Andrew Lardner

Requiem for Mississippi John Hurt

Added 2022-07-01 13:00:11 +0000 UTC

Friends:

I'm glad to be back with another monthly post. Thank you for participating in the vote that decided this month's lesson.

Fahey's "Requiem for Mississippi John Hurt" was originally recorded in January of 1967 and would be included on the album titled Requia later that year. Requia was Fahey's fifth commercial record, and the first that would not be released on Takoma. He wanted a release on a large label to maximize exposure and the album sold relatively well, about 9000 copies in the first month.

"Requiem for Mississippi John Hurt" is a deceptively difficult piece to memorize and master. Most of Fahey's catalog is characterized by an alternating bass with the thumb playing lower notes on beats 1 and 3, and higher notes on beats 2 and 4. Most sections of the piece are played with this reversed, but he frequently flips it around to keep you on your toes. This is the only recording or "Requiem for Mississippi John Hurt" I'm aware of that has this characteristic.

My YouTube performance can be found here https://youtu.be/TFJKl-l2pzA

The Patreon lesson can be found here https://youtu.be/CvCs1OOtQfg

The score is attached below. If you have any questions or comments about this piece please post them here.