Jump to content

Theme Of The Month, February 2014: French Waltzes And Mazurkas


Jim Besser

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 55
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Thanks,

 

Geoff : "laid back" is because of my kind of pajamas when I took the video?... :)

 

BES : Glad to have given you desire to learn this tune! Sorry I don't have score but I think it is easy to learn it by ear.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BES : Glad to have given you desire to learn this tune! Sorry I don't have score but I think it is easy to learn it by ear.

 

Yes, I've quickly got melody and chords from your recording, it's fun to play; however I'll have to work out something replacing the oomp-pah... :)

 

Will provide my recording shortly.

 

Best wishes - Wolf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My practice time is still quite limited, but I've managed to randomly choose a French Mazurka to learn and here it is:

 

https://soundcloud.com/7wheels-1/mazurka-des-ecoliers-de-saint

 

My internet sources say that it was composed by Gilles Chabenat and is called "mazurka des écoliers de Saint Genest".

 

I'm still not quite clear as to what contributes to the essential Mazurkaness of a piece. If anyone has views on this I'd like to know!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My practice time is still quite limited, but I've managed to randomly choose a French Mazurka to learn and here it is:

 

https://soundcloud.com/7wheels-1/mazurka-des-ecoliers-de-saint

 

My internet sources say that it was composed by Gilles Chabenat and is called "mazurka des écoliers de Saint Genest".

 

I'm still not quite clear as to what contributes to the essential Mazurkaness of a piece. If anyone has views on this I'd like to know!

 

Interesting tune; it's going on my to-learn list!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mazurkas as played in France are slower than waltzes and have a more marked rhythm perhaps something like:

 

O-N-E, t, three ( slight hesitation). O-N-E, t ,three.

 

A metronome speed of about 60 beats per minute ( whereas Waltzes can be 70 to 80 bpm)... but speed varies from region to region and sometimes are very slow.

 

Tona's playing is a good example , listen to his slight hésitations going into each bar, how he keeps the 'Pa -Pa's on the left hand very clipped.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<snip>

I'm still not quite clear as to what contributes to the essential Mazurkaness of a piece. If anyone has views on this I'd like to know!

There was a discussion on this very topic a while ago, http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=7057 which covers the main points, but a good very rough rule of thumb is that if it's ONE-two-three ONE-two-three it's a waltz, whereas if it's one-two-three one-two-three it's more likely to be a mazurka.

 

Gilles Chabenat plays hurdy-gurdy, and the trompette (the part of the gurdy that gives the buzzing emphasis) is used very differently on the two types of tune as I've tried to calligraphically illustrate above.

 

It's all quite subtle gradations of tempo and emphasis that I find very hard to put into words but can hear and (hopefully) play. Have a listen to Gilles, La Chavannee, Trio Patrick Bouffard, and Blowzabella to name but some, and the difference will hopefully become apparent (and even if it doesn't, any time spent listening to those guys is always a joy).

 

Another sure-fire way of telling is that if my wife gets me up to dance it's a mazurka, whereas if she leaves me to play the tune it's a waltz :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting tune; it's going on my to-learn list!

 

 

The music I used to learn... though not exactly what I ended up playing:

 

X:1

T:Mazurka des ecoliers de Saint-Genest

M:3/4

K:Emin

L:1/8

E FE|:B2 Bc de|B3 B cB|A2 BA GF|G2 EE FE|B2 Bc de|

B3 B cB|A2 BA GF|1 E3 E FE:|2 E4 ed|]: c2 cB cd|

e3 e dc|B2 BA Bc|BG E2 ed|c2 cB cd|e3 e dc|

B2 AG FG|1 F2 E2 ed:|2 E3 E FE|] E6 |]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

Hello!

 

This is my first post on concertina.net. I have a very easy time finding the ABC notation for irish tunes but have had no luck in finding it for these french waltzes and mazurkas. Does anybody know of a website with such a resource or can anyone let me "stand" on their shoulders by sharing their tunes with me?

I loved all the contributions for the month of February!

 

Thank you

Bruno

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...