Courtney's Rando

COURTNEY'S RANDO. English, Country Dance Tune (2/4time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The identical tune (as "Courtney's Rondo") also appears in the 1797-1799 music manuscript of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, flute player John Hoff (1776-1818). The tune appears in three parts in the c. 1847 music manuscript collection of Lancashire musician Ellis Knowles under the title "Malvina." "Courtney's Rondo" was advertised as being played on the Irish pipes "by a gentleman of this city" during an interlude in an 1802 production of The Young Quaker in Dublin [Greene, Theatre in Dublin, 1745-1820, Volume 5: A Calendar of Performances, 2011, p. 3299].

Source for notated version: William Litten's music manuscript collection 1802-1804 [Huntington]. William Litten was a ships fiddler with the British fleet in the orient in 1800-02, although little else is known about him. His manuscript was brought to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, by Allen Coffin (b. 1788) of Edgartown, who may possibly have been a shipmate or had other contact with Litten. Or, the ms. may have changed hands several times before it came into Coffin's possession.

Printed source: Huntington (William Litten's), 1977; p. 34.

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X:1
T:Courtney's Rando
M:2/4
L:1/8
S:William Litten's music ms. (1800-1802)
K:G
d2 Bd|BA/G/ Bd|Bd B/A/G|cA Ac|
Bd c/B/A/G/|Bd d2|Bd ce|dG G2:|
|:e/f/g dB|e/f/g dB|e/f/g dB|cA A2|
e/f/g dB|e/f/g dc|Bd ce|dG G2:||

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Engraver Valerio M. Pelliccioni