Annotation:Savoyards (Les)
SAVOYARDS, LES. French, Country Dance (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCC. From the contradance book (tunes with dance instructions) of Robert Daubat (who styled himself Robert d’Aubat de Saint-Flour), born in Saint-Flour, Cantal, France, in 1714, dying in Gent, Belgium, in 1782. According to Belgian fiddler Luc De Cat, at the time of the publication of his collection (1757) Daubat was a dancing master in Gent and taught at several schools and theaters. He also was the leader of a choir and was a violin player in a theater. Mr. De Cat identifies a list of subscribers of the original publication, numbering 132 individuals, of the higher level of society and the nobility, but also including musicians and dance-masters (including the ballet-master from the Italian opera in London). Many of the tunes are written with parts for various instruments, and include a numbered bass.
A Savoyard is a person from Savoy, a territory derived from the holdings of the feudal House of Savoy in the western Alps, comprising territory of parts of modern France, Italy and Switzerland.