The Walking Stick mazurka

Source: "Maiden Voiage" ( Trad. Irish Music from Pepper’s Bar, Feakle, Co. Clare )
Transcription: Gian Marco Pietrasanta

Bit of a mess. This tune is a mazurka by Tommy Peoples.

Something is awry with the notation version of gan ainms posted recently. The ABCs differ, but the notation for the last three are all identical.

I suppose to make the record complete I should point out that the problem has been repaired.

This tune appears on Track 15 of Kevin Crawford’s cd In Good Company, with Tommy Peoples on fiddle. Kevin cites Tommy as the composer of this mazurka and so it is called Tommy Peoples’.

S: CD: “Éamonn Coyne: Through the Round window” ~ first tune, track 3 - followed by a set of jigs
N: “~ a mazurka from the Donegal tradition I got from Siobhán Peoples.”

Dermot Byrne – button accordion
Éamonn Coyne – mandolin & tenor guitar
Cíarán Curran - bouzouki

Too bad Éamonn didn’t think to ask for the title and composer. 😀 This is a lovely reclording, great playing, only ruined a little (IMHO) by the naff combination of this lovely mazurka with jigs. Why? All are played beautifully, but I’d have rather another couple of mazurkas instead with the jigs as a set on their own? It’s almost as bad as throwing away jigs by suddenly doing the cute thing of jumping into reels. There’s a kind of a drunk cowboy “YAHOO!” about it, up on the buckin’ bronco in the local pub…

I’ve never minded the jigs following on from the mazurka. In fact, it’s a contender for my favourite track on the album.

~ including the later addition of a 3rd part - X: 3 (appropriately)

"From Mazovia to Meenbanad: The Donegal Mazurkas" (with CD & DVD)
Caoimhín Mac Aoidh ~ page 32, tune #20
http://ceoteo.net/
http://ceoteo.net/publications.html

AABBCC ~ or ~ AABBAACC (trio) - - -

This is actually called The Silver Slipper. It used to be a two part tune but Tommy added a third in recent years. I love this tune and mazurkas in general.

This is the three part version as written by Tommy in his book O Am Go hAm (From Time to Time).
He writes "Some walkers swing a stick as a rhythmic exercise rather than as a support. The title was suggested by the rhythm of the mazurka."

That’s all he says about it; so no mention of it ever being called The Silver Slipper.
It’s in the section of the book that has his original compositions, not the earlier, tutorial, section
where he gives his versions and variations on older tunes.

I added rests at the end of X:4 only to get the short line to have similar spacing to the previous lines
(rather than being stretched out to fill the whole space). There must be a right watyto do that.
What is it?

Unmessed it further and added a bit of my own taste 🙂