Annotation:Dartmouth Set--1st Figure

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DARTMOUTH SET. American, Cotillon Set. B Flat Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). ABACA. The cotillon set of five figures or parts was printed by Providence, Rhode Island, violinist, music teacher and dance fiddler biography:George Saunders in his violin tutor of 1847. The volume contains several sets of cotillons and quadrilles, many composed by Saunders himself, although he did not claim credit for the "Dartmouth Set" (he had no composer attribution at all for the tunes in the set).

Saunders' tutor also contain excellent advice for playing for dances:

Hilarity, mirth and cheerfulness are characteristics of dancing; consequently the music requires to be played in a bold and majestic manner, with a great deal of fire, life, and animation, with strong accentuations, square bowings, and in strict time. Easy music, that which is most pleasing to the ear as a general thing, gives the best satisfaction for dancing. Hard and difficult music, if well executed, is not always appreciated; and then it is too laborious many times to perform, when a person has to play steadily all through the night, which is frequently the case. It is an old saying--and I think, with upwards of twenty years' experience in the profession, a true one--that good music makes a company cheerful and lively, and adds a charm to the beauty of both sexes; whereas poor music makes a company dull and unsociable.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Saunders (New and Complete Instructor for the Violin), Boston, 1847; No. 1, p. 80.

Recorded sources: "Tunes from the Peter Beemer Manuscript" Voyager 374

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