La Mal-Aimable waltz

A really nice french waltz composed by Jean-Christophe Lequerre. I learned it from a German bagpipe player this summer, she played it together with Flatworld https://thesession.org/tunes/7859

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hh0NVicZ3g

play video

Same version in Bminor for flute players.

Seems to work in Em

%%landscape
X:1
T:La mal-aimable
C:Jean-Christophe Lequerré
M:3/4
L:1/8
K:Emin
B2G2F2|E2 CE FG|F2 DF GA|B2 FB FB|
B2 (3GAG (3FGF|E2 CE FG|F2 DF GA|F6:|
G2 EG EG|c2 Gc Gc|F2 DF DF|B2 FB FB|
E2 CE CE|A2 EA EA|F2 BF BF|A2 (3GAG (3FGF|
GE EG EG|cG Gc Gc|FD DF DF|BF FB FB|
E2 CE CE|A2 EA EA|F2 B,F GF|E6||

Does anyone know where I can find the chords for this written down over the melody line in sheet music? In C

Yes: http://www.rudemex.co.uk/library/Alphabetical/Mal-Aimable,%20La.pdf . (Well . . Am, but it’s the same key signature). The chords are the ones I added: other harmonic accompaniments are available.

Aaaagh! Should’ve checked. There’s a typo in the score linked above: the Cm7 in the 1st-time bar of the B part was meant to be a Cmaj7. I’ll change it asap. Of course, whether it’s any better is a matter for your artistic judgement.

See above. Error now corrected.

I added some chords I like to use while playing it on the piano
|:“Am”e2 c2 B2|“F”A2 FA Bc|“G”B2 GB cd|“Cmaj7”e2 Be Be|
“Am”e2 c2 B2|“F” A2 FA Bc|“G”B2 GB cd|“Em/E”B6:|
“Fmaj7”c2 Ac Ac|“F”f2 cf cf|“Cmaj7”B2 GB GB|“Em”e2 Be Be|
“Fmaj7”A2 FA FA|“Dm”d2 Ad Ad|“Em7”B2 EB cd|“Emaj7”B4 AB|
“Fmaj7”c2 Ac Ac|“F”f2 cf cf|“Cmaj7”B2 GB GB|“Em”e2 Be Be|
“Fmaj7”A2 FA FA|“Dm”d2 Ad Ad|“Em7”B2 EB cB|“Am”A6|

Any ideas how you’d translate the name in English?

Seems to be “The Unlovable One” or “The Unlovable”.

See the discussion here:
http://forum.melodeon.net/index.php?topic=5646.0

Literally yes. For me it means “the rude” or “the impolite”. You won’t hear that word outside of books. I’m a native speaker but from Belgium, so maybe they understand it differently in France.

Note that written like this “la malle aimable”
It means “the kind trunk”, not sure the pun was intended though :p

It translates from the French to “The Unkind”

I wonder if the composer meant this to be a waltz or a mazurka?

When I listen to folks play it, they tend to play it like a waltz (for example, Paul Young’s beautiful rendition on button box on Youtube). But, when I look at the “dots,” the tune looks like it could have started off in the mind of its composer as a mazurka.

Anyone know how the composer might classify this piece as one or the other genre?

You’re right, I can make it sound nicely as a mazurka too. But I think it’s always been a waltz as I can’t find a source mentioning the opposite.

When you talk about waltz or mazurka are you discussing tempo, style, both or something else? Often musical terms seem to mean different things to different musicians especially between the folk and the classical worlds.