July 25, 2025: Concert Program Notes

Timbre Trio, with Greg Hutton

Timbre Trio was formed in early 2024 with a vision of singing from the traditional folk repertoire with attention to well-sung, three-part treble harmony. Our first full-length concert was in January, 2025; we have also sung a mini-concert at Beverley Hills (our premiere!) and done three open mike performances (so far). Our repertoire has settled into a combination of traditional songs arranged for three voices, a cappella trios that fit the traditional mold, our own original songs, and our arrangements of traditional songs. For this concert we have joined forces with local hammered dulcimer player Greg Hutton for six songs on our program. We could not be more excited to share these unique songs with you.

Our themes for the stories in this concert broadly fall into the categories of difficult situations and relationships, the impacts on relationships when people are sent off to war, and resolutions that reflect struggle. In other words, complex stories about the human condition.

We provide the lyrics of the songs we are performing, but stories often require context. A few songs could be classified as protest songs. For example, the Ballad of Springhill describes a real mining disaster and the terror inflicted on the victims. The Panther describes a similar terror and is also based on a real situation. All The Pretty Little Horses is a simple lullaby but reportedly originated as a lullaby sung by enslaved nannies to the children of their enslavers, when their own children had been sold off. I Am In Love describes the excruciating pain of lost love, while I Am Stretched On Your Grave goes even deeper into loss. Jack-A-Roe and The Cruel War both have lovers going to extremes to be united during wartime. There exist multiple versions of the texts for each of these two songs, including verses of text that have been used in both. In This Heart shows pain and love existing simultaneously. Light of a Clear Blue Morning is about shaking free from an abusive relationship. Change Upon Change takes a sudden turn into a happy ending when a relationship disintegrates.

In the song Legend, the protagonist inspires women to leave their constrictive lives to join a convent, where they can unify to right moral wrongs. The country is Ireland, the date is the fifth century AD, and the hero is Brigid. Ireland made Saint Brigid Day a national holiday in 2023. Controversy remains about whether Saint Brigid is an imaginary Christian stand-in for the very similar Celtic goddess Brigid, or that a very real Saint Brigid brought Christianity to the druids at the temple of the goddess Brigid. Modern Irish poet Jane Clarke’s tribute poem Legend is set for publication in 2026.

Local notable musician and poet Vera Kochanowsky tells of a rural idyll that turns tragic in the blink of an eye in the ballad Mary. This real story has impacted Vera’s extended family for generations.

In light of these tales with twists and turns leading both to woe and to joy in unexpected places, we come to wonder if we would be missing the sweetness and depth of full, lived experiences if we weren’t digging into all the layers of complexity. Maybe in the retelling, we can come to appreciate anew the stories that give our lives meaning.