Peter Ellis's Introduction to Collector's Choice Volume 2
Introduction
The music in this volume has in
the main been adapted from accordion or concertina playing and is therefore
often simpler, but sometimes embellished, compared to the original tune. It is
divided into two main sections Country Dances, and Quadrilles.
Country Music &
Arrangements
THE COUNTRY DANCES consist generally of long sets, circular
sets and sets of Sicilian formation.
The Signature Tune:
Wherever possible the first and
last tune in a bracket should be the "dance's own tune" the
"signature tune". It will generally be the one to which the dance
fits best, and to which the dancers will be most familiar, and will tell them
what to do and when. The return to the signature tune at the conclusion of the
bracket of set tunes heralds the completion of the dance and is a useful signal
to both dancers and support musicians.
Brackets of Tunes in a Dance, and the Arrangement:
The other tunes in the bracket
need to be in a similar style to the signature tune, but the selection does
allow some variety of choice so that bands need not all be playing the same
arrangements, with the exception of the opening tune.
Originally only one tune was used
for a Country Dance. This, with the old bush musicians, was often the case also
with a Quadrille figure or couple's dance.
There is no reason why bands
should not stick to one or two tunes it's often better for the dancers than
complicated arrangements. However, with Country Dances the lead musician and
caller will need to take careful note of the head couples so that he and/or she
remembers exactly when to wind up the dance. From this point of view a slightly
more elaborate arrangement of three tunes will aid as a reference point for the
musicians and caller.
For example, a long set of seven
couples can be arranged so that three tunes played twice (commencing with the
signature tune) matches six times through the dance, and a return to the
opening tune played once concludes the set. Sometimes it is quite in order to
have the bracket arranged so that the dance is performed twice through. This is
particularly applicable with short four couple sets such as Flying Pieman,
Thady You Gander, Strip The Willow and the Haymaker. On the other hand it would
not be desirable for a 6 or 7 couple set of longer duration, such as the Waves
of Tory or the Virginia Reel. Once through these dances is usually quite
sufficient except under special circumstances when the dancers obviously
indicate they would like a repeat. And then this must be directed by approval
of the M.C.
Special arrangements of exact
numbers of tunes are not so necessary for the circle and progressive Sicilian
dances, as quite obviously there is not a fixed number of couples. The number
of times the dance can be played is dependant on the crowd on the night. Raw
beginners may like a few more times through the dance, after they've got the
hang of it. Experienced dancers may have had "elegant sufficiency"
with a bracket no longer in duration than the equivalent of a 7 couple long
set. A shorter bracket with room for an encore is a better alternative than a
long arrangement that becomes an endurance test. A dancing M.C. can best judge
these situations and indicate to the band to wind up, except that in modern
times the bands are often left to judge for themselves.
Some simple arrangement does at
least provide the musicians with a working situation with perhaps an
understanding that they may have to stop early, or play on. Either way, if
possible, conclude with the opening signature tune.
Choice of Support Tunes
Apart from needing to be in a
similar style to the signature tune, support tunes can be arranged in themes.
It is preferable to use Irish tunes in brackets for Irish dances, and likewise
Scottish tunes for Scottish dances. This will also often ensure the bracket suits
the style of footwork or "stepping" required in relation to the
country of origin. Some dances do not require this special emphasis in
comparison; a few are common to several parts of Britain and in this case a
corresponding variety of tunes can make an interesting arrangement.
Some of the dances have an
historical association in Australia and I don't believe enough use has been
made of our own collected "anonymous" set tunes. The Flying Pieman
and Colonials Quadrille are examples of some dances well suited to an
Australian selection. Some of these tunes are in Volume I of Collector's
Choice, and there are some good tunes in Bush Dance by David
Johnston, and Folk Songs of Australia by John Meredith and Hugh
Anderson. Volume 2 of Folk Songs of Australia should be available at the
time of release of this book.
Repeats in a Set Tune
It is convenient to refer to the
first 8 bars of a set tune (for example, Cock 0' The North) as "A",
and the second strain as "B". Thus the tune played AB equals 16
bars. This might be used for a couples' dance such as the Gay Gordons or
Highland Schottische where it is better for the dancers to have AB equalling once
through the dance; the B usually matching the latter waltz section of the
dance. However, in the older country dances, and in the quadrilles, it is
better to play A-A-B-B in which the first strain is repeated, and then the
second strain; thus equalling 32 bar multiples. Occasionally, however, two
tunes of A-B might be better than one of A-A-B-B. Fig. 3 of the Lancers comes
to mind here where the 16 bars (A-B) of one tune can be used for the basket,
and the change into the star and promenade is emphasised better by a change
into a different tune of 1 6 bars.
The use of multiples of A and B
can be a quick and easy reference in helping musicians to play special
arrangements. For example, a dance that requires 4x24 bar phrasing. The
musicians will quickly understand "two tunes, play A-A-B each and repeat
from the beginning". Likewise, Thady You Gander (40 bar fig.) requires to
be played A-A-A-B-B. If the musicians find this difficult to remember while
playing (the ear players can watch for the change in the figurework), they may
prefer to add an 8 bar section (C) from another tune. Thus C-A-A-B-B would also
suit Thady You Gander. (But A-A-B-B-C, or A-A-B-B-B would not coincide with the
figurework.) Similarly with the Waves of Tory (7 couples) A-A-B-A-A-B-B-B suits
the figurework best, although the musos can find this harder to remember. Once
again the ear players can more easily remember the pattern by playing to the
dancers' respective figurework. For those who play only by music, I have
written it in such a way that if played with the repeats it will come out as
A-A-B-A-A-B-B-B.
Tempo:
Guidelines to tempos have been
given in accordance with that summarised in Vol.1. Generally with 2/4 and 6/8
Country Dances 60-62 bars/min. is comfortable. Some dances can be played a
little "up tempo" (63-64 bars/min.) and this will be popular in many
modern bush dance scenes in which the participants are of a younger age range.
Certainly it is better to have music slightly on the fast side than too slow.
However, bands need to be sensible about tempos and quite obviously music above
64 bars/min. will not be enjoyable, even to the young fry, who also need at
least some time to manage footwork and to perform average style figurework.
Experience, of course, helps, and it can be hard for new musicians to gauge
correct tempo. Reference tunes can be of some assistance here.
Reference Tunes:
I found the Circassian Circle tune
(1) difficult to gauge because of its "double time", but not so hard
if I mulled a well-known set tune such as Red Wing through my mind first, or
even used 4 bars of the Barren Rocks O'Aden as the introduction. Similarly with
the Highland Schottische, it is easy to play the Keel Row far too fast. But
everyone knows the song tempo of Click Go The Shears or Waltzing Matilda which
although are Plain Schottisches or Barn Dances, will nevertheless set the
correct tempo also for a Highland Schottische. (So I think through Click Go The
Shears before striking up with the Keel Row.)
Similarly with 6/8 jigs one can
use the song "I've Got A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts", or
"Mademoiselle From Armentiers" as a tempo guide.
Waltzes, of course, can be the
hardest to keep down to tempo. Harry McQueen pointed out that the Merry Widow
is a good tune to have in a bracket as a tempo setter. Plaisir d'Amour and Your
Smile Tonight Mother Dear are two others.
The Quadrille Music
Arrangements:
Examples of Quadrille music are
illustrated in the relevant section. It is suffice for me to explain here the
general style of arrangements that I have used. One tune corresponds with 1st
couple active, or 1st and 2nd in unison as the case may be (i.e. 1st time
through the figure). A change into a second tune occurs when 2nd couple is
active, or 3rd and 4th couples in unison (i.e. 2nd time through the figure).
The bracket is then played through again for the next repeat with 3rd couple
active, or back to 1st and 2nd together, etc.
Thus 1st and 3rd written above the
music means 1st and 3rd times through the figure, and not necessarily 1st and
3rd couples although this will be the case when each couple lead off the
figure singularly.
The figures can vary according to
versions and therefore it is necessary for musicians to read the fine print for
each figure. There needs to be prior consultation with the caller about
versions of figures relative to the number of bars involved.
Alternatively the musicians may
prefer to use one tune of simple 8-bar phrasing A-B per figure and not worry
about versions. In this case they simply play on until the M.C. indicates to
stop (at the nearest possible end of phrase). This, in fact, is how it operates
in the country.
If using any of the given
Quadrille music for the Country Dances or Couple's Dances, remember to check
that the tunes relate to the bar multiples of 'the sequence, and adjust
accordingly. Some of the quadrille figure tunes have been pre-adjusted to 24', 40
or 48 bar multiples.
The Royal Irish has Irish tunes as
a theme, and the Caledonians Scottish tunes. Apart from this the other
Quadrilles typically have a mixture of tunes, some popular, some traditional.
These can be interchangeable between sets such as the Lancers, First Set,
Alberts, etc., bearing in mind the respective bar counts. Some of the older
traditional musicians did adhere to particular favourite arrangements or tunes
for particular Quadrilles, or part thereof.
The Illustrations:
The opening set of illustrations
have been included to give an example of some of the venues and dance scenes,
including the type of band. The Mitiamo Assembly program is interesting,
because Mitiamo is a very small town lying in the Shire of East Loddon, which has
no major town as its centre. It consists of farming communities and several
small towns like Mitiamo. They mostly consist of a pub, school, store, railway
siding and perhaps a police station. So the districts are really a network of
small bush communities, and yet the dance programs indicate on the one hand
more variety, and on the other hand little difference, to that of the major
cities of the same period. More likely the differences lay in the less
inhibited performances or versions of dance and the type of music folk style
rather than the more formal style of the town.
The Bush Music and Dance Tradition:
The big bands of the cities I am
sure played their part as a primary source of at least some dance material, or
the introduction of the new dances and music from Britain and Europe.
Nevertheless the folk process and
aural transmission have been in action for many generations, and despite the
original ballroom origins of many of the dances, they were, in country
Australia, very definitely folk. Few, if any, country folk knew the origins of
the dances or the music, or even the names of some of the tunes. They were
respectively handed on with each generation from parents and grandparents, to
children.
The musicians were amateurs on
mainly squeezeboxes, fiddles, pianos, whistles, and the dancers mainly self-taught
and yet both were very accomplished in their own way. And the true blue bush
dances were really the quadrilles and the couples dances to which music was
supplied in Volume I of Collector's Choice. Only a few country dances
such as the Spanish Waltz and Sir Roger de Coverley survived after the middle
of last century. It is not feasible at modern bush dances to feature many of
the genuine bush dances, particularly the quadrilles, although the Fitzroys,
Metropolitan and Waltz Cotillion are not complicated, and it probably depends
more on the competency of the caller in handling one or two of these at a bush
dance.
When the bush music revival
commenced back in the early 1950's, it was at first the collected songs that
were of interest, and these were easy to revive, and the popular true bush
music. Due to modern trends and the break in the chain from the learning
process of dancing as children, it was very difficult to teach dances of the real
tradition for, instant pleasure, whilst on the other hand the revived single
figure folk dances from Britain fitted the bill.
Even so, the very first folk
festival in Australia featured three dances - the Varsoviana, Waltz Cotillion
and Circassian Circle all traditional dances of the Australian bush.
When I first came into contact
with "bush" dances and music, I think about 15 years ago, it was
through Mulga Bills Bicycle Band, and Tipplers' All respectively.
Mulga Bill were first class
performers and competent musicians and had a good repertoire of Australian bush
songs, tall stories and recitations. Their reception at Eaglehawk, I recall,
was outstanding on several occasions, and almost comparable with Beatlemania
and I don't know of any band today that can stir up that spirit in Eaglehawk.
Their dances consisted mainly of impromptu solos and wild polkas, or an
occasional Brown Jug Polka, Haymaker or Galopede. But they played some lively
Australian waltzes (Tom Blackman's, Starry Night, Springtime It Brings On The
Shearing). Also, at Sandhurst Town as background music they played the full
Maxina tune beautifully. Most bush bands today would be very sniffy about this
sort of thing.
Tipplers All, a few years later,
were very popular locally and ran a well-balanced program and were very
competent teachers and callers. Although I think their main forte was in Celtic
music, and hence the associated dances such as Walls of Limerick, they always
ensured two or three dances of Australian association were included. Ones I
recall Tipplers introducing were the Veleta Waltz, Berlin Polka, Manchester
Galop, Princess Polka, Four Sisters' Barn Dance and Stockyards. Of course,
there might only have been room for a couple of these at any one function, but
it is more than many contemporary bands would do.
I was quite impressed with the Big
City Bush Band at the recent Bush Music Festival, Sydney. Although their
specific interest is in Irish music and they played this in a very enjoyable
traditional Irish style, they also did their homework on the Australian dances
requested for the program, and played excellent collected Australian music for
the Varsoviana, Polka Mazurka and Pride of Erin, I also enjoyed the performance
and balanced repertoire of the Bush Music Club's own musicians whom I thought
played very well in the afternoon. -
Wherever possible bush bands and
traditional Australian dance clubs should, use every opportunity to promote the
real music and dance of Colonial Australia, and the bush.
Recent trends in Multicultural
traditions suit the modern needs of our city society of so many peoples of
different backgrounds. I'm very much in favour of this. However, to associate
this with Bush Music and Dance, like the overbalance of Celtic tradition, is a
misnomer. A new name is really required for the developing modem "bush
dance".
There is little relation in the
country either yesteryear or today to the contemporary folk dance scene of the
cities. Yet if it is to be called bush dance, there needs to be at least some
core of association in real terms.
Just a bit more dinkum Australian
please.
And in this regard there is no
reason why specialist dance and music groups promoting Australian traditions
cannot include a few of these dances with their respective music in their
repertoire.
Of the couples dances, the
Varsoviana, Polka Mazurka, Polka, Highland Schottische, Plain Schottische,
Manchester Galop, Uncle Ev's Barn Dance, Four Sisters' Barn Dance and Princess
Polka all have an historical association in Australia, with their own
interesting and characteristic music. Many of the dances are simple enough for
beginners and audience participation, and thus also suit the contemporary bush
dance and folk scene.
Amongst the Quadrilles, the First
Set, particularly with double tops and sides, is good for display purposes and
excellent music, and collected music, is available for this Quadrille. The
Royal Irish version of the First Set, with all couples participating on the
diagonals, has good possibilities for choreography for display purposes, and
has a strong Australian association, particularly in the bush, whilst it is
little known overseas. The Prince Imperials is a very different set, stately
and interesting, and with good potential for demonstrations. The Lancers is
possibly the best-known Quadrille and remembered most by our senior citizens.
It also lends itself well for display purposes and can be adapted, like the
First Set, with double tops and sides. The Caledonians Quadrille also is
individual and has some good Scottish music as a contrast, whilst the Alberts
and Waltz Cotillion remain survivors in some old time dance circuits, and can
be suited to audience participation. Simpler Quadrilles such as the Fitzroys
and Metropolitan Quadrille have potential for involving beginners, and with a
competent instructor and caller, at least one of these could be introduced at
contemporary bush dances where the crowd is observed to be responsive.
Sir Roger de Coverley or the
Haymaker's Jig, Thady You Gander, the Spanish Waltz or Waltz Country Dance, and
the Tempest are the most prominent of the Country Dances which had a wide
historical association both in the bush and the cities of Colonial Australia.
CREDITS
COVER PHOTOGRAPH: By courtesy of Harry McQueen, Castlemaine.
No details of the photograph are known. Musical instrument artwork from
Feldheim and Gotthelf Catalogue (1907) courtesy of Peter Cuffley.
Many of the contributors to this,
the Second Volume of "Collector's Choice", are acknowledged
throughout the book, but there are also many others and to these also my
special thanks. Mrs. Corry made available her collection of Wright and Rounds
String Band Journals originally her uncle's, also her polka mazurka tune.
Peter Hunter and Pam Pittaway were only too willing to contribute the
Quadrilles and Cotillions illustration at the introduction to that section. It
is from one of Allan's old dance series of approximately 1900-1920. Marie
Murrell transcribed the Dashing White Sergeant support tunes for me from old
Fred Hanna and Jimmy Shand records that I have owned since I was about 14. Henk
Montfroy helped with most of the other tune transcriptions and chording, and
some of the latter were also done for me by Paul Robinson.
Many of the small newspaper clippings
are from the Bendigo "Advertiser" of 1859. Quite some years back now,
David Alleway came forth with the frontispiece and music of the original Royal
Irish, the details of which closed a missing link. Mr and Mrs Painter, of
Echuca (formerly Mincha) provided the Fitzroy Quadrilles picture that I had
been searching forever since I first saw in the "local" nearly 16
years ago. Frank Cusack found the reference for me which led to Mr. and Mrs.
Painter.
Ray Grieve supplied the picture of
a group of musicians, including a lady on an harmonium, and Chris Woodland the
wonderful picture of the Woolshed Dance, and the "Sunday Session" at
the home of Boyce Marshall. Joy Deason borrowed the Robertson & Mullens
M.C. card from Mrs. West of Taradale for me.
Ern Williams and Gordon Jackson,
of Bendigo, both helped in locating old pictures and music, and Les Dow added
several of the witty proverbs for fill-ins.
Shirley Andrews has always been
most supportive and helpful with the work that I have been doing and willingly
lent the "Sir Roger" and the "La Pastorrelle" pictures for
reproduction, along with a couple of programs. And this production would not
have got underway without the help of Barbara Hall on typing, and Dale Smith on
artwork hours round in circles for all three of us. Also, thanks to Graham
Hill for assistance with photocopying.
When I finished putting pen to
paper, the producers the Victorian Folk Music Club and in particular Allan
and Elma Gardner and friends, will spend more hours, numbering pages,
compiling, and in the longer term, helping with sales and promotion.
Finally, the staff of La Trobe
Library for their willing assistance and patience with an inexperienced raw
beginner such as myself. Special thanks to Dianne Barry in the copying centre.
The official site of the Victorian Folk Music Club Incorporated (Reg No A2511Y)
ABN 28 668 156 704
Last modified: July 21 2021 16:28.
