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Theme Of The Month For June, 2015: Waltzes


Jim Besser

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I first heard this song last year at a workshop given by Pascal Gemme of the Quebecois group Genticorum . He said it was from an animated documentary called Crac! by Frederic Back, which chronicles the history of Quebec through the eyes of a rocking chair. The soundtrack was done by the group Le Reve du Diable and the film won an Oscar in the 80s

 

Here is the film- entire soundtrack is traditional Quebecois music

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsWU-nksQWA

 

And here is my meager attempt:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2z8mprBtlA

 

Hardly meager! Well done. Never heard that one before.

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Whilst working on brightening my "Jamie Allen / Vedder Michel" thing (and before getting round to listening to these lots of new waltzes) I decided to repost one of mine (which I always wanted to improve on but didn't spare time as yet):

 

Tennessy Waltz

New contrib(s) (from my side too) to follow...

 

 

Nicely done. A classic waltz in this part of the world!

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Fickle Moon, by our own Jody Kruskal.

 

I play this in Squeezers, but with the group I either play just melody or just rhythm. I wanted to do this solo because I've had a hard time figuring out the best way to do both because of the chording and the limitations of a 30 button Anglo. And I'd like it to flow more smoothly.

 

Like most of Jody's tunes, this one is really worth the effort. Fickle Moon is in his first tunebook, Feet in the Clouds. Both his books are full of great tunes; I highly recommend them. http://jodykruskal.com/buy_stuff.html

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Here's the lovely waltz Candles in the Dark, by Jonathan Jensen, a bassist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and pianist for various English country dance and contra dance groups. I believe there is a popular English country dance that goes with the tune. I've played this in both my current bands, but never solo, which is a whole different kettle of fish.

 

That's lovely too, Jim - has an impressive melancholic feel to it, which I like a lot; might give it a try myself at some point, guess yiu got me hooked...

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I love playing waltzes, and shall try to ration myself this month. But here's one I've known most of my life that I thought might sit well on the concertina:

 

http://youtu.be/Y09YfCt5y4U

 

It's most often called "My Own House Waltz" in American old-time music circles, though it has other names as well, particularly in Scotland, where I believe it originated. Appropriately, I recorded it in my own house.

 

Bob Michel

Near Philly

 

You're really giving us a treat, Bob! Besides, nice cuts that you're playing...

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Eagle's Whisper Waltz (arranged and played by Ralph Jordan and Irene Shettle)

A Maccann duet duet put together by Ralph Jordan and myself for a show that we produced on the life and work of Lucy Broadwood, the Victorian folksong collector and researcher. The original tune was collected by Lucy in 1906 in Cappoquin, County Waterford from a young lady named Bridget Geary. In the six months of rehearsal of the show the tune became somewhat changed (mostly due, I suspect to Ralph's ministrations), and ,as he said during one of our shows when I referred to Lucy probably spinning in her grave at the changes ... "yeah... we made it better ... it's the folk process innit?"
Truth to tell, having gone back to the original I think he was right. Whatever the case, it was fun to play it together, and I still find it infectious and cheerful. The basic tune is played by me (I had only been playing for about six or seven months when we embarked on it all); the embellishments, arabesques and pirouettes around it are all his (and rather lovely they were too). It changed with every playing thanks to his skills at improvisation. This was a live performance for a fundraising concert for the choir that I had sung with for many years.

https://soundcloud.com/surreysinger/eagles-whisper-waltz

Edited by Irene S.
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I first heard this song last year at a workshop given by Pascal Gemme of the Quebecois group Genticorum . He said it was from an animated documentary called Crac! by Frederic Back, which chronicles the history of Quebec through the eyes of a rocking chair. The soundtrack was done by the group Le Reve du Diable and the film won an Oscar in the 80s

 

Here is the film- entire soundtrack is traditional Quebecois music

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsWU-nksQWA

 

And here is my meager attempt:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2z8mprBtlA

 

Can't find it that meager - smooth and sweet, and a nice smile in the end...

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Whilst working on brightening my "Jamie Allen / Vedder Michel" thing (and before getting round to listening to these lots of new waltzes) I decided to repost one of mine (which I always wanted to improve on but didn't spare time as yet):

 

Tennessy Waltz

New contrib(s) (from my side too) to follow...

 

Love the combination of tunes Wolf, good upbeat music to get my day going!

 

 

Thanks a lot for listening to my TOTM WIP track, very happy to have cheered you with it...

 

Best wishes - Wolf

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Besides, nice cuts that you're playing...

Thanks, Wolf. You beat me to the punch, since I wanted to say how much I enjoyed your take on "The Tennessee Waltz." I'm always impressed to hear something new in an old chestnut, and you certainly accomplished that. Lovely harmonies.

 

Here are a couple more:

 

http://youtu.be/VegRJRstlVA

 

http://youtu.be/wFahjdCbYFo

 

"The Cabri Waltz" comes from the prairies of Canada and/or the U.S. (Cabri is a town in Saskatchewan). It is, or used to be, an American old-time standard; again, I probably learned it back in the '70s from the indispensable Highwoods String Band. And "La complainte du folkloriste" is a tune from Québec, a composition of the late Philippe Bruneau.

 

I really enjoyed the contrast in style and mood between these two Northern tunes when I was recording them. "Waltz" covers a lot of ground--much like "Canada," actually.

 

Bob Michel

Near Philly

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Here's the lovely waltz . . . Candles_In_the_Dark_\by Jonathan Jensen, . . . I believe there is a popular English country dance that goes

with the tune.

The dance has the same name. It's by Loretta Holz. There are several YouTube videos of people dancing it to various bands.

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Eagle's Whisper Waltz (arranged and played by Ralph Jordan and Irene Shettle)

 

A Maccann duet duet put together by Ralph Jordan and myself for a show that we produced on the life and work of Lucy Broadwood, the Victorian folksong collector and researcher. The original tune was collected by Lucy in 1906 in Cappoquin, County Waterford from a young lady named Bridget Geary. In the six months of rehearsal of the show the tune became somewhat changed (mostly due, I suspect to Ralph's ministrations), and ,as he said during one of our shows when I referred to Lucy probably spinning in her grave at the changes ... "yeah... we made it better ... it's the folk process innit?"

Truth to tell, having gone back to the original I think he was right. Whatever the case, it was fun to play it together, and I still find it infectious and cheerful. The basic tune is played by me (I had only been playing for about six or seven months when we embarked on it all); the embellishments, arabesques and pirouettes around it are all his (and rather lovely they were too). It changed with every playing thanks to his skills at improvisation. This was a live performance for a fundraising concert for the choir that I had sung with for many years.

 

https://soundcloud.com/surreysinger/eagles-whisper-waltz

Very nice. Excellent arrangement with the two duets.

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With the following couple of tunes I'm returning to the cheerful side... :)

 

Heißa Kathreinerle - Och flickan hon går i dansen

For information about the tunes (both from my time at primary school, taken up with the concertina these days thanks to Jim B!) see my SC page - as always, any comments welcome...

 

Best wishes - Wolf

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Here's an original composition of mine, Ryedale Waltz. Named, like most of my tunes after a local placename.

 

http://alonetone.com/tootlingeoff/tracks/rydale-waltz-1.mp3

 

Played on CG Anglo, Bass & Alto Recorders and Tenor Ukulele.

That's real lovely, Geoff - both the composition and the playing / producing - and I'm very happy that I can say that your recorders are finally fitting in perfectly in any respect to my ears!

 

Best wishes - Wolf

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