Annotation:Timour the Tartar: Difference between revisions
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|f_source_for_notated_version= | '''TIMOUR THE TARTAR.''' AKA and see "[[Peter Street (1)]]," “[[Babes in the Woods (3)]],” “[[Blackling Races]],” "[[Blanchland Races]]." Scottish, Reel (whole time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Athole, Emmerson, Honeyman, Hunter, S. Johnson, Kerr, Köhler, Lowe, Skinner, Skye): AABB (Raven, Shears): AABB' (Brody, Cranford, Phillips). Timour the Tartar was otherwise known as Timur the Lame, Tamburlaine and Tamerlane, who lived from c. 1336 to 1405. The Tartars were Mongol Turks, and Timur was a devout Muslim, descended from the infamous conqueror Genghis Khan. Like his forbearer, Timur created an empire by the sword, although it did not long survive his death. Raised to the throne of Smarkand in Tukestan in 1369, Timur soon set about conquering huge territories, from India to Syria. He died of a camp fever just before a planned invasion of China. He was the subject of a grand romantic melodrama in two acts by the prolific Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775-1818), with music by Matthew Peter (M.P.) King. '''Timour the Tartar''' was first acted at Covent Garden in April, 1811, and proved a very popular theatre piece from which several melodies appear in period music collections (King’s “[[Grand Cavalry March]],” for example, was often reproduced). It was a caricature of Napoleon, with whom Britain had been engaged in a protracted struggle, and has Timour, of low origin, usurping the throne and raising up his needy relations to princely dignity. The play featured horses brought onto stage, which was a response to a revival of '''Bluebeard''' at a competing London venue, which first introduced them. Eino Railo (in his book '''Haunted Castle: A Study of the Elements of English Romanticism''', 2003) remarks: | ||
|f_printed_sources=S | <blockquote> | ||
|f_recorded_sources= | ''The play has no claim to be regarded as dramatic art, but is simply a circus piece,'' | ||
|f_see_also_listing= | ''ranking among the spectacles which great variety theatres sometimes offer their'' | ||
''audiences. For such a purpose Timour was very well suited, for in addition to'' | |||
''possessing an exciting plot—a series of hairbreadth escapes—it is a fine costume'' | |||
''play. Timour enters clad in a yellow satin shirt, red trousers, green boots, a dagger'' | |||
''inlaid with gold at his belt, a gleaming turban on his head and a gold chain round his'' | |||
''neck; the pretty head of the heroine Zorilda was covered by a helmet, her breast by'' | |||
''a silver corselet, while her dress was white satin petticoat, richly ornamented, long'' | |||
''crimson train; her boots were yellow. When she rode on the stage perched on a'' | |||
''magnificent stallion, the audience was completely won over. Timour was given fourty-'' | |||
''four times in succession and was revived as late as 1831, on that occasion at Drury Lane.'' | |||
</blockquote> | |||
Lewis first gained popularity with a gothic novel called '''The Monk''' (1796), condemned for its horror, violence and eroticism, but nonetheless widely read. It earned its author the sobriquet of ‘Monk’ Lewis and made him famous in fashionable society. His '''Tales of Terror''' (1799) were dedicated to Lady Charlotte Campbell (see “[[Lady Charlotte Campbell's Reel (2)]]), afterward Bury, with whom he was in love. Lewis also wrote ballads, many of which were sung to music of his own composition. He was a clever, kind and good man, as both Lord Byron and Sir Walter Scott attest, although Byron complains that Lewis was often a “tiresome bore”—-“My only revenge or consolation,” wrote the poet, “used to be setting him by the ears with some vivacious person who hated bores especially.” Apparently Lewis and William Sheridan (another English author and playwright) disliked each other and had a running feud. Lewis once offered to bet Sheridan “a very large sum—I will bet you what you owe me as Manager, for my (1797 play) Castle Specter.” “I never make large bets,” said Sheridan, “but I will lay you a very small one. I will bet you what it is worth.” While Byron was abroad Lewis sent him the following epigram upon Sheridan: | |||
<blockquote> | |||
''For worst abuse of finest parts''<br> | |||
''Was Misophil begotten;''<br> | |||
''There might indeed be blacker hearts,''<br> | |||
''But none could be more rotten.''<br> | |||
</blockquote> | |||
It is not known if the fiddle tune “Timour the Tartar” comes from the play, or whether it was written by M.P. King or not, however, it appears to have been associated with Lewis’s work, and, indeed, it sounds theatrical. Uilleann pipers, not being able to play in the key of A, render the tune in G Major. The alternate title “[[Peter Street (1)]]” (the name of a street in Dublin) comes from the c. 1880's '''Ryan’s Mammoth Collection''', while Kerr prints it (vol. 1, p. 22) as “[[Babes in the Woods (3)]].” Paul Stewart Cranford says the tune was popularized among Cape Breton fiddlers by the influential recordings of Winston Fitzgerald. Martin uses the tune as an example of Scottish ‘back bowing’, or playing a up bow on the strong beat of the bar (i.e. bars two and four, etc.). | |||
|f_source_for_notated_version=Dave Swarbrick (England) [Brody]; Scott Skinner (Scotland) [Phillips]; Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987, Cape Breton) [Cranford]. | |||
|f_printed_sources=Brody ('''Fiddler’s Fakebook'''), 1983; p. 277. Cranford ('''Winston Fitzgerald'''), 1997; No. 83, p. 36. Emmerson ('''Rantin’ Pipe and Tremblin’ String'''), 1971; No. 50, p. 141. Honeyman ('''Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor'''), 1898; p. 22. Hunter ('''Fiddle Music of Scotland'''), 1988; No. 257 (arranged for strings by James Hunter). S. Johnson ('''A Twenty Year Anniversary Collection'''), 2003; p. 12. Kennedy ('''Fiddlers Tune Book, vol. 1'''), 1951; No. 17, p. 9. Kerr ('''Merry Melodies, vol. 1'''), c. 1880; Set 30, No. 2, p. 18. Laybourn ('''Köhler’s Violin Repository, Book One'''), 1881; p. 22. Joseph Lowe ('''Lowe's Collection of Reels, Strathspeys and Jigs, book 1'''), 1844–1845; p. 3. MacDonald ('''The Skye Collection'''), 1887; p. 6. Martin ('''Traditional Scottish Fiddling''''), 2002; p. 17. Phillips ('''Fiddlecase Tunebook'''), 1989; p. 49. Raven ('''English Country Dance Tunes'''), 1984; p. 164. Shears ('''Gathering of the Clans Collection, vol. 1'''), 1986; p. 47 (pipe setting). Skinner ('''Harp and Claymore'''), 1904; p. 111. Stewart-Robertson ('''The Athole Collection'''), 1884; p. 40. Tolman ('''Nelson Music Collection'''), 1969; p. 9. | |||
|f_recorded_sources=Glencoe 001, Cape Breton Symphony "Fiddle." Fretless 118, Marie Rhines "The Reconcilliation." HMV 3-7939 (78 RPM), Horace Fellowes (1911). Rounder CD 11661-7033-2, Natalie MacMaster – “My Roots are Showing” (2000). Transatlantic 337, Dave Swarbrick "Swarbrick." Topic 12T280, J. Scott Skinner "The Strathspey King." “Fiddlers 5.” | |||
|f_see_also_listing=Alan Snyder’s Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index | |||
Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources | |||
Alan Ng’s Irishtune.info | |||
}} | }} | ||
Revision as of 03:26, 29 April 2021
X:1 T:Timour the Tartar M:C L:1/8 B: Joseph Lowe - Lowe's Collection of Reels, Strathspeys and Jigs, B:book 1 (1844–1845, p. 3) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:A E|A2 (c/B/A) eA (c/B/A) |(eA)aA gAfA|A2 (c/B/A) eA (c/B/A)l(BE)dE cEBE| A2 (c/B/A) eA (c/B/A)|(eA)aA gAfA|eaec eaec|{c}BABc A2A2|| E2 (G/F/E) BE (G/F/E)|(BE)dE cEBE|A2 (c/B/A) eA (c/B/A)|(eA)aA gAfA| (e^d)ec (ag)af|(e^d)ec (ag)af|ecag fedc|BAGF EFGE||
TIMOUR THE TARTAR. AKA and see "Peter Street (1)," “Babes in the Woods (3),” “Blackling Races,” "Blanchland Races." Scottish, Reel (whole time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Athole, Emmerson, Honeyman, Hunter, S. Johnson, Kerr, Köhler, Lowe, Skinner, Skye): AABB (Raven, Shears): AABB' (Brody, Cranford, Phillips). Timour the Tartar was otherwise known as Timur the Lame, Tamburlaine and Tamerlane, who lived from c. 1336 to 1405. The Tartars were Mongol Turks, and Timur was a devout Muslim, descended from the infamous conqueror Genghis Khan. Like his forbearer, Timur created an empire by the sword, although it did not long survive his death. Raised to the throne of Smarkand in Tukestan in 1369, Timur soon set about conquering huge territories, from India to Syria. He died of a camp fever just before a planned invasion of China. He was the subject of a grand romantic melodrama in two acts by the prolific Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775-1818), with music by Matthew Peter (M.P.) King. Timour the Tartar was first acted at Covent Garden in April, 1811, and proved a very popular theatre piece from which several melodies appear in period music collections (King’s “Grand Cavalry March,” for example, was often reproduced). It was a caricature of Napoleon, with whom Britain had been engaged in a protracted struggle, and has Timour, of low origin, usurping the throne and raising up his needy relations to princely dignity. The play featured horses brought onto stage, which was a response to a revival of Bluebeard at a competing London venue, which first introduced them. Eino Railo (in his book Haunted Castle: A Study of the Elements of English Romanticism, 2003) remarks:
The play has no claim to be regarded as dramatic art, but is simply a circus piece, ranking among the spectacles which great variety theatres sometimes offer their audiences. For such a purpose Timour was very well suited, for in addition to possessing an exciting plot—a series of hairbreadth escapes—it is a fine costume play. Timour enters clad in a yellow satin shirt, red trousers, green boots, a dagger inlaid with gold at his belt, a gleaming turban on his head and a gold chain round his neck; the pretty head of the heroine Zorilda was covered by a helmet, her breast by a silver corselet, while her dress was white satin petticoat, richly ornamented, long crimson train; her boots were yellow. When she rode on the stage perched on a magnificent stallion, the audience was completely won over. Timour was given fourty- four times in succession and was revived as late as 1831, on that occasion at Drury Lane.
Lewis first gained popularity with a gothic novel called The Monk (1796), condemned for its horror, violence and eroticism, but nonetheless widely read. It earned its author the sobriquet of ‘Monk’ Lewis and made him famous in fashionable society. His Tales of Terror (1799) were dedicated to Lady Charlotte Campbell (see “Lady Charlotte Campbell's Reel (2)), afterward Bury, with whom he was in love. Lewis also wrote ballads, many of which were sung to music of his own composition. He was a clever, kind and good man, as both Lord Byron and Sir Walter Scott attest, although Byron complains that Lewis was often a “tiresome bore”—-“My only revenge or consolation,” wrote the poet, “used to be setting him by the ears with some vivacious person who hated bores especially.” Apparently Lewis and William Sheridan (another English author and playwright) disliked each other and had a running feud. Lewis once offered to bet Sheridan “a very large sum—I will bet you what you owe me as Manager, for my (1797 play) Castle Specter.” “I never make large bets,” said Sheridan, “but I will lay you a very small one. I will bet you what it is worth.” While Byron was abroad Lewis sent him the following epigram upon Sheridan:
For worst abuse of finest parts
Was Misophil begotten;
There might indeed be blacker hearts,
But none could be more rotten.
It is not known if the fiddle tune “Timour the Tartar” comes from the play, or whether it was written by M.P. King or not, however, it appears to have been associated with Lewis’s work, and, indeed, it sounds theatrical. Uilleann pipers, not being able to play in the key of A, render the tune in G Major. The alternate title “Peter Street (1)” (the name of a street in Dublin) comes from the c. 1880's Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, while Kerr prints it (vol. 1, p. 22) as “Babes in the Woods (3).” Paul Stewart Cranford says the tune was popularized among Cape Breton fiddlers by the influential recordings of Winston Fitzgerald. Martin uses the tune as an example of Scottish ‘back bowing’, or playing a up bow on the strong beat of the bar (i.e. bars two and four, etc.).
