Step Back Sally
by Christoph Maubach
CD with booklet

Teachers working with children of all ages - from babies to young adults - will find something useful on this recording, which also makes very enjoyable listening for all ages. Families interested in acoustic folk music would also find it valuable. The range of styles and instrumtentation is broad, from the hauntingly beautiful harp playing of Andy Rigby on the 'King of the Fairies', track through marimba and percussion arrangements such as the syncopated South African 'Pata Pata' (bass marimba with flute, guiro and other instruments), to the title track which has a catchy version of the game, sung by a lively and capable child.

In keeping with Christoph Maubach's deep involvement in multicultural music and the Orff movement, there are tracks from a wide range of countries - from an Italian 'Tarentella' to the Serbian 'Setnja' and 'Oina Oi' from the Philippines. Klezmer music is represented by 'Chava' , and the 'Fisherman's Dance' is from Germany.

Instruments are used in very effective arrangements, with both adult and children's voices, flute, recorders, guitar, violin, piano, marimbas, and untuned percussion.

The accompanying booklet contains the music of many tracks, and suggests folk dance or movement ideas for most tracks. Some can be used as songs, e.g. the round 'I Like the Flowers' . This makes the CD a very compact teaching resource with applications to group teaching at all levels.

All the pieces and dances on this recording could be used in some way with primary school children. Some of these pieces, such as the 'Rabbit Polka', the 'Carpet Maker' and the 'Fisherman's Dance' would be useful for preschool children, either using simplified versions of the dances given, for free movement improvisation, or for simple directed dances. They all have clearly differentiated sections which could be used at the most basic level of a circle dance for change of direction and copying actions of a leader.

Even secondary students could use these tracks as interesting listening examples, and recreating some of the arrangements or using them as the basis for their own music-making.

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