Description
A recreation of the folksong “What shall we do with a drunken sailor” using the Delphine mode (D-D#-E-F-F#-Bflat-B-C), mixed in with the original Dorian mode (D-E-F-G-A-B-C).
The harbour is based vaguely on Clovelly (where my great grandfather was a sailor, but not a drunken one!)
The Delphine mode is introduced on the flute, the oboe then brings in the Dorian mode with an underlying countermelody to the original folksong, and the basson echoes the Delphine mode.
As the characters are introduced, the folksong resounds in the Delphine mode and the Dorian mode peeps in from time to time, mainly on the oboe.
Delphine is nervous about the sailor at first, but Dorian suggests that he is harmless, albeit a little unsteady on his feet.
The three of them end up dancing along the harbour’s cobbled street.