Rolling Down to Old Maui - is a traditional sea song performed by many
singers, including Stan Rogers. The lyrics were collect from the 1858 log of
the Atkins Adams, but it was unclear how the melody went and someone eventually
fit the lyrics to another melody resulting in in the song as we know it today.
It was not a working song but rather more of a foc'sle shanty, the kind of song
the men would sing to pass a pleasant evening here spent thinking about the
delights ahead returning to Maui after a rough season of work.
In this easy arrangement, the melody is foremost;
it begins with the soloist singing unaccompanied while the ensemble joins on
the chorus with movoing and strong harmonies evoking the power of the sea and
the men who worked the whale fisheries. The solo becomes a duet, later a trio
and finally all sing the final verse in unison, making the final chorus seem
all the richer. The piece moves easily between major and minor harmonies while
the trio develops the haunting melody. The striking lyrics and the easy rise
and fall of the lines makes this piece a wonderful addition to any repertoire.
TTBB a cappella.
View all charts by Bob Eggers
Bob Eggers grew up in a house full of song studying piano, guitar, harmony and music theory. He learned part singing in folk and rock bands in the 60's. At Yale he fell in love with a cappella singing, where he directed and arranged for the Whiffenpoofs and Society of Orpheus and Bacchus, starting a life-long passion for choral arranging.
Bob has arranged over 100 pieces for both men's and mixed choirs. He founded and directs his own internationally known a cappella band, Blue of a Kind, whose CD,To the Sky, is available on CD Baby.
Mr. Eggers is music archivist for both the Whiffenpoofs and Society of Orpheus and Bacchus and has preserved and restored hundreds of classic arrangements from the rich Yale a cappella tradition. He has served on the boards of the Yale Alumni Chorus, where he also sings tenor, and the Yale Society of Orpheus and Bacchus.
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