Annotation:Air Balloon (1) (The)

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X:1 T:Air Balloon [1], The M:C| L:1/8 R:Country Dance N:"Dances 1785" B:Samuel, Ann & Peter Thompson - Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 5 (1788, p. 37) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:A A2 Ac E2E2|A2 Ac E4|FGAB cdef|fedc cBAG| A2 Ac E2E2|A2 Ac E4|efef fedc|1cBAG A4:|2cBAG A3:| |:A|fgaf e2A2|fgaf e4|fgaf fedc|cBAG A2 Ee| fgaf e2A2|fgaf e4|fgfa fedc|cBAG A3:|]



AIR BALLOON [1], THE. English, Country Dance Tune (cut time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The melody probably refers to the hot-air balloon ascent of Italian balloonist wikipedia:Vincenzo_Lunardi (Vincent Lunardi) in September 1784, watched by a crowd of some 150,000, including the Prince of Wales (later George IV). Lunardi's was not the first ascent, for there were balloon flights in France in 1783, and, a month previously, in Edinburgh by James Tytler. Lunardi's was the first in English skies, however, and he caused a sensation when he took off accompanied by a cat, a dog and a pigeon.

Lunardi takes off from the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company in East London on the 15 September 1784.

Lunardi was feted by the city after his feat, and was made an honorary member of the Honourable Artillery Company. King George III granted him a special audience and he was presented with a watch by the Prince of Wales. His balloon became an attraction when exhibited at the Pantheon, a London theater. Unfortunately, Lunardi was unable to translate his fame into lasting success, and he died twelve years later in poverty in a monastery in Portugal.

"Air Balloon [1]" was entered in the mid-19th century music manuscript of William Winter (1774-1861), a shoemaker and violin player who lived in West Bagborough in Somerset, southwest England.


Additional notes



Printed sources : - Samuel, Ann & Peter Thompson (Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 5), 1788; p. 37. Geoff Woolfe (William Winter’s Quantocks Tune Book), 2007; No. 342, p. 121 (ms. originally dated 1850).






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