The Penguin Classics New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs

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The definitive collection of folk music – one of the great English popular art formsOne of the great English popular art forms, the folk song can be painful, satirical, erotic, dramatic, rueful or funny. This magical new collection brings together all the classic folk songs as well as many lesser-known discoveries, complete with music and annotations on their original sources and meaning. Published in cooperation with the English Folk Dance and Song Society, it is a worthy successor to Ralph Vaughan Williams and A. L. Lloyd’s original Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. Refreshing … beautiful … academic but lively … the book offers the experience of immersion into the strange, romantic and occasionally frightening world these songs were, and are, a part of … A triumphant addition to the English folk canon, both as a source of reference and as an endlessly enjoyable collection to dip into—The TimesThe New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs couldn’t be better timed … an utterly indispensable collection of music for murder, wooing and wanton abandon—Record CollectorCompelling … fascinating and refreshingly objective … Free of any cloying romanticism … An impressive and nourishing book, with an appeal far beyond the folk aficionado. Roud and Bishop have created something vital—TelegraphA wonderful resource of knowledge and scholarship—Tim Cumming, Independent Steve Roud is the Founder of the Roud Folk Song Index and the author of a number of major works on English folkways and customs, including The English Year. Julia Bishop has a PhD in folksong and is Chief Editor of the forthcoming edition of the James Madison Carpenter Folksong Collection. GB

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