Annotation:Opera Polka
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OPERA POLKA. English, Scottish; Polka. England; Dorset, Yorkshire. D Major ('A' and 'C' parts) & A Major ('B' part) {Trim}: C Major ('A' and 'C' parts) & G Major ('B' part) {Callaghan, Kerr, Merryweather & Seattle}. Standard tuning (fiddle). "AABBCC(Trio)AABB.
The "Opera Polka" was a composition of M. Julien, and was danced in 1844 at Her Majesty's Theatre by Mlle. Carlotta Grisi (1819-1899) and Monsieur Perrot.
The melody was entered into several mid-19th century English musicians' manuscript copybooks, including those of Lawrence Leadley (Yorkshire), the Hardy Family (Dorset), and Michael Turner (Sussex).
Source for notated version: a MS collection by fiddler Lawrence Leadley, 1827-1897 (Helperby, Yorkshire) [Merryweather & Seattle]; the Thomas Hardy family manuscripts (Dorset, early 19th century) [Trim].
Printed sources: Callaghan (Hardcore English), 2007; p. 68. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 3); No. 437, p. 50. Laybourn (Köhler's Violin Repository Book 3), 1885; p. 264. Merryweather & Seattle (The Fiddler of Helperby), 1994; No. 96, p. 54. Trim (The Musical Heritage of Thomas Hardy), 1990; No. 54.
Recorded sources: