Miss Falconer’s strathspey

I found this dark little beauty while going though John Pringle’s 1st Collection, published in Edinburgh circa 1801. This and his 2nd Collection are both available in PDF format for FREE download here:

http://www.heallan.com/freedownloads.asp

This tune, and a good amount (but not all) of the tunes in these collections are compositions of the man himself. While the melody of this is quite interesting, to get a truer sense of this man’s genius you need to hear it with his bass:

X:1
T:Miss Falconer’s Strathspey
C:John Pringle
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=98
R:Strathspey
K:Em
V:1
|:E>FG>A B>B,B,>B,|E>FG>F E>^D E2|c>A G/F/G/A/ B>G E2|AB/c/ (B/^d/).e/.A/ G/F/B/B,/ E2:|
|:g>gB>^d e=d/c/ B2|A>c (B/A/)(G/F/) (G/E/).G/.^d/ e2|g>gB>e e/d/c/B/ AB/c/|(B/G/F/A/) (G/E/)B/^d/ e>E E2:|
V:2
|:G,>F,E,>^D, E,>B,, E,,2|G,>A,B,>B,, E,>B,, E,,2|[^D,2F,2A,2] [E,G,]D, E,>B,,E,>E,,|CB,/A,/ G,E, B,B,, E,2:|
|:z>G,D,>B,, C,D,G,G,,|D,2 G,A, B,B,,E,E,,|z>G,D,>B,, C,^C,D,z|G,,^D,E,B,, E,>B,, E,,2:|

This is where the much maligned MIDI player is actually useful! If you think his arrangement sounds more than a bit Baroque in style, you would be absolutely correct. Remember that 1801 wasn’t that far removed (51 years) from the death of Johann Sebastian Bach. That style of composition was still quite popular in 1801, if Mr. Pringle’s works are any indication. In many of the Scottish and Irish collections I’ve gone through, the basses given were at best, rudimentary…and at worst, unlistenable (IMO). Mr. Pringle’s basses are a most welcome "breath of fresh air" (if you like Baroque Music, that is…). At any rate, enjoy!

-Jay

Can I get ‘chippy’ and ask for a Bath Oliver bisquit (no apparent relation to the former, it seems)?

Thanks for the tune and historical context. Would hate to have to work out the left hand syncopation for the piano - one direction at a time and only one or two sharps, if you please.

Thanks for the "Bath Oliver bisquit reference, Mr. K.- I actually had to look it up on Wikipedia. I now have EVEN MORE potentially useless information clanging around inside my skull (besides Irish / Scottish tunes)! And don’t feel bad; by "potentially useless" I mean that it would do me ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD in a life-threatening situation. Guess I’ll jusy have to avoid those if I can…😉

just have to avoid those if I can…

Thankfully typos aren’t dangerous!