Victorian era

[recon]

I've been asked to play at a birthday celebration for a coworker. The theme is a Victorian Tea. I need an easy to learn tune that would be period appropriate for the Victorian Era. Any suggestions (It would be best to have the tab)? Is anything on the Cafe's tab page appropriate? Thanks for your help.

[Gutbucket]

Golden slippers?

[Ali]

Daisy Daisy?

[Gutbucket]

Home sweet Home?

[recon]

Thanks for the great suggestions. I had some favorable hits when I googled Daisy and Golden Slippers. No so when I tried Home Sweet Home. Seems Motley Crue has a tune with the same title. Thanks again.

[John Craton]

As the Victorian era lasted basically from the 1830s to 1900, that encompasses a huge number of possibilities, both American and British. I haven't checked to see which of these are available in tab, but here is a quick list of titles that I think of when someone mentions the Victorian period:

I Dream of Jeanie
Love's Old Sweet Song
I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen
Beautiful Dreamer
The Last Rose of Summer
Won't You Buy My Pretty Flowers?
To a Wild Rose
Sweet Rosie O'Grady
My Wild Irish Rose
The Band Played On
After the Ball

And of course any song from the War Between the States would technically be "Victorian" in that they were nearly all written during the Victorian era. As to which of the above titles would be appropriate for a tea, I'd say your best bets would be on the parlor songs such as "Last Rose of Summer," "Won't You Buy My Pretty Flowers?" and "After the Ball."

Good luck!

[Bob A]

Dover books published a Stephen Foster songbook, reprinting first editions of his sheet music of the many songs he wrote. Their contention was that much of his music had been modified over time and did not reflect his original composition. I don't know if that's true, but it remains an inexpensive compilation of many truly delightful compositions. I regard him as an American treasure, and his music as sentimental but not saccharine, lyrical and even essential to understanding the sensibilities of the era.

Your opinion may differ, but he did write a bunch of really good songs, and deserves more play than he receives. I have a recording of the great violist, William Primrose, playing "I dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair" for the Armed Forces Radio Network. Sentimental chump that I am, it never fails to affect me.

[Gutbucket]

Thanks for the great suggestions. I had some favorable hits when I googled Daisy and Golden Slippers. No so when I tried Home Sweet Home. Seems Motley Crue has a tune with the same title. Thanks again.

Ya, I think the Crue's version relies on a lot of chop chords.

[Martin Jonas]

Stephen Foster is always good, and After The Ball is also a good suggestion. #I would agree that this sort of light parlour tune is the most appropriate. #There was a lovely PDF arrangement in standard notation and mandolin tab of "Cinderella Waltz" from 1850 at Mike Compton's homepage. #However, Mike's page is down at the moment and although I have a printout, I don't have the PDF to hand. #That tune is very "Victorian" in feel, straightforward to play and interestingly arranged. #For something later in the period, "To A Wild Rose" is lovely and I have a mandolin arrangement somewhere. #The basic tune is extremely simple and easy to learn, but very affecting and very period-specific. #Great for jazzing up, too (check Sonny Rollins)!

There's a violin arrangement in Sibelius Scorch format here. This looks identical to my mandolin arrangement, and you should be able to play it exactly as written. It's a slow tune and apart from a very brief excursion into third position (with straightforward fingering) there's nothing technical to worry about. You'd probably want to tremolo the longer notes.

Martin

[recon]

Thanks again. I've got plenty of good choices now.