These are two polkas written by English concertina player Scan Tester (1887-1972). They are usually played as a set these days, either in this order or the other way around. This version from Paul Hardy's Session Tunebook (who for some reason says "reels" on the score rather than "polkas"): https://pghardy.net/tunebooks/pgh_session_tunebook.pdf 1920s/30s "Majestic" mandolin Vintage Viaten tenor guitar https://youtu.be/ANdOg6PT6sc Martin
A set of polkas just right for listening to first thing Sunday morning…nice tunes, nice pace, just the two instruments, well played.
Very nice, Martin. Reminiscent of our friend Fred Pidgeon. But what sort of name is that? Our Fred sounds like he would belong in a rural village hall, but Scan Tester is more like a piece of office equipment. And thanks for the tunebook, which looks like a treasure trove.
Sounds fine nice in the afternoon, too.
Thanks, John, Richard and Frithjof! Scan Tester was a village musician from Sussex. According to his Wikipedia page (yes, he has one), his real name was "Lewis". His nickname was short for "Scantelope", but that hardly makes it any clearer. We already had a few Scan Tester tunes in SAW: "The Man In The Moon" and "No. 1 Stepdance". Paul Hardy's tunebook is great, I have used it for a lot of tunes in the past! Martin
Where the deer and the scantelope play?
Since Scan Tester was a concertina player, I wanted to include the English concertina in my video. Therefore, I decided for octave mandolin as main instrument and added nylon string guitar for accompaniment. The scale length of my octave is 26 inches. A good reason to tune it down and put a capo on the second fret. I had a day off today and used the pleasant weather for playing my instruments out in nature. https://youtu.be/_xfyQLCROzA
Frithjof, that's a very accomplished and uplifting performance on both instruments! The nature setting and birdsong always go well with folk tunes. A joy to watch.
I agree with Dennis, Frithjof. There was something very uplifting about this - extremely well played and very warming. You look like you are having a great time out there. And, as we have discussed elsewhere, the birds really add something. I shall play it again now.
Enchanting! Very happy to see you posting beautiful music Frithjof, I especially enjoyed the concertina and the bass runs on the guitar. What sort fish are there? Dace? -my favourite!
Looks like a great day off, Frithjof. Lovely playing, accomplished and well coordinated. Great setting, inc. photogenic tree (and your handsome self, of course). An all round musical and visual package
Thanks all. Simon - No dace! The slow running, muddy streams of our Auenwald are just not the right habitat for a dace.
Frithjof, I missed this one till just now. A fine delivery on all your instruments and a picture of a man at peace with himself and the world.
Is Auenwald the town near Stuttgart? It may be something to do with the water? Is it a mining area? Dace did very well when they were released in Ireland.
Oh, no, Simon. I’m living in Saxony. In my case “Auenwald” refers to the local riparian forest: Leipzig Riverside Forest (German: Leipziger Auenwald) is one of the largest lowland Riparian forests in Central Europe, lying mostly within the city limits of Leipzig city in Germany. (Wikipedia) To get an impression of Leipziger Auenwald you may remember my video of Fred Pidgeon’s No. 3 some weeks ago, where the ground of the forest on both sides of a little stream is covered with wild garlic. Road to Lisdoonvarna is another good example - and The Ash Grove. And you are right about the context of water quality and mining. In the region around Leipzig it used to be surface mining of brown coal.
Like John K. I somehow missed this thread. I really enjoyed your perfomance, Frithjof, the concertina adds some new coulour.
Thanks, Christian.
