Walter Bulwer’s polka

MusTrad
http://www.mustrad.org.uk/
Walter & Daisy Bulwer ~
http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/bulwer.htm
&
East Anglian Traditional Music Trust
http://www.eatmt.org.uk/
Walter & Daisy Bulwer ~
http://www.eatmt.org.uk/walter_bulwer.htm

# Posted on November 25th 2009 by Dodger
https://thesession.org/discussions/23195
https://thesession.org/members/50451

This above little distraction (windup) reminded me of other more pleasant relations, such as playing and dancing to this and similar English airs… 😎 😉 😎

http://www.petecooper.com/
Notes on English fiddle tunes
http://www.petecooper.com/eftnotes.htm
66 Walter Bulwer’s No 2
http://www.petecooper.com/eftnotes.htm#66

X: 2
T: Walter Bulwer’s
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: polka
K: GMaj
|: DG GF/G/ | AE E2 | F/G/A F/G/A | BG G2 |
DG GF/G/ | AE E2 | F/G/A DE/F/ | G2 G2 :|
K: DMaj
|: AA B2 | AA F2 | GG E2 | AA F2 |
AA B2 | AA F2 | GG EF/E/ | D2 D2 :|

https://thesession.org/tunes/10059

X: 1
T: Walter Bulwer’s Polka No. 2
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: polka
K: Gmaj
|: B,C |\
D2 G2 G2 FG | A2 E2 E4 | FG A2 FG A2 | B2 G2 G2 FE |
D2 G2 G2 FG | A2 E2 E2 G2 | FG A2 D2 EF | G4 G2 :|
K: DMaj
|: FG |\
A2 A2 B4 | A2 A2 F4 | G2 G2 EFGE | ABAG FGAF |
A2 A2 B2 ^AB | A2 A2 F2 A2 | G2 G2 EFGE | D2 F2 D2 :|

With the more barndance like tempo of these that is understandable…

now these two really sound like alpine culture!

Anything to make you feel more at home. But I’d better be careful. I’ll get the stick if I actually pull a few bonafide Alpine numbers out of the ether and give them space here… But for a friend? 😉

X: 1
T: Walter Bulwer’s No.2
M: C|
L: 1/4
R: Polka
K: Dmaj
|: Add c/d/ | eB B2 | c/d/ e c/d/ e | fd d>B | Add c/d/ | e B B2 | c/d/ eA B/c/ | dd d2 ::
ee f2 | ee c2 | dd B/c/ d | ee c/d/e/f/ | ee f2 | ee c2 | dd B/d/c/B/ | Ac A2 ::
Add c/d/ | eB B2 | c/d/ e c/d/ e | fd d>B | Add c/d/ | e B B2 | c/d/ eA B/c/ | dd d2 :|
K: Gmaj
|: B2 Bc | d2 de | d2 d>d | dc c2 | A2 AB | c2 cd | c2 c>d | cB B2 | B2 Bc | d2 de | ddg g/d/ |
fe e>e | ee f>e | ed B>e | ed cA |1 GF ED :|2 G2 G2 |

This became part of every English melodeon player’s core repertoire in the 1980s, thanks to the LP made by The Old Swan Band. They undoubtedly garnered it from the recording of Walter and Daisy Bulwer (fiddle and piano) on Topic Records’ English Country Music TSCD607 but discarded the C part. Like everybody else, I learned it in the keys of D and G, which is the obvious way to play it on the D/G melodeon. However, when I eventually heard the original recording I discovered that Walter Bulwer started the tune in D, went into A for the B part, repeated the A, back to D, then into G for the missing C part. Pete Cooper says on his website that it was originally played in F but I’m sure (assuming my record deck was rotating at the correct speed!) that it started in D.
Trying it out on the melodeon I found the A and B parts could both be played on the melodeon’s D row - effectively playing the B part in A - and only using the G row for the missing part. To me, this sounds a lot brighter than the usual way of playing it but has the disadvantage of annoying everybody who learned it Old Swan style.
I’ve transcribed almost exactly the version published by Dave Townsend in his English Country Dance tunes, including writing the B part in Dmaj rather than Amaj. The only significant change is that I’ve bowed to received opinion and replaced Dave’s bar 3 (which went c/d/e e/f/e) with the phrase everybody knows and loves nowadays.

X: 4
T: Walter Bulwer’s No.2
M: C|
L: 1/4
R: Polka
K: Dmaj
|: Ad dc/d/ | eB B2 | c/d/e c/d/e | fd d>B |
Ad dc/d/ | eB B2 | c/d/e AB/c/ | dd d2 :|
|: ee f2 | ee c2 | dd B/c/d | ee c/d/e/f/ |
ee f2 | ee c2 | dd B/d/c/B/ | Ac A2 :|
|: Ad dc/d/ | eB B2 | c/d/e c/d/e | fd d>B |
Ad dc/d/ | eB B2 | c/d/e AB/c/ | dd d2 :|
K: Gmaj
|: B2 Bc | d2 de | d2 d>d | dc c2 |
A2 AB | c2 cd | c2 c>d | cB B2 |
B2 Bc | d2 de | dd gg/d/ | fe e>e |
ee f>e | ed B>e | ed cA |[1 GF ED :|[2 G2 G2 |]

Courtesy of Colin Turner, with a few adjustments to the ABcs…