42
Example 1.15: Joe Férail
Gatment
⅜*.....Γ P
Joe Fé • rail c'est c‘un ti nèg'.
Ma - dame Joe
a - prés ba ∙ Ian - cer
In Larsen’s adaptation, melodic and rhythmic materials are not the only elements
borrowed from Cajun and blues music. The score calls for foot stomping and vocal
interjections, common in live performances of Cajun music, and the formal structure of
Larsen’s movement is built around the idea of call and response, like the original tune.
Larsen notes:
The Cajun tradition of whooping is a long-standing one. At any given time
during a dance or song, anyone may whoop loudly and the rest of the
revelers respond with a loud stomp. I've adopted this technique in this
movement, asking the performers to whoop and stomp 'raucously.' The
tune Joe Férail is an old French tune, transplanted and interpolated to a
jaunty Cajun dance tune.72
Instead Ofbeginning with a complete repetition of the melody as in the previous
movements, in this movement the first two measures (the call) are directly quoted from
the Cajun Joe Férail, but the response is newly composed material as shown in Example
1.16.
72 Larsen, Cajun Set, preface.