Classic-Banjo
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Mystery tune. Does anyone recognize this song?
Greetings. I'm new to this community, and I hope my request here is not at odds with the standard protocol. I have a couple tunes that I would like to share in the hopes that someone might recognize these, and help me identify their origin.
Here's a brief background. Sometime back around the turn of the century, my great-grandfather W.H. Grimshaw started a community orchestra in his small town (southern Utah, USA). That orchestra continued, off and on, in various iterations over the course of the next hundred years. About 8 years ago I tracked down the last surviving member of the old vanguard - a piano player. He was very excited to play me all the old tunes. I've been able to identify most of them as old standards, but there are two that have me at a loss. I've always wondered if these might be originals, or something "of the folk". But based on the rest of the repertoire, I suspect that these tunes are known compositions, and the original titles were simply forgotten in our community over the years.
He referred to both of these as "golden oldies" - which means they most likely hail from the turn of the century, and are possibly English in origin as his grandfather, a fiddle player, spent some time there, and learned many songs. The first song he called "The Danish Slide Off", and the other is simply "The Spanish Waltz" - both presumably the names of the dances. Audio files are attached to this post. (Please forgive my banjo playing! I was watching his fingers and strumming along.)
I'm hopeful someone might recognize these, but not overly optimistic. In any case, thank you to anyone reading this and taking a few minutes to listen to these tunes. Much appreciated!
Views: 80
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DanishSlideOff.m4a, 3.1 MB -
SpanishWaltz.m4a, 2.7 MB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by IAN SALTER
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Hi Adam,
I know both of the tunes from having previously played English fiddle for thirty odd years. However, I am struggling to recall the names at the moment. They are mostly likely to be found in an eighteenth or nineteenth century publication of tunes for dancing. I'm fairly sure there are some field recordings of elderly vernacular musicians, made in the mid twentieth century. I will let you know as soon as I find them.
Ian.
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Permalink Reply by Jody Stecher
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A quick web search immediately turned up a video from southern Utah demonstrated the steps for the Danish Slide-Off, accompanied by the same tune you posted, played on piano and set in the same key of C, The relevant part of the video begins at 1:34
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7ZstbyfCUA
Then at the digital library of Utah I found this recording
https://digitallibrary.utah.gov/aw-server/rest/product/purl/USL/s/f...
Slightly different version and in G but the same title and the same melody
A search for Spanish waltz turned up more. Here are links to two videos. Both place the tune in G
the first is a 4 part waltz of the same title and parts 3 and 4 are close to your tune. We are told that an alternate title is the Cinderella Waltz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETmzQt-oVHU
and here is a video connected with 19th century dancing. The tune (in G ) and title are once again the same as yours
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsuh08jefds
You have referred to these two compositions as both "tunes" and "songs". I am doubtful that either of these are songs. They are a bit too complex for the average person to sing. I think these are instrumental pieces designed for dancing, So looking in old songbooks *might* be less productive than searching in books of tunes,
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The first tune is known as the 'Dannish Waltz' in English music sessions. The second is known as 'Mrs Kennys Waltz' and is considered to be an Irish tune. There are some recordings of both on the web. I will continue looking through my copies of the dance books, to see if I can find them.
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Why is the first tune called a Waltz? It's not in 3/4 time. You can't waltz do it. There's a Kentucky banjo tune called The French Waltz which is also not a waltz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxOidzA9goo
Is there a trend here of creating names for non-waltzes by following an assigned national or geographic origin by the word "waltz"?
IAN SALTER said:The first tune is known as the 'Dannish Waltz' in English music sessions. The second is known as 'Mrs Kennys Waltz' and is considered to be an Irish tune. There are some recordings of both on the web. I will continue looking through my copies of the dance books, to see if I can find them.
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Wow! Yes, Mrs Kennys Waltz is definitely a match . Thank you for finding that Ian. I'm having difficulty finding a recording of Dannish Waltz, but I will look more in earnest this evening.
Jody, that first video link you posted is the same gentleman that showed me these tunes (Franklin Jones). It was his grandfather (or possibly great uncle?) who is likely the origin point for bringing these tunes to Utah. And you are correct, these are not "songs" - that's just me being careless with my words.
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After a bit of searching I found a performance of the Danish Waltz. In the comments section of the video, someone says that the tune is also known as Lotte gik. A quick search on that title immediately yielded results, and the tune is a perfect match to my original recording. Here's a link to a video of people dancing to the tune:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmhz8i4b3Zw
Thank you again Ian and Jody for helping me with this. I have been trying to find the source of these tunes for years, and I can't tell you how happy it makes me to finally have an answer.
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Here the tune speeds and slows at places the dancers seem to expect. Unusual but still not a waltz. I will agree to call "Lotte gik" a waltz if those who call it that agree to call a banjo " a fried egg sandwich".
Adam Grimshaw said:After a bit of searching I found a performance of the Danish Waltz. In the comments section of the video, someone says that the tune is also known as Lotte gik. A quick search on that title immediately yielded results, and the tune is a perfect match to my original recording. Here's a link to a video of people dancing to the tune:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmhz8i4b3Zw
Thank you again Ian and Jody for helping me with this. I have been trying to find the source of these tunes for years, and I can't tell you how happy it makes me to finally have an answer.
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Adam, the tune in that video is what I know as the 'Officers Polka'. This is the only performance of it that I can find at the moment
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jTHZQ9g902E
This is a recording of 'Dannish Waltz' as I know it
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XAeEeSdeVp4and
It's still not a waltz Jody.
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Very interesting. I couldn't detect the difference between the two tunes at first. Perhaps all these tunes have a common ancestor? I believe the tempo jump was also part of the dance in our southern Utah community. I will ask my uncle - he would remember. Maybe Dan didn't like that part and flattened it out.
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