Les Draveurs de la Gatineau
by Stephen Hatfield
4-Part - Sheet Music

SATB choir and piano

SKU: C3.CP-1204

Composed by Stephen Hatfield. Arranged by Stephen Hatfield. Folk song. Octavo. 12 pages. Cypress Choral Music #CP 1204. Published by Cypress Choral Music (C3.CP-1204).

I learned this piece from a lady singing in her kitchen. Robert Fillion, who introduced me to the song and commissioned the arrangement, was also invaluable in checking the accuracy of my manuscript. I arranged the song as the kind of waltz the loggers and raftsmen would have danced to as they celebrated the end of the drive, and I imagine the accompaniment having something of the driving, percussive edge of a player piano.

The text illustrates some of the hardships of the raftsman's life, but also the pride taken in meeting those hardships. I think it's a telling detail that the trading post of Monsieur Gouin is on a green lawn, a symbol of human order imposed on the wilderness.

Please ensure the number of copies you order matches the number of singers in your choir.