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Notated Music George Booker [music transcription]

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About this Item

Title

  • George Booker [music transcription]

Names

  • Jabbour, Alan (Transcriber)

Created / Published

  • [Between 1966 and 1968]

Headings

  • -  Instrumental music
  • -  Fiddle tunes
  • -  Folk music--Appalachian Region
  • -  Strathspeys
  • -  Breakdowns
  • -  Reels
  • -  Ethnography
  • -  Sheet Music
  • -  Music score
  • -  United States -- Virginia -- Giles County -- Glen Lyn

Genre

  • Ethnography
  • Sheet Music
  • Music score

Notes

  • -  Meter: 4/4
  • -  Compass: 15
  • -  Transcribed by Alan Jabbour, from a performance by Henry Reed.
  • -  Rendition: 1r-2r-1r-2
  • -  Key: A
  • -  Strains: 2 (low-high, 4-4)
  • -  Phrase Structure: ABAC QRQC (abac abdc' qrst qrdc')
  • -  Stylistic features: Circular tune (each strain ends on note other than tonic).
  • -  Handwritten: Played thru 1 3/4 times (i.e., 2nd strain not repeated 2nd time). Occ. tendency toward triplet rhythm on 16ths. A few of the variations: *uneven, bowing?
  • -  This tune began life, so far as can be told, as a Scottish strathspey entitled "The Marquis of Huntly's Farewell," the title it was given in William Marshall's Collection of Strathspey Reels (ca. 1781). By the early nineteenth century it already had taken hold in rural Virginia, now named "George Booker" in honor of a Virginia Revolutionary War leader; a set under that name appears in Knauff's Virginia Reels (1839). The tune in that set, as in Henry Reed's, retains the melodic structure and circular form of the Scottish sets. Henry Reed's performance is also notable for the inclusion of sixteenth-note triplets and thirty-second notes, a feature of left-hand technique on the fiddle that is often associated with British fiddling but here appears to have a toehold in Virginia as well."George Booker" has an interesting history on the old frontier of the Upper South, having been recast as "Camp Chase" to celebrate the escape from Camp Chase, Ohio, during the Civil War by West Virginian Sol Carpenter. French Carpenter plays a set and tells the story on the LP recording Old-Time Music from Clay County, West Virginia (Folk Promotions 11567-11568), and another version of tale and tune performed by Burl Hammons appears on The Hammons Family (Library of Congress, AFS L65-66), which cites additional variants.

Medium

  • manuscript; 1 page

Call Number/Physical Location

  • AFC 1967/007: Notebook 2:70

Source Collection

  • Alan Jabbour duplication project, part 1

Repository

  • American Folklife Center

Digital Id

Online Format

  • image

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress is not aware of any U.S. copyright protection (see Title 17, U.S.C.) or any other restrictions in the material in this collection, except as noted below. Users should keep in mind that the Library of Congress is providing access to these materials strictly for educational and research purposes. The written permission of the copyright owners and/or other holders of rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. See our Legal Notices for additional information and restrictions.

The Center asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here. Researchers are also reminded that privacy and publicity rights may pertain to certain uses of this material.

Photographs in this collection produced by Carl Fleischhauer, Karen Singer Jabbour, and Kit Olson are reproduced here with their permission. Mr. Fleischhauer does not object to additional use of the photos he created provided he is credited as the photographer. Persons contemplating other kinds of uses or use of the other photographers' work should contact the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

Credit line

Please cite the source collection title, collection number, and repository, for example:

Alan Jabbour duplication project, part 1 (AFC 1967/007), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Alan Jabbour duplication project, part 2 (AFC 1969/008), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Fiddle tunes of the old frontier: the Henry Reed collection online presentation (AFC 1999/016), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Jabbour, Alan. George Booker music transcription. [Between 1966 and 1968, 1966] Notated Music. https://www.loc.gov/item/afcreed000013/.

APA citation style:

Jabbour, A. (1966) George Booker music transcription. [Between 1966 and 1968] [Notated Music] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afcreed000013/.

MLA citation style:

Jabbour, Alan. George Booker music transcription. [Between 1966 and 1968, 1966] Notated Music. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afcreed000013/>.