I can't find this piece in the library here or in my collection of Cammeyer compositions, but based on this review I'd like to get hold of it:

"La Caresse is a gem full of the finest harmonies the composer ever conceived, and must be heard again and again for anyone to fully fathom its beauties." The Banjo World April-September 1922

Anyone got a copy?

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Here's a quick revision to the 1st Draft. The notation is right in bars 113 to 115, but the tab has gone wrong. 

La%20Caresse.pdf

La%20Caresse.mscz

La%20Caresse-Banjo.pdf

La%20Caresse-Banjo_%28tablature%29.pdf

Actually, the bars that went "wrong" might actually be right, and the handwritten score might be wrong. The passage is repeated from earlier, bars 17/18/19 all have an open 4th string, but not so when the entire passage is repeated later. Having played it a couple of times I'm thinking there was no reason to omit those bass notes. I'm thinking of reinstating them. Any objections?

Thanks for posting the score, I'll run thorough it tomorrow and see if I can make sense of it. Sometimes these 'quaint harmonies' can be a nightmare to sort out.

Rob MacKillop said:

Cheers, Richard. I finished a first draft with the intention of checking it through the following day, but on that day two banjos arrived in my house - a Cammeyer Vibrant Royal and CE XX Special - and I’ve been preoccupied with them since. I’ll get back to the score, and share it here for proofing and hopefully playing. I only heard the computer software play it, and it did sound a bit mystifying in places, but that might have been my typesetting! Watch this space.
It’s worth repeating that I’m working from a handwritten score that might contain mistakes, and is also hard to read in places. I’m hoping Marc will check my homework :-)

I’m enjoying reading through it. Much of the dissonances in the A section are simple appoggiaturas, but the B section is a bit ‘out there’ in places. I’m trying to weigh up possible score mistakes with artistic gestures of a searching mind, and also his skill as a composer versus basic incompetence when pushing beyond the norm. I do get the feeling he was testing his limits, and perhaps that of his instrument as well. From another perspective it is also for the most part very tame.
Let's just say I'm gonna see how it goes. I usually let my ears be the judge but I'm looking foward to having a compare/contrast interpretation between a professional and that of a cloth-eared, swivel-eyed southern banjo mangler. ;-)

Good morning Rob, I saw the photos of your new  banjos, very tasty. Good to see you return to the banjo, I look forward to hearing you play for us once more. I gave 'The Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls' from Hunter's 'Erin' medley, a play through this morning, in deference to it being St. Patrick's Day. I will take a look at 'La Caresse' after breakfast and my morning Brandy and soda and a cigar.

Richard William Ineson said:

Thanks for posting the score, I'll run thorough it tomorrow and see if I can make sense of it. Sometimes these 'quaint harmonies' can be a nightmare to sort out.

Rob MacKillop said:

Cheers, Richard. I finished a first draft with the intention of checking it through the following day, but on that day two banjos arrived in my house - a Cammeyer Vibrant Royal and CE XX Special - and I’ve been preoccupied with them since. I’ll get back to the score, and share it here for proofing and hopefully playing. I only heard the computer software play it, and it did sound a bit mystifying in places, but that might have been my typesetting! Watch this space.

Haha. I had porridge. I'm sure you'll live longer than me, Richard! Happy St Paddy's Day!

https://youtu.be/O5iQdjeQXuY 

Here's my first attempt at a recording, with a couple of edits. It's not so hard to play, and it doesn't seem as strange as some commentators back in the day thought. I was using my 'new' Cammeyer Vibrant Royal with new CE Cammeyer ZB strings.

LaCaresseCammeyer.mp3

What do you think of it?

Maybe not *too* strange but strange enough. As for the playing, it's a lot better than I could do in such a few days of acquaintance with this piece of music.

Rob MacKillop said:

Here's my first attempt at a recording, with a couple of edits. It's not so hard to play, and it doesn't seem as strange as some commentators back in the day thought. I was using my 'new' Cammeyer Vibrant Royal with new CE Cammeyer ZB strings.

LaCaresseCammeyer.mp3

What do you think of it?

I tried a slower version, but felt it dragged. This faster version, though still slow, seemed to pull it together, structurally. I like the composition, and will try to memorise it (not easy these days) and live with it for a while before recording it again. 

The first movement has its moments but the phrase 'aimless noodling' comes to mind with regard to the rest of 'La Caresse'. Your banjo sounds good and your interpretation of the piece does it as much justice as it probably deserves. It reminds me of somebody asking Sir Malcolm Sargent if 'he'd got any Stockhausen in his repertoire' and he replied, "No but I think I might have stood in some once".

Jody Stecher said:

Maybe not *too* strange but strange enough. As for the playing, it's a lot better than I could do in such a few days of acquaintance with this piece of music.

Rob MacKillop said:

Here's my first attempt at a recording, with a couple of edits. It's not so hard to play, and it doesn't seem as strange as some commentators back in the day thought. I was using my 'new' Cammeyer Vibrant Royal with new CE Cammeyer ZB strings.

LaCaresseCammeyer.mp3

What do you think of it?

Oh, a little harsh there, Richard. If you can bear it, listen to it two times more over the course of the day. Perhaps it’s more enjoyable to play than to listen to…

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