LEWISTON — The music of ship’s fiddler William Litten will be featured at this week’s Oasis of Music on Wednesday, Sept. 19.
Greg Boardman will fiddle selections from Litten’s personal leather-bound portfolio, which he made between 1800 and 1802 while employed by England’s…..Company. Litten’s job while aboard was to play music while the crew worked, as what was then regarded as a more dignified accompaniment to maritime labor, as opposed to sung sea chanteys, which often used crude language.
The William Litten Collection, full of traditional English, Scottish and Irish tunes, along with Litten’s own compositions, was discovered and published by the late folklorist Gale Huntington of Martha’s Vineyard, a fiddler and singer himself, most well-known for his book Songs the Whalemen Sang.
The Oasis of Music is held from 12:30 to 1 p.m. Wednesdays at Trinity Church, 247 Bates St. Admission is by donation. For more information, call 207-344-3106.
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