Brunswick Waltz

BRUNSWICK WALTZ. AKA and see "Brounswick Waltz." English, Scottish, American; Waltz. G Major (Kerr): F Major (Howe/Diamond, Wilson): C Major (Howe/Accordeon): D Major (Kennedy, Sumner). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCC (Kennedy, Kerr, Sumner): AABBCCBB (Howe). A popular early waltz melody that appears in several early 19th century instrumental tutors and collections, as well as musicians' manuscripts on both sides of the Atlantic. However its origins are in the latter 18th century, at the beginning of popularity of the waltz form. According to Bruce Olson's index, the "Brunswick Waltz" first appears in Longman and Broderips 5th collection (30) c. 1791-96. It also appears in the Cahousac's Complete Tutor for the German Flute (London, 1798).

The title perhaps has associations with Princes Charlotte Augusta (1737-1813), granddaughter of king George II and sister of George III. She married, in 1764, Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, a ducal house to which she already belonged. During the Napoleonic Wars the Duke was commander of the Prussian forces at the battle of Auerstadt (1806) where he was mortally wounded. Princes Augusta fled with her family to Jutland and a year later prevailed upon her brother to allow her to move to England. She settled at Montague House, Blackheath, Greenwich, but fell out with her daughter with whom she lived, and purchased the house next door, renaming it Brunswick House.

Source for notated version: the 1823-26 music mss of papermaker and musician Joshua Gibbons (1778-1871, of Tealby, near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire Wolds) [Sumner].

Printed sources: Howe (Complete Preceptor for the Accordeon), 1843; p. 21. Howe (Diamond School for the Violin), c. 1861. Huntington (William Litten's), 1977; p. 34 (appears as "Brounswick Waltze"). Kennedy (Fiddler's Tune-Book: Slip Jigs and Waltzes), 1999; No. 99, p. 24. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 1; No. 7, p. 50. Sumner (Lincolnshire Collections, vol. 1: The Joshua Gibbons Manuscript), 1997; pp. 73 & 79 (originally set in the key of 'F' major in the ms.). Wilson (Companion to the Ballroom), 1816; p. 147.

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X:1
T:Mrs. Lester, or the Brunswick
C:Weippert
M:3/8
L:1/8
R:Waltz
B:Campbell - 10th Book of New and Favorite Country Dances (1795, p. 20)
Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion
K:F
F/G/|AAB|c2 (f/d/)|.c.c (d/B/)|.A.A F/G/|AAB|c2f|g(g/f/)(g/a/)|f2:|
|:Tc|{eg}.b.b Tc|{f}.a.a f|.e(e/g/)(f/a/)|.g.g Tc|{eg}bb c|{f}aa f|g e/c/d/e/|ff:|
|:A/B/|.c(cd)|.c.c (A/c/)|.B.B (G/B/)|(AF) F/A/|cc d|ccf|(.f/.e/.d/.c/.d/.e/|f2!fermata!:|]

X:1
T:Brunswick Waltz
M:3/8
L:1/8
R:Waltz
N:"Allegretto"
B:Thomas Wilson - Companion to the Ball Room (1816, p. 147)
Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion 
K:F
F/G/|AAB|c2f2|ccB|AA F/G/|AAB|c2f|gg/f/g/a|f2:|
|:c|bbg|aaf|e2f|ggc|bbg|aaf|gg/f/g/a/|f2:|
|:A/B/|ccf|c2 A/c/|BBG/B/|AAF/A/|ccf|c2f|gg/f/g/a/|f2:||

X:2
T:Brunswick Waltz
L:1/8
M:3/8
S:Elias Howe - Diamond School for the Violin (c. 1861)
Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion
K:F
F/>G/ | AAB | c2 f/d/ | cc d/B/ | AA F/G/ | AAB | cfa | gg/f/g/a/ | f2 :|
|: c | bbg | aaf | ee/g/f/a/ | ggc | bbg | aaf | f/e/d/c/d/e/ | f2 :|
|: A/B/ | cc f/d/ | ccA | BBG | AA A/B/ | cc f/d/ | ccf | f/e/d/c/d/e/ | f2 :|
|: c | bbg | aaf | ee/g/f/a/ | ggc | bbg | aaf | f/e/d/c/d/e/ | f2 :||

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