strathspey Archive: Music for Lancers

Advice, please, on music for Student Lancers. Period -- 1880s. What music
would have been used? Is that what folks still use today?

Thanks in advance,

Pat

Lancers Quadrilles were danced to the popular music of the day. An annual
ball I attend has several Lancers in the program. They are danced to Gilbert
& Sullivan, in particular Trial by Jury Yeoman of the Guard and Patience.
There is an ancient recording by Jimmy Shand using these tunes.
Hope this helps,
Sylvia Miskoe, Concord, NH USA

Thanks for the info. Does it help? Well, yes and no....

It's good to know the music to which those folks danced Lancers, but we were
kinda hoping it'd be some good reels or jigs, ones that we like and ones
that our musicians can play....

Pat

-----Original Message-----
From: SMiskoe@aol.com [mailto:SMiskoe@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2000 7:28 AM
To: strathspey@tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de
Subject: Re: Music for Lancers

Lancers Quadrilles were danced to the popular music of the day. An annual
ball I attend has several Lancers in the program. They are danced to
Gilbert
& Sullivan, in particular Trial by Jury Yeoman of the Guard and Patience.
There is an ancient recording by Jimmy Shand using these tunes.
Hope this helps,
Sylvia Miskoe, Concord, NH USA

--
SMiskoe@aol.com

Re what to use for tunes these days. You can be totally
traditional/authentic and use Gilbert & Sullivan. You can say 'they used the
popular tunes of the day so we will use our popular tunes of the day'. The
most important item is to use music everyone can play and it can be danced
to. The Ceilidh video uses contemporary tunes. I didn't log them so at the
top of my head I cannot tell you but I think they were of the Little Brown
Jug ilk. I have always danced Lancers to 'marchy' style tunes.
Cheers,
Sylvia Miskoe, Concord, NH USA

Here is a typical set of tunes for the Student's Lancers:

Fig 1: Here's to the Maiden/The Rollicking Irishman

Fig 2: Camptown Races/Polly Wolly Doodle/Jingle Bells

Fig 3: The Gambolier/We Won't Go Home 'till Morning/Billy Magee Magar

Fig4: Upsidee/There's a Tavern in the Town/Marching Through Georgia

Fig5: Montesuma/Hail the Conquering Hero Comes/Solomon Levi/Come Landlord
Fill the Flowing Bowl/D'ye Ken John Peel/The Old Folks at Home/My Massa's in
de cold cold Ground/Ho Ro My Nut Brown Maiden/Riding Down from Bangor

Alan Macpherson
-----Original Message-----
From: Patricia Ruggiero [mailto:ruggierop@earthlink.net]
Sent: 26 June 2000 03:21
To: Scottish dance
Subject: Music for Lancers

Advice, please, on music for Student Lancers. Period -- 1880s. What music
would have been used? Is that what folks still use today?

Thanks in advance,

Pat

--
"Patricia Ruggiero" <ruggierop@earthlink.net>

At 07:50 28/06/00 +0100, you wrote:
>Here is a typical set of tunes for the Student's Lancers:
>
>Fig 1: Here's to the Maiden/The Rollicking Irishman (...) etc

The titles mentioned seem very familiar. I'm prompted to ask:
Is there any great difference between "the Student's Lancers" and "the
Lancers" ?

Of the latter, the English, Scottish, Irish and French descriptions all
seem to be very similar, though the French use quite different sets of
tunes (of course).

Martin,
in Grenoble, France.

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/scots.in.france/scd.htm
(dance groups, some new dances ...)

I agree with what others have told you. Everything I have ever read suggests
that the Lancers (and most likely all other Quadrilles) were danced to the
popular music of the day rather than to any specific music. Guess that means
that sets using 'Phantom of the Opera' would be very appropriate! Certainly
G&S have been very popular choices in the past, but shouldn't be taken as
the only thing appropriate. I have recordings by Jimmy Shand, Jimmy Cameron
and Rob Gordon and G&S certainly were their choice. At one time (can't find
it anymore!), I had a copy of Heart of Oak Lancers recorded by the Harry
Davidson Orchestra in the early 1900's. It had been on extended play 78
format. That was a treat. The one I used the most for the Lancers was Jimmy
Cameron's Trial by Jury.

But, you made reference to the 1880's -- if you are interested in the type
of music they would have been dancing the Quadrilles to at that time, PJS
Richardson in the his book The Social Dances of the 19th Century includes a
programme from a State Ball at Buckingham Palace held shortly before the
Boer War. There are four Quadrilles on the programme and the music listed
was 'Methusalem' by Strauss, 'Paris Leben' by Offenbach, 'Boccaccio' by
Suppe and 'Zigeunerbaron' by Strauss.

In the same book, Richardson includes a typical programme from 1848. Here
the five Quadrilles were danced to

Quadrille (First Set) "Robert Bruce" by Musard
Parisian Quadrille "Le Comte de Carmagnola" by Bosisio
Parisian Quadrille "Don Pasquale" by Tolbecque
Parisian Quadrille "Nino" by Coote
Parisian Quadrille "Les Fetes du Chateau d'Eu" by Musard

- Gerry

Gerry Gray
18 Mutch Drive #10
Stratford, PE C1A 9K6
(902) 569-5633
gerry.gray@pei.sympatico.ca

-----Original Message-----
From: Patricia Ruggiero [mailto:ruggierop@earthlink.net]
Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2000 11:21 PM
To: Scottish dance
Subject: Music for Lancers

Advice, please, on music for Student Lancers. Period -- 1880s. What music
would have been used? Is that what folks still use today?

Thanks in advance,

Pat

--
"Patricia Ruggiero" <ruggierop@earthlink.net>