Ashokan Farewell by Jay Ungar

In the words of Jay Ungar............
I composed Ashokan Farewell in 1982 shortly after the summer programs had come to an end. I was experiencing a great feeling of loss and longing for the lifestyle and the community of people that had developed at Ashokan that summer. The transition from living in the woods with a small group of people who needed little excuse to celebrate the joy of living through music and dancing, back to life as usual, with traffic, disturbing newscasts, "important" telephone calls and impersonal relationships had been difficult. I was in tears when I wrote Ashokan Farewell . I kept the tune to myself for months, slightly embarrassed by the emotions that welled up whenever I played it.
Ashokan Farewell is written in the style of a Scottish lament or Irish Air. I sometimes introduce it as, "a Scottish lament written by a Jewish guy from the Bronx." (I lived in the Bronx untiI the age of 16.)
In 1983, our band, Fiddle Fever, was recording its second album, Waltz of the Wind. We needed another slow tune. We tried my yet unnamed lament. The arrangement came together in the studio very quickly with a beautiful guitar solo by Russ Barenberg, string parts by Evan Stover and plucked and bowed bass by Molly Mason. Molly suggested the title Ashokan Farewell.
Arranged for Violin and Piano with optional guitar and bass