Annotation:Poor Soldier (1) (The)

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POOR SOLDIER [1], THE. English, Jig. England, Dorset. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. The Poor Soldier [1] (1763) is the name of a two-act comic opera that was immensely popular in Britain, Ireland, and even the United States. The play was by John O’Keefe [2] (1747–1833), but music was composed and arranged by violinist, violist and the successful composer William Shield [3] (1748–1829). Shield, like many composers for stage of his era, freely borrowed from folk repertory for many of his melodies. The finale of the work showcases a tune by the blind Irish harper Turlough O’Carolan (1670–1738), “John O'Connor” (“Planxty Mrs. O’Conor”). An early publication of the tune appears in 1799 by Thomas Calvert, a musician from Kelso, Scotland. A note with his collection states that Calvert supplied “a variety of music and instruments, instruments lent out, tun’d and repaired.”

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Trim (The Musical Heritage of Thomas Hardy), 1990; No. 93.

Recorded sources: