Key signature: Dmajor
Submitted on February 23rd 2002 by Redbird.
This tune has been added to 300 tunebooks.
Also known as Cockscomb Bouree, Como Poden Per Sas Culpas, The Crested Hen, Les Poules Huppés, Les Poules Huppees.
Recordings of a tune by this name:
X: 1
T: Crested Hens
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
R: waltz
K: Dmaj
| E3G FE | B4 Bc | dc Be dc | dc BA GF |
| E3G FE | B4 Bc | dc BA GA | B3G FD |
| E3G FE | B4 Bc | dc Be dc | dc BA GF |
| E3G FE | B4 Bc | dc BA GA | B4 ef ||
|| gB Bg gB | =c4ef | gf ag fe | ^d2e2 f2 |
| gB Bg gB | =c4ef | gf ag fd | e3e ef |
| gB Bg gB | =c4ef | gf ag fe | ^d2e2 f2 |
| gB Bg gB | =c4ef | gf ag fd | e3G FA |]
Ok, this is the second tune I've posted today, sorry about that. The fact is that the tune is such an awesome one. Its not Irish though, its French. Because it starts so abrubtly on E, try playing GFD as a pick up.
# Posted on February 23rd 2002 by Redbird
Nice tune, it was played quite a bit around my parts for a while but suffered over exposure & I haven't heard it in a little while. That D# makes the tune.
Good job
# Posted on February 25th 2002 by Mad Baloney
My understanding is that this tune was composed by Gillies Chabenat, a hurdy gurdy player. Winnie Horan's version on Solas' cd "Solas" is a classic, powerfully simple rendition.
# Posted on January 22nd 2003 by Will CPT
A spelling fix: it's GILLES Chabenat (yeah, those French names...). The tune's name in Fench is Les Poules Huppes - and you can also find it in Daniel Lapp's album REUNION.
# Posted on November 1st 2003 by sixholes
Er, that was a typo, not a veiled attempt to make Msr. Chabenat's name sound more Irish. Mea culpa.
# Posted on November 1st 2003 by Will CPT
Not a Waltz
In all fairness to Gilles, this is not a waltz but a three-time bouree. It is really in 3/8 time, and is delightful with out the downbeat effect so typical of a waltz.
# Posted on January 18th 2004 by dulcie22
Brollywacker does an extraordinary rendition of this on their album "Jump at the Sun"...
# Posted on March 11th 2004 by Syrith
Anyone have a clue how such a beautiful melody got named Crested Hens??? Not that I have anything against Crested Hens, but, is there, possibly any relevance?
# Posted on April 10th 2004 by ketida
*Agrees with Syrith*
Brollywacker's version of this tune is wonderful. It was the first version of this tune I had heard. Are they still around?
# Posted on April 10th 2004 by locrian
Such a beautiful tune! And the first one I've managed to learn by ear off a recording...
# Posted on April 18th 2004 by Crysania
I just finished transcribing this because a guy at the session asked me to post it, and after all that I discover it's here already. It's in the wrong key though - this tune is in E dorian, not D major. Same notes, but the mistake will ensure this lovely tune gets regularly overlooked by people looking for wistful walzes in E modal keys.
I play this with an extra D sharp for the second to last note instead of a D natural, and I learned it at the Water Valley Celtic Music Festival in Alberta from a guitar player that was nice enough to sing it into my mini-disk recorder.
# Posted on January 12th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Oh man, lovely b part. I am in love with this tune. I've been for a while, but finally got around to commenting =P
I agree, the d# really makes the tune. As well as the gB Bg gB c4 part. Ahhhhhhhhhhh~
# Posted on January 19th 2005 by fiddlinviolinin
Key signature
Surely this is in B minor, not D major.
Still, it's a gorgeous tune.
# Posted on February 3rd 2005 by chrisyate
Key signature
....... Although it does feel more like E minor, in fact. I guess it's modal, so actually it's neither... But it's definitely not D major.
# Posted on February 3rd 2005 by chrisyate
Key Sig... ooops
# Posted on February 3rd 2005 by chrisyate
Chris, all tunes are "modal" in that they fit into one mode (major, minor, dorian, etc.) or another.
Crested Hens definitely resolves (for my ear) to an E. I would say the first half is in E Dorian and the second half is in E minor.
# Posted on February 3rd 2005 by Will CPT
Another key
This tune appears as a Bourrees a trois temps (in 3/8) in Mel Stevens Massif Central Book No. 1 where it is credited to Gilles Chabenat and is in D minor. This key allows some beautiful string crossing on the fiddle.
# Posted on June 29th 2005 by stoneboy
Where the name came from
"Anyone have a clue how such a beautiful melody got named Crested Hens??? Not that I have anything against Crested Hens, but, is there, possibly any relevance?"
Crsted Hens is a translation. According to Gilles ,Himself: I was 15 and couldn't decide on a title, one day we were playing at oxymorons and my friend said "Poulles Huppees" we all laughed it that for a long time, so I decided to name the tune that.... I know it's a dumb title, but we were just dumb kids".
He seemed to think, at that time, that getting credit was more important than collecting royalties. This tune used to be mentioned a lot as " a 400 year old Breton tune. Brettagne hens are the only one's that grow crests". None of that is true. Gilles is from Centre -- couple of hours south of Paris.
His own playing of the tune is generally "Fasht and Bad" with a hemiola to it.
# Posted on July 3rd 2005 by Owell Mabee
Thanks!
That was very enlightening. Great story.
# Posted on July 25th 2005 by sixholes
Whistle Problem
I started whistling on and off, but I keep a whistle in my case tho. I am having trouble D#. I need help on that!
# Posted on August 14th 2005 by paratroopers
The Carnival Band have recorded this
It's in the middle of a set of Bourrees on their fabulous album "Jump for Joy".
# Posted on December 19th 2005 by BohemianCoast
Dancing to this tune
I've danced to this tune played by Wild Asparagus. It's abolutely beautiful and powerful. It's played at the time when a waltz is played. To Ceol Cafe, I'm hitting those D#s by just half holing the D, and as I come down the notes, I just park my right ring finger against my right middle finger, and it just covers half the hole (or close enought).
# Posted on July 26th 2006 by tedsoulos
Winifred Horan plays this on the Solas Reunion CD and it is mesmorizing. One of those songs I had to drop everything and go learn it. She has a beautiful style of playing that seems unique to me.
# Posted on August 5th 2006 by nofrets
Crested Hens
Dear Members:
Global Graffiti Publishing is the U.S. publisher of “Crested Hens” (aka Les Poules Huppees). While we and Gilles Chabenat (the writer) appreciate your enthusiasm for the song, we would also like you to understand that posting just about anything other than its title or your commentary requires a license issued by the publisher.
This would include (but is not limited to) music notation of any kind, midi files and sound files, whether in streaming or downloadable form. To obtain a license (at a very reasonable cost, btw), visit the “Songfile” online licensing page at www.harryfox.com , or contact us directly at licensing@globalgraffiti.com . We will be happy to help you.
If you don't wish to obtain a license, then we must ask you to remove any licensable materials from your posts.
Some trivia: 1. The original title of The Crested Hens is Les Poules Huppees and was written by Gilles Chabenat in 1983. Solas recorded the song in 1995 and translated the French title into English, which literally means, The Crested Hens. This change of title was not authorized by Gilles, but has become the de facto title of the song in America, but almost nowhere else in the world. 2. Gilles is still very much alive and well, and many of his songs have been recorded by the best Celtic artists in the world. 3. Crested Hens has been recorded and released worldwide more than three dozen times. 4. Contrary to popular belief, the song is NOT public domain
Our sincere thanks,
Skip Adams
Global Graffiti Publishing
www.globalgraffiti.com
# Posted on July 2nd 2007 by blumuze
Global Graffiti PS
PS and FYI: You do not need a license to play Crested Hens in a live performance (or any song, for that matter). The license for a live performance is always the responsibility of the venue where you perform.
Skip Adams
Global Graffiti
# Posted on July 2nd 2007 by blumuze
Lyrics
As we know, many the same tune by many names.
However, as a poet & previous (arthritis) player ( guitar, autoharp, drum, piano) should there not be room o this Web site for poems/lyrics of which mine may easily & freely turned to tunes? i.e "Rideau Canal Celtic Cross Poems", three of which have already been turned to tunes? Just e-mail me for them at mikeheenan@rogers.com
# Posted on July 2nd 2007 by Wordsmith
i heard the solas verson of it, i absolutely love this tune! didn't know it was a composed by a frenchman
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by chansherly212
I love this tune. I learned this during the Maine Country Dance Fiddle Workshop, but it was called The Crested Hen. Lovely tune!
Sara
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by Celtic Lass
Como poden per sas culpas
Como poden per sas culpas (No. 166), is a Cantiga de Santa Maria; that is a Song in Praise of Saint Mary. These tunes were of both secular and court composition. They were written down in the 13th Century by order of King Alfonso 10th, the Wise (aka Alfonso X el Sabio (B1221-D1284)) of Galicia & Portugal. At this time there was a flowering of the arts & sciences under his reign.
The tunes were very popular in Portugal and Spain, and came over the Pyrnees mountains to France, and thence to the England and Ireland.
The link below, will take you to a pdf file of the music for Cantiga No. 166. You will find it is pretty close to what we call Crested Hens or Coxcombe Bouree in France. The arrangement is for Pipe & Tabor. A 3-hole pipe similar to a penny whistle and is played with just the left hand. The Tabor is a small drum suspended from the left wrist and struck with a stick in the right hand.
(http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=como+poden+cantiga&btnG=Google+Search)
If you search for Como Poden in Google you will also discover two YouTubes of different groups playing the tune with early music instrumentation.
There are over 300 Cantiga's de Santa Maria, one of the largest collections of monophonic (solo) songs from the middle ages.
Cantiga's were latter supressed by the Catholic Church for being too secular (read outside the church) and being a hold over from the more pagan Goddess worship tendencies of the peasant population. They were too popular!
There are many catchy tunes to be found here. The lyrics range from the devotional and spiritual to almost sexually lurid.
For instance, a more suspect lyric might describe the sins of a prostitute in rather suggestive terms by way of a warning; then she confesses her sins to Saint Mary, is forgiven and miraculously she made a virgin again. So that's OK.
Somehow the Holy See didn't quite see it that way, there being and Inquisition and all that.
Well that's my take on this tune. Check it out and see if you think so too.
# Posted on August 2nd 2008 by troisrive