Annotation:Danse des Foins (La)

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DANSE DES FOINS, LA (The Hay Making Dance). AKA - "Le Foin." French-Canadian, Jig (3/2 time). Canada, Québec, Gaspé Peninsula. D Major. ADae tuning (fiddle). AA'BB'. This 'crooked' melody belongs to the family of Grondeuse (grumbling) tunes, in which the fiddle is cross-tuned ADae, which produces a resonant "grumbling" effect when the two lower strings are played. The tune accompanies the longways dance in Québec also called Danse des foins, perhaps dating to the 1700's and which may have French origins, according to Marius Barbeau (Anne Lederman, "Fiddling", Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, 1992). Interestingly, the same tune is noted in 4/4 in the Hart/Sandell book and in 3/2 by Remon/Bouchard, illustrating different was of transcribing the often rhythmically complex Quebecois tunes.

Source for notated version: Gustave and Benoît Denis (Petit-Cap, Gaspé, Québec), via Lisa Ornstein (Maine) [Hart & Sandell, Remon & Bouchard].

Printed sources: Hart & Sandell (Dance ce Soir), 2001; No. 45, p. 79 (appears as "Le Foin"). Remon & Bouchard (25 Crooked Tunes, vol. 1: Québec Fiddle Tunes), 1996; No. 23.

Recorded sources: Green Linnett GLCD 3042, La Bottine Souriante - "Chic and Swell" (1988. Learned from Lisa Ornstein). 30 Below TB 001CD, Les têtes de violon (Bouchard et al) - "Airs Tordus/Crooked Tunes" (1998).




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