Gloucester's Bargain with the Sea
John Watson Parlor Melodies
featured in performances of
Written and produced by Chester Brigham
In the musical narrative "The Fiddling Fisherman," Rick Doucette (Director of the Cape Ann YMCA, actor in many productions staged by Rockport's Theatre in the Pines and the Gloucester Stage Company) takes the part of a shipmate of John Jay Watson, recounting the shipwreck-to-fame story of Gloucester's fiddling fisherman with gusto in the dialect of the waterfront. Dr. Jeffrey Stockman on violin (Gloucester pediatrician, member of the first violin section of the Cape Ann Symphony Orchestra) and Nina Bergeron on piano (professional pianist, organist and music instructor) perform spirited renditions of Watson melodies that were popular across America in their day.
These simple but lively and tuneful melodies typify the kind of music Americans were listening to and playing in their homes at the height of the parlor music craze after the Civil War until the arrival of the phonograph around 1900. It was music that represented domestic comfort and close family ties as the nation sought healing after the turmoil of war.
"The Fiddling Fisherman" has been performed several times in the Cape Ann area. Here are photos taken at the performances.