St. Anne's Reel - Notice Anything?

[JeffJetton]

Not directly accordion-related, but still...

After reading/posting on Siegmund's other thread, I went down the rabbit-hole of versions of St. Anne's Reel. The version in "The Fiddler's Fakebook" was apparently based on a recording by an old-time fiddler from New England named Louis Beaudoin. This sounds like it might be the recording they used:



However I noticed something surprising! He does something in this tune that is not in the Fiddler's Fakebook arrangement, nor in the David DiGiuseppe arrangement (from "100 Tunes for Piano Accordion"), nor in any arrangement I've ever seen or heard. I went through the first few on The Session and didn't see it there either (there are a lot of versions... I didn't check them all.)

It is very cool!

Can anyone else spot it?

 

[Tom]

Hmmmmm, tough one. A little shuffle bowing at the ends of the phrases?

 

[boxplayer4000]

Jeff: Too many embellishments and liberties taken with the basic tune to be able to spot an extra. Put us out of our misery; what's the answer??

 

[JeffJetton]

Here's a hint: Count along when he gets to end of each B section.

 

[boxplayer4000]

Very naughty!! I think he's adding a bar (or part of a bar). The piano accompaniment doesn't sound like he misses a beat so I suppose it must be a whole bar. That would have completely floored my dancers.
Do you think he did it on purpose and was just flying 'solo' without music?

 

[boxplayer4000]

Jeff:
Here’s another version played by the Scottish Dance Band of Andrew Rankine, recorded in 1969 and taken from an LP. St Anne’s is at 0.37 to 1.07. The three tunes are The De’il (Devil) among the Tailors, St. Anne’s Reel and The New High Level. The LP is entitled ’Scottish Dance Party’. The sound quality is not the best at that distance and Andrew didn't take any prisoners when he set his tempos.

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[JeffJetton]

That would have completely floored my dancers.

Perhaps literally!

 

[Siegmund]

To be fair, sheet music usually just doesn't say how you get from B back to A, nor when to quit. It just says "here's the A section, here's the B section", and you decide whether to play AABB or AABBAABB or AABBA-shave-and-a-haircut-two-bits. (But if you are GOING to add some material, why wouldn't you add a full 2 or 4 bars?)

Would it throw the dancers? I am not a dancer myself... but I have the impression that semi-casual dancers care quite little what sounds you are making as long as you keep the beat steady. If they aren't already on the floor when the music starts, they aren't guaranteed to wait 4 or 8 bars to start dancing, either. Now, let the tempo change a bit between segments, and that will spill them on the floor and get you complaints.

The three tunes are The De’il (Devil) among the Tailors...

That's my new fact for the day! I didn't know that "Devil's Dream," as we call it this side of the pond, had a Scottish counterpart. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It's a very popular and widely distributed tune here. Enough so that I heard it along with southern bluegrass or western frontier tunes as a kid (living out West, I didn't hear New England or Cape Breton fiddling until much later in life, post-Internet) and just always assumed it had originated in the south. (A lot of northeastern fiddle tunes originated in the British Isles; a lot of southern and western ones were either homegrown or came with immigrants from other countries.)

 

[Dingo40]

BP,
"Here’s another version played by the Scottish Dance Band of Andrew Rankine, recorded in 1969 and taken from an LP. St Anne’s is at 0.37 to 1.07. The three tunes are The De’il (Devil) ...."
Sounds just like Jimmy Shand!

 

[boxplayer4000]

Jeff: I should have explained that when I used the term 'my dancers' I was referring to Scottish Country Dancers. Many are members of The ROYAL Scottish Country Dance Society and are very strict in tempos, style, posture (and dance bars.) Adding (or cutting) a bar would have caused chaos. To be fair I don't think it's the only dance form which would not tolerate mucking about with the music.
Siegmund: The Devil features highly in a lot of Scottish traditions (including music), mostly in a frivolous, funny manner. eg. Robert Burns's 'The De'il's(Devil) is awa' (away) with the Exciseman'.

 

[Dingo40]

I remember when I was a member of a teenage folk dance group and a rather nervous young accordionist had been roped into playing (live) the music we were to dance to.
Unfortunately, his playing contained relatively frequent random "hiccups", where we would need to execute double hops on the same leg in order to follow.
Chaos ensued at each lapse!
Ultimately, we reverted the less glamorous but more reliable standby: the old 33 1/3 vinyl record.

 

[boxplayer4000]

Dingo40: I can relate to that 'nervous young accordionist' as I got roped in early by some local dance clubs to substitute for the 33.1/3 rds. As far as I am aware I didn't short-change them in any way: maybe they were too polite to say anything if I did. Over the years however band leaders of every level of ability would be criticised at some stage or another, most frequently on tempos. Tempos varied, of course, depending on geographical location, age group etc but many of the altercations I remember as being very funny. Some young 'upstart' dancers lived to regret challenging some older, very experienced leaders.