Anne Gregson Tunes On The Web

[Chris Timson]

Hi all,

 

The ICA's latest Concertina World arrived today together with the Music Supplement and - deep joy! - my partner Anne is this issue's featured composer. This means some 20 of her tunes are printed therein.

 

For the benefit of those individuals who have not - yet - got round to joining the ICA and also to supplement the Supplement with sound recordings I have put up a web page here. I have recordings of all the tunes (except for a couple I nicked off our CD) played by Anne on her Aeola. This is the first time I have settled down and consciously tried to achieve something approaching studio quality on the recordings, so I'd also appreciate any constructive criticism of the quality.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

 

PS As well as Anne's stuff there are a lot of traditional Dutch tunes contributed by Pauline de Snoo. A brief glance suggests they are mostly in sensible keys ...

[m3838]

Only I thought that Varsovienne is Polish Revolutionary song, the name deriving from Polish Capital, Warshawa (or Warsaw)

No?

[Ron123]

Hello Chris

 

Thank you for the mp3 tunes by Anne Gregson. I had received the ICA supplement a couple of days ago and tried to get the tunes from the web-site given in the supplement, but without success. So I was really pleased to be able to to download these lovely tunes!

 

Thank you

Ron123

[Chris Timson]

Only I thought that Varsovienne is Polish Revolutionary song, the name deriving from Polish Capital, Warshawa (or Warsaw)

You may be right, for all we know. What you read is what we have been told. I am not an expert either in Viennese waltzes or Polish revolutionary songs. The only thing I will say is that the only other varsovienne I know is most definitely a waltz.

 

Thank you for the mp3 tunes by Anne Gregson. I had received the ICA supplement a couple of days ago and tried to get the tunes from the web-site given in the supplement, but without success. So I was really pleased to be able to to download these lovely tunes!

Many apologies. It took us longer (at what proved to be a very busy time for both of us) to get the recordings done than we expected. I have told Anne that you like her tunes.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

 

PS Misha it looks like we're both right and wrong:-

A French dance, named after the French word for "Warsaw" ("Varsovie "). It is in 3/4 time with a moderate tempo; the varsovienne originated in the 1850's and combined elements of the mazurka and the waltz.

At least, if it's a type of dance, Anne is definitely entitled to name a tune Concertina Varsovienne!

[Leo]

Thanks

Appreciate your efforts. A nice way to spend an afternoon. I enjoyed them.

 

Thanks

Leo

Edited December 22, 2007 by Leo

[JimLucas]

Only I thought that Varsovienne is Polish Revolutionary song, the name deriving from Polish Capital, Warshawa (or Warsaw)

You may be right, for all we know. What you read is what we have been told. I am not an expert either in Viennese waltzes or Polish revolutionary songs. The only thing I will say is that the only other varsovienne I know is most definitely a waltz.

 

PS Misha it looks like we're both right and wrong:-

A French dance, named after the French word for "Warsaw" ("Varsovie "). It is in 3/4 time with a moderate tempo; the varsovienne originated in the 1850's and combined elements of the mazurka and the waltz.

At least, if it's a type of dance, Anne is definitely entitled to name a tune Concertina Varsovienne!

Poland was once considered to be culturally on a par with Austria and France, and Krakow (Cracow) was compared to Vienna and Paris. I don't remember dates, but I think 1850 was included in that period. Combine this with European society's penchant for dance fads derived from regional folk dances (isn't schottische French for "Scottish"?) and we get the mazurka (in Polish that should mean something from Mazura, the Polish lake district), the polska (meaning "Polish" in both Polish and Swedish), krakowiak (in Polish, something from Krakow), polonaise (French for "Polish"?), and yes, varsovienne ("Warsaw-ish" in French?). Some form of each of these has survived until recently in the folk cultures of various nations. Swedes are very clear that their national dance came originally from Poland, and a few polska tunes in contemporary use are virtually the same as old Polish tunes. Dances called "mazurka", "polonaise", and "varsovienne" were still known at least in Australia and America when I was young (possibly even today), and I'm told that "mazurka" is still a popular dance in some parts of Ireland. Certainly, Irish tunes called mazurka are still popular; in fact, I think they make some of the best tunes for the hambo, a variant of the Swedish polska.

 

So Varsovienne is a kind of dance, presumably originally associated with Warsaw. It's also the name applied to various tunes intended for such a dance, or at least intended to be in the style of other Varsovienne tunes. Examples: there are six "Varsoviennas" in the book Folk Songs of Australia, one "Varsoviana" in 358 Danske Folkedansemelodier (358 Danish Folk-Dance Tunes), and instructions for the dance in Lloyd Shaw's Cowboy Dances. I'm sure there must be examples in various tune collections, though I haven't time to search further for them right now.

 

Misha isn't wrong. The name, after all, just means that it's something from, about, or otherwise associated with Warsaw. Here is a link to the lyrics of the song, in both French and Russian, with an incomplete English translation of the Russian lyrics. Meanwhile, Wikipedia has an entry with both French and Polish lyrics, and an English translation of the Polish.

 

But "varsovienne" is definitely also the name of a dance. Originally not just a waltz, but at least having a waltz-like section.

Good one, Anne!

[Stephen Chambers]

I am not an expert either in Viennese waltzes or Polish revolutionary songs. The only thing I will say is that the only other varsovienne I know is most definitely a waltz.

Chris,

 

I was just about to chime in with "Oh no it isn't" (well it is the panto season! ) when I saw your PS.

 

Though the name was sometimes corrupted to the Waltz Vienna by traditional musicians in England, the tune is not a waltz at all and really a mazurka. According to the British Library Catalogue La Varsovienne seems to have first appeared in print in England in the year 1841 as "La Varsovienne, a Polish national air, [begins: "Rouse for our day"] ... arr. by Miss A. Cowell", followed by "La Varsovienne. Mazurka nationale pour piano ... Op: 102. No. 2" by Eduard Wolff circa 1845. For a while, mainly in the mid-19th century, La Varsovienne spawned a whole fashionable varsovienne genre of its own, at a time when such exotic dances were not uncommon in ballrooms, including "The Eugénie, Varsovienne" [1855], "Wanda, Varsovienne pour le piano" [1855], "The Lily, Varsovienne" [1858], "L’Eliza varsovienne" [1860], "Rosina, 1re Varsovienne pour Piano" [1860], "Josepha. 2em̀e Varsovienne pour Piano" [1861], "The World’s Society. Varsovienne for Piano" [1896] and "Society Life. Varsovienne" [1901] etc. So "Anne is [undoubtedly] entitled to name a tune Concertina Varsovienne".

 

La Varsovienne has it's very own steps, that have often been spontaneously danced to my playing of the tune at sessions here in West Clare, though locally it would be better known by the name "Shoe the Donkey" . (Mind you, in Cornwall it's Turkey rhubarb! )

[geoffwright]

The Varsovienne used to be a popular dance in the North East (Northumbria), we still still play them regularly.