Borrowed tunes (and tune medleys) (was Langholm Fair)

SMiskoe

Message 55348 · 21 Mar 2009 01:31:51 · Fixed-width font · Whole thread

In a message dated 3/20/2009 7:46:57 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx writes:

And tongue in cheek - the question was when did this creep in - I suspect
when musicians learnt more than one or two tunes :>) :>)

If that's true, how do you explain the enthusiasm for English Country Dance
where the norm is to take the name tune and then devise, on the fly, various
ways to create variations between the 2 or 3 musicians who are playing?

Sylvia Miskoe, Concord, NH USA