sorrows shrine and proceed as the road turned to gravel, taking the fork in the road to the right, and continue to drive on.  Then I was told "when you think you have driven until you are hopelessly lost, you will be there."

 

It was exactly like that.  Just before I got to the parish hall, I could see a small light where cars were parked.  The little building was throbbing with the dancers' feet in rhythm to the music.  It is mind boggling to think of all the talented Cape Bretoners who have played those dances - Buddy MacMaster, Jerry Holland, Brenda Stubbert, Natalie MacMaster, and the list goes on and on.  Here is a YouTube clip of Neil Cameron, a young fiddler playing the Glencoe March.  http://youtu.be/0wIFDj6C1BI      

  

For more information, you can check out  Cape Breton Island - The Celtic Heart of North America, and the Cape Breton Media Historical Society on Facebook.  Also, Glencoe Mills has its own page which includes a photo of the parish hall where the dances are held.  They call them "square dances" there, but they are not like square dances you may imagine in the US.    These 2 photos were taken at Whale Cove.  

 

My second (and easier) Cape Breton book, Another Bouquet, also contains some very light-hearted and simple tunes that really "dance" on the harp strings. I hope people will read the short explanations included with the tunes so they can feel more personally familiar with them.  I always like learning something about a tune and/or the composer as it gives me more information for my interpretation of the music.  

 

Yes, I really do have a labyrinth in my backyard.  Anyone is welcome to come play in my labyrinth!

 

 

 

 

Geordie can't decide which piece he likes most, but I think he likes the one with the picture of the cat on the front.

 - Brenda Bowen Cox 

To get the 15% discount on Brenda's 7 PDFs listed below (as well as Sylvia's Lennon & McCartney book or PDF), enter the code word brenda in the Promo Code box on your shopping cart page and click "Enter Code" by July 10, 2014. For more information, see the "Save 15%" section at the bottom of this newsletter.