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L' Infanta
William Gregory's famous banjo march from 1893. L' Infanta was the name given to the heir to the Portuguese throne.
Views: 270
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Comment by carrie horgan on December 23, 2020 at 18:16
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Well played Richard - a feat of memorisation as well as playing (especially the ending!) - is that a Clifford Essex banjo?
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Comment by Richard William Ineson on December 23, 2020 at 18:43
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Thank you Carrie, A good tune which Joel Hooks said recently was a turning point in banjo composition. My memory isn't what it used to be but i still enjoy playing this one, there are a few twists an turns which challenge the pensioner but I got most of the notes, I aim to get 70-80%, some people aren't as fussy as me. The banjo is my sole remaining Weaver, 11.5" head/vellum and La Bella 17 strings with a CE 024 4th string. No animals were harmed in the making of this video.
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Here is a photo of part of the banjo
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Comment by Pär Engstrand on December 24, 2020 at 0:04
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Well done, Richard!
I printed the music for that one to have a look at it when, as you pointed out, Joel said it was a milestone in banjo music and I realized I should play it in my "banjo history program". I still have to try it out! :-) Just by the looks of it, it seem to be a terribly difficult piece to play! Well, one day...
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Comment by Joel Hooks on December 24, 2020 at 21:30
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Yes, nice job on a very difficult solo!
I think I will write something in the next 5 Stringer on it. Eli republished Zarah Bickford's MS as well as his "Advanced Playing" article but perhaps I should frame how I believe it was a turning point.
Published in 1893, that was also the same year that SSS reintroduced the three octave neck for Farland. It was also the year that George Gregory really hit the scene.
What fascinates me about the solo is that I don't think anyone plays it as written. Most people change the trio, it was written as a bass solo on the 4th string (which is very hard to play clean). There are also two tremolo parts that are ignored. None of the orignial era recordings match the published solo.
The music was dedicated to S. S. Stewart.
The Turner's edition is the same as the SSS publication, only transposed with the addition of a second banjo part.
Here is a pretty tattered copy with the title sheet (the title sheets always add to the experience).
https://archive.org/details/l-infanta-march-gregory-no-573/mode/2up
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Thanks Joel, L'Infanta is certainly a bit of a challenge but very satisfying to play. I haven't seen Tuner's version before, mine is from the Essex & Cammeyer publication, minus the tremolo parts (banjo players over the age of 70 are exempt from playing finger tremolo in the UK) You have reminded me that I have the hand written version by Bickford which is written for three banjos which I had forgotten about. My mind is on the blink and I have unfortunately re Christened George Gregory as William Gregory for which I apologise, I will contact Ian and get that rectified. I never knew that the melody in the Trio was originally written to be played on the fourth string, another hurdle to be overcome.
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I have not seen the E&C publication.
Here is FVE's MS...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GRwOuyxBxAhFh9NGjzF1RYGYprfBkVR2/v...
And here is the issue with the Bickford arrangement and article...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZyAOBO5dAY3_D5EbujqO3mHtkZLtQ54k/v...
and finally, here is the original SSS publication (which Turner ripped off)...
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Comment by Trapdoor2 on December 26, 2020 at 18:57
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I have this version (along with the Stewart and a banjo-orchestra score by Walter Kaye Baur), no idea where this version came from or who published it. It is arranged by L.T. Broomfield.
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Marc, that arrangement was published in the BMG.
The Bauer arrangement is one that we were planning on playing at the ABF rally which has been canceled twice, and likely a third time. Paul Heilman did a lot of clean up.
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Ah. BMG? Was that a thing? ;-)
BTW, the MS in the ABF article isn't FVEs, it is Harry Bowen's. See the note on page 8. I didn't think FVE's MS was as legible...
The original is very different than FVEs recording (and Harry Bowen's MS). Those first grace notes (near the end of the first section) sound awkward (and may be awkward to play...I haven't gotten that far yet). I'm getting the original (A notation) keyed in and I'll output a sound file so y'all can hear it the way GWG wrote it!
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