Genevieve’s waltz

I first heard this on the radio, written & played by Manus McGuire, (Moving Cloud), who wrote it for his wife (Genevieve).
It is on his solo album ‘Saffron & Blue’, Manus McGuire, (Green Linnet GLCD1206).
It is a beautiful tune that I love to play on the mandolin, and sounds great with very little ornamentation, he odd grace note ( ‘C#’ after the ‘B’, and a slide to double stop on the final ‘A’ ).
To be honest, the way Manus plays it is just about perfect to my ears !

So pleased to find this here - I agree with your comments on how Manus plays it but it’s great to be able to have a go at playing it myself, and your version seems note-perfect.

Thanks for putting it up here.

I’m planning to play this tune for the prelude of my brother’s wedding. I’m adding it to a set with Drunk at Night, Dry in the Morning, then Lover’s Waltz, followed by Genevieve’s Waltz. Does that sound like a nice combo? I’ve only heard it on the Green Linnet Album compilation CD, not sure who plays it tho.
I was happy to find the dots here.

This tune is very similar to a jig played by the Bumblebees on Buzzin’ :Miss Catherine Jane Sprees

The same tune rewritten as a jig :

X: 1
T: Genevieve’s
T: Miss Catherine Jane Sprees
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: A
E|:cdc BAG | ABc E2E | FAd cEc | cBA B2E
| cdc BAG | ABc E2E | FAd cEc |1 BAG A2E :|2 BAG A2e |
| fff fga | e2d cBA | ded cBA | FGA B2e
| fff fga | e2d cBA | ded cBA | FAG A2e
| fff fga | e2d cBA | df/g/a ecA | FGA B2E
| cdc BAG | ABc E2E | FAd cEc | BAG A3 |]

I had the great privilege of attending some master classes taught by Manus McGuire and he taught us this very tune. He played it pretty straight without ornamentation and it was beautiful. Some of us added a harmony line and he said he liked the sound. He does like to add ornamentation on jigs and reels, but his waltzes tend to played simply and beautifully. His brother wrote out the notes and he gave us copies for us readers.

Did this in in G major at a Contradance in Austin this week, so leaving a transposition in G in case it helps anyone else.

I am very confused by this and have commented before about tunes with contradictions. If 3/4 then why organise the notes in 6/8? If 6/8 is the rhythm then why time-signature it as a waltz.
To me the notes themselves suggest a jig so why label it as a waltz? Ah! perhaps this a code to say “play it as you like”
Is giving it a 3/4 time signature an attempt to get people to play it slowly? I suppose seeing a 6/8 ts may encourage the uninitiated to treat it as any jig but to me as soon as one starts playing it it is obvious that a slow steady pace is required.
I would prefer to see it written out in the two ways of playing with some explanation. I’ve just played it as a jig and as a waltz, with and without the dotted quavers. I must say that I prefer it with dotted quavers as that lends itself to the idea of playing it slowly.
I’ve also played it as 3/4 notated correctly for the timesignature E|:cd cB AG | AB cE-EE etc. so that the 3 beats are accentuated as the ts states and what a different tune it is. Obviously not right.

A 3/4 version

How about 3/8 time (like, e.g., Johsefins Dopvals)? Might be logical.

A straight A major transposition of the G major setting I added above.