Ottava Rima Brings Music From Daniel Boone’s Era To Life During Daniel Boone Days

Story by Amy Cooke and Sam Calhoun

The educational components of Daniel Boone Days—Boone’s new annual music and culture festival planned for September 4, 5 and 6—stretch far beyond the inaugural Daniel Boone Symposium with Robert Morgan on Friday, September 5. In addition to educational lectures and panel discussions, Daniel Boone Days also features two offerings of live music from Boone’s Ottava Rima, a band that plays music that Daniel Boone would have heard during his lifetime.

Ottava Rima is comprised of Karl Doege, Allen Kindt, Amy Cooke and Tricia Hall. The band plays from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 4, for the Daniel Boone Days Open House and Social at Daniel Boone Days Headquarters, located at 130 N. Depot Street in downtown Boone. Admission is free. The band also plays from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. on Saturday, September 6, for the Pioneer Festival at the Horn, Daniel Boone Days’ music and culture festival at Horn in the West in Boone. Admission is $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Tickets are available at Daniel Boone Days Headquarters or by calling Horn in the West at 828-264-2120.

Ottava Rima plays music from all periods, from very early to contemporary, but focuses on music from Daniel Boone’s time including Telemann, Corelli, Buxtehude and Bach. Cooke, Doege and Hall play recorders all of sizes including great bass, bass, tenor, alto, soprano, sopranino and garklein. ASU Professor Emeritus and concert pianist Allen Kindt plays harpsichord.

Recorders and harpsichords were used for classical and folk music during Daniel Boone’s lifetime.

Robert Morgan, author of Boone: A Biography and featured speaker at the Daniel Boone Days Symposium, helped the group prepare for their Daniel Boone Days musical programs.

“Boone’s mother was Welsh, and both she and he loved to sing. So traditional Welsh songs such as ‘The Ash Grove’ would be relevant,” said Morgan. “Also the great Welsh hymns and tunes such as ‘Cwm Rhonda.’ And later songs such as ‘Shenandoah’ might be relevant too.”

Ottava Rima members researched Welsh hymns and folk songs and found sheet music so they could play them during Daniel Boone Days. The Library of Congress provided sheet music for “All Through the Night,” “The Ash Grove” and more folk songs from Wales. The band also found harpsichord music there including “Fantasia on Welsh Melodies” and “The Flying Indian or Daniel Boone and the New Basket Cotillion.”

The group has performed at Lees-McRae College, ASU, Wilkes Art Gallery, Hickory Ridge Homestead and the Appalachian Cultural Museum. They play at weddings, parties and funerals, and share programs with churches, schools, hospitals and nursing homes.

Some members have been playing recorders for decades while others began playing more recently. Ottava Rima conducts a class for beginners and those who are working on playing the instrument.

Prior to Daniel Boone Days, Ottava Rima will play for the 10:45 a.m. service at Boone United Methodist Church on Sunday, August 24, and at the 9:45 a.m. service at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Valle Crucis on Sunday, August 31.

For more information, email amycookehcp@bellsouth.net.