Period Fiddle Tunes Collections

[eric marten]

A lot of fiddlers and other musicians may be interested in a collection I've used for over 20 years, and one of the best. It is William Litten's Fiddle Tunes 1800-1802, edited by Gale Huntington, published by Hines Point Publishers. It came out in 1977 and is still available. The original manuscripts are in the library of the Dukes County Historical Society in Edgartown, Massauchusetts. Litton was aboard a British fleet consisting of 16 war vessels that set sail for the far east in 1800. Each ship had a musician, and Litton was one of these musicians, a fiddler, as well as cook. The editing of the book is kept to a bare minimum, primarily just making the tunes legible. Most of these tunes survived up through the 19th century. At the end of the book (over 120 tunes), there is an extensive bibliography, and notes on the tunes. Many familiar tunes (Welcome Here Again), some of the earliest references to Waltzes, and some very interesting titles, and spellings (When In War On The Ochen) . A good photo of a period violin and case (but don't regard as period the other photo of Huntington playing his non-period violin with chin rest, modern strings and fine tuners).

ERic Marten
Franklin Square, N.Y.

[33rdaladrummer]

Re: Period Fiddle Tunes Collections

Your recommendation sounds like a good tunebook, but it brings up a question that sometimes comes up when discussing sources for tunes played in the 1860's. Is it safe to assume that a tune played 60 years before the war would have still been known in 1860?

Perhaps it is a different story with fiddle tunes, but take for example the tune, "Turkish March", known to many fifers today. It's definitely old enough, but is it too old?

On the other hand, there are many examples that seem to contradict this line of reasoning (Soldier's Joy, College Hornpipe).

[eric marten]

Re: Period Fiddle Tunes Collections

Will:
The answer is, yes , absolutely, many tunes popular in the late 18th century and early 19th century, would still have been played in the 1860's. Indeed, may are still played by traditional fiddlers and other musicians today, in the Appalachians, eastern Canada, and other areas as part of the on-going folk process, completely unrelated to "historical re-enactors". Some of the tunes in the Litton manuscripts from 1800-1802, still played often during the Civil War, are: Go to the Devil and Shake Youself, The White Cochead (yes - miss-spelled) My Love She's But A Lassie Yet, Lord McDonald's Reel, Yankee Doodle, Sir Roger DeCoverly's Reel, Speed the Plow, The New Rigged Ship,. etc etc. I could go on and on. And , of course, the one you mentioned, College Hornpipe, although miss-spelled Collage Hornpipe is in the Litton Collection. This tune later acquired the name Sailor's Hornpipe, as it became popular among British sailors. Turkish March, which you mention, is, I believe, originally composed by Mozart as part of one of his piano sonatas.

Eric Marten
Franklin Square, N.Y.

[33rdaladrummer]

Re: Period Fiddle Tunes Collections

Still there are many tunes that evolve into another form or seem to die out completely. Some older tunes would have sounded outdated to mid nineteenth century ears.

[eric marten]

Re: Period Fiddle Tunes Collections

Will:
I certainly can't argue with that. No one today is an eye-witness to the time period we are speaking about. A tune's appearance in a book (published) or a private manuscript (unpublished) from the time period is not a guarantee that it was popular at any given time. But if a particular tune or variation appears in multiple collections, at least that's an indicator of its popularity.
Fiddlers, perhaps more than fifers, are an odd lot (myself included) and usually conservative (musically, not politically) as compared to classical violinists, not as willing to venture onto new styles and genres. The genre of fiddle tunes,-- jigs, reels, hornpipes, strasthspeys, airs, marches, polkas, waltzes, minstrel tunes, etc. do not rapidly change. New imaginations result in composing new tunes in the same styles and structures, for the most part.
The 18th century Irish tune, The Rose Tree, evolved into the American minstrel fiddle tune Old Zip Coon (later, Turkey in the Straw), while the original Irish tune still flourished and is still popular today. The 17th century (yes 17th century) violin sonata number 9, 4th movement, of the great Italian composer Arcangelo Corelli, (1653-1713) evolved into the early 19th century American fiddle tune Hull's Victory. The 18th century French Revolutionary song, The Downfall of Paris
evolved into the American Fiddle Tune Mississippi Sawyer, while the original tune still remained popular.
What is great (to me) is that one never gets too old to learn new things. This forum is absolutely wonderful. As a music historian and performer at a Living History museum, I wish I had found it earlier.
It's great communicating with you and all others on this forum.

Eric Marten
Franklin Square, N.Y.

[33rdaladrummer]

Re: Period Fiddle Tunes Collections

Eric,

You will enjoy this one if you haven't seen it yet.

http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/%7Erja14/musicfiles/rook/

[anniemcu]

Re: Period Fiddle Tunes Collections

And Will, what a great treasure that Rook's Manuscript is!! Thanks so much for posting that. I can't wait to see the the fiddler's face when i show it to him.

As for authenticity of tunes, I think there is something to be said for the idea that, if a tune was published, there was bound to be someone who knew or learned it, and any musician who knew any tune would be apt to bring it out at some point in the lulls of the war.

Music was not just for keeping spirits high, but for expressing emotions that were not commonly dealt with in the open otherwise, like loss, fears, despair... an experienced player might well have played every tune he knew, and there have always been folks who can recall a tune after only hearing it once or twice (alas, I am not one of those people). And tunes made popular after earlier wars are frequently brought out of memory by present wars. This is part of why some tunes are still popular in traditional music circles even centuries after their initial introduction.

Cheers,
Sarah McUmber-House