The Deep Blue Sea melody is drawn from the vast traditional American folk
repertory. It fits well on recorders, and this setting gives each player an opportunity
to play the tune.

I learned this folksong in the oral/ aural tradition, and used to teach it in my first teaching job in elementary schools in New Britain, CT, in 1960. I never saw the tune in print until I arranged it for recorders.

The complete melody appears in the soprano at the beginning in G major and again in the tenor at measure 17 in C major. The initial measures of the tune appear again in the soprano at bar 29, this time in a supporting role over the top of the tenor melody. (text continued in download)