Annotation:Minuet de la Cour
X:1 T:Minuet de la Cour M:3/4 L:1/8 R:Minuet B:Archibald Duff – A Choice Selection of Minuets, Favourite Airs, Hornpipes, Waltzs &c. B:Book First (Edinburgh, c. 1812, p. 1) B: https://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/archive/105810922 N:Archibald Duff (c. 1770-c. 1840?) was a musician (along with his brother Charles) and dancing N:master, of Montrose and Aberdeen, and is recorded as being a Professor of Music residing at N:Clayills Cottage, Aberdeen in 1837. N:The volume is dedicated to Lady Mary Ramsay of Balmain Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:A Sc2 (c/d/).c/.d/ .e>.e|e2Td2 c>B|.A.c.A.c.A.c|(e/d/c/d/) B(.b/.a/ .g/.f/.e/.d/)| T(c>B) (.A/.B/.c/.d/) .e/.f/.g/.a/|e2 Td2 c>=d|(c/4B/4d/4c/4) e/4d/4c/4B/4 A2TG2|{B}A6!fine!:| (B2 B).B.B.B|{d}cB (.A.E.C.A,)|[A,2E2c2] c>A e>c|(d/c/B/c/) B2 {cd^d}|e2 .e/-.e/.e/.e/| [D2A2f2] .f-.f.f.f|[E2B2g2].g.-.g.g.g|a2 z2z2|a3 Tfge|a3 Tfge|gf/a/f/ e2T^d2| E2 z2 z/(e/f>e)|d>cB>(=dTe>d)|Tc<Baz/(e/f>e)|d>cBz/(d/e>d)|Tc>BAz/(ag>a)|g2 Tf2 e>f|e2d2 c>d|(cB) (AG)(FE)S||
MINUET DE LA COUR. English, Minuet (3/4 time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The dance is said to date to the mid-17th century from the French court. "The Minuet de la Cour and Allemande" was performed in the last scene, a Masquerade, in The Chapter of Accidents, staged in London in 1784 and subsequently appeared (tune and dance) inserted in several London theater productions, often called "The Minuet de la Cour and Gavot." Like "Gavotte de Vestris," the "Minuet de la Cour" was a ballet divertissement 'test piece', a classic that every dancer of any pretensions attempted. Usually it was danced by a man and a woman, but Cerrito as the lady and Fanny Elssler as the cavalier were a London sensation in 1843 that even the queen and her prince-consort went to see. It is sometimes given that it was composed "for the Queen".
The Minuet de la Cour was taught by American dancing master John Durang ("Durang's Hornpipe (1)") at his dancing academy, and choreography for it appears in son Charles Durang's The Fashionable Dancer's Casket."
