Ciel D’automne reel

X:13
T:Ciel d’automne
C:André Brunet
Z:robin.beech@mcgill.ca
Q:75
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:D
fedc d2AF | G2A>B A2(3GFE | D2d>c B3A | GFGB A2c/d/e/f/ |
g3f e2de | fdAF G2-GA/B/ | Add2 efg2 |1 eddc d2A/c/d/e/ :|2 eddc d2dc/A/ |:
B2-Bc/d/ AFF2 | BGdc A4 | B2-Bc/d/ AFd2 | efg>f e3f |
g3f e2de | fdAF G2-GA/B/ | Add2 efg2 |1 eddc d2dc/A/ :|2 eddc d2A/c/d/e/ |]

Les Freres Brunet (Andre and Rejean) are outstanding composers. We heard Andre play this with his conjoint (sp?) Martine Billette a couple of years ago at an AQLF festival. To my limited understanding of the language, she had a great deal to do with the inspiration for this composition.

Patti Kusturok plays it on this clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLzkQq_dNkU

play video

Lovely tune, but a wee bit fast? In my book it’s a slow air, and pretty sure that Andre plays it slower than that.

it is indeed a lovely melody, doesn’t sound to me any faster than La Bottine Souriante original. I cant figure out what the guy in the background is doing on guitar, looks like he’s playing dobro style but I’m not hearing any slide notes?

I found this poignant story behind the inspiration for this song:

‘CIEL D’AUTOMNE (Autumn Sky). French-Canadian, Air. A modern composition by fiddler Andre Brunet after the death of his father, when he felt his father’s spirit looking down on his young son from the autumn sky’.

This is such an inspiring tune, my dad also passed away in early October, quite some many years ago. The way the light looks and feels at this time of year in New England always reminds me of him and what a wonderful man he was.

A few of us, in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, played this tune, each from their own "Bubble", during Covid-19 (2020). We combined the tunes afterwards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebmwx-0Qx5c

play video

I can’t remember which recording I transcribed this from, but it feels better to me.

Apart from the triplets, this is exactly how I have it transcribed, Nigel.

Nigel’s version pretty much matches what I have got too: a couple of small differences, e.g. first full bar of the third line, the 2 F#s are tied together, and there’s a take-up note at the end of the next bar on the A (so it’s dotted crotchet + quaver, not a minim). The "triplets" I would think are really ornaments or mordants, and I have a couple of grace notes of my own that I put in.
I have a recording of Andre himself playing it - by special request of a friend at the end of a workshop at the Scots Fiddle Festival some years ago - she recorded him playing it to her mobile phone!
Definitely among my favourite tunes!

If of interest to anyone, I knocked out a 3-part arrangement of this tune; it’s at: http://www.rudemex.co.uk/library/RM_arrangements/Ciel%20d’automne%20(3-pt).pdf. A recording of same is on: https://thesession.org/recordings/6893

Looks good, Bazza! I did a 2-part arrangement too, but the 2nd part was for our cello player so is more like your 3rd part. Will borrow that and try it out!

Was wondering what program you are using, Bazza, that doesn’t align the part properly?

I notated this a few years ago on a clunky old programme called MusicTime deLuxe, which was quite simple and convenient for most purposes but which is no longer supported or updated. These days I use MuseScore 3 which can carry out a thousand functions I’ll never need, but lines things up more accurately. I could re-write the older stuff but there’s a lot of it, and life is short …

Indeed… and the older one gets the shorter life gets.

Hi Bazza, it just so happened that someone chose to play this tune at our afternoon session today, and I just happened to have a copy of your harmony with me: played the second part on second time through, and it sounded really nice! Thanks again.