REEL DU CULTIVATEUR (Gardener's/Farmer's Reel). AKA and see "Reel de traverse." French-Canadian, Reel. C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB'. Jean Duval identifies "Reel du cultivateur" as a version of "Constitution Hornpipe (1)" in Ryan's Mammoth Collection (Boston, 1883)[1]. The tune was recorded in the 78 RPM era by Montreal fiddlers Joseph Allard (1873-1947) in 1929, and Joseph Ovila (J.O.) La Madeleine (1880-1973) in 1928 and again in 1932 J.O. LaMadeleine and sonsJoseph Allard LaMadeleine was a left-handed fiddler and owned a music shop in Montreal; his version of the reel is in the key of 'D' where it is usually played today. Duval notes that Allard re-recorded "Reel du cultivateur" in July, 1941, released in 1942 under the title "Reel de traverse." Canadian radio and TV fiddler Don Messer recorded a "Farmer's Reel (1)" but it is a different tune.
Additional notes
Printed sources : - Cuillerier (Joseph Allard), 1992; p. 26. Jean Duval (La Musique de Joseph Allard 1873-1947), 2018; No. 19, p. 10.
Recorded sources : - Philo FI-2006, Philippe Bruneau - "Danses Pour Veillées Canadiennes" (1974). Philo Records FI 2012, "Jean Carignan rend hommage à Joseph Allard" (1976). Starr 15576-A (78 RPM), J.L. LaMaedeleine (1932). Victor 263570-a (78 RPM), Joseph Allard (1929). Le Rêve du diable - "Délire Et Des Reels" (1979). Pascal Gemme & Mario Loiselle - "Musique du Monde/Music from the World" (2013).
See also listing at : See Pascal Gemme's blog with standard notation version of the reel [1]
Hear Joseph Allard's 1929 recording on the Virtual Gramophone [2]
Hear J.O. LaMadeleine's recording on youtube.com [3][4] and at the Virtual Gramophone [5]
Hear a field recording of Chicoutimi fiddler Louis "Pitou" Boudreault playing the tune in 1977 at Slippery Hill [6]
