Annotation:Finali (The)

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FINALI, THE. English, Country Dance or March (2/4 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. John Watlen, in his Celebrated Circus Tunes (Edinburgh, 1791), attributes the tune to "a Lady." Some members of the nobility declined to submit their names to their popular music compositions, as the thought was that it was beneath the dignity of their title to do so. Nevertheless, others seemed to have no such compunctions and, even in Watlen's collection we have other tunes attributed to the Countess of Balcarres.

"The Finali" is placed last in Watlen's book, and it may be that it was composed to be the last piece, or that it may have been associated with a performance at the Royal Circus in Edinburgh, to which the title of Watlen's volume refers. The circus, which featured equestrian acts, acrobatics, song and dance, and pantomime, was an extension of Phillip Astley's London-based Royal Circus, and was an alternative to the theater, concerts and the opera.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Watlen (The Celebrated Circus Tunes), 1791; p. 30.

Recorded sources:

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