Glise de Sherbrooke
A classic French-Canadian reel played all over
North America and England. It goes by many other names including:
“Glise a Sherbrooke,” “Le Reel de Sherbrooke,” “The Big Ship,”
“Reel de Tadoussec,” “Quadrille de Chez Nous.”
I’m putting this tune up because I’ll be teaching it at my beginner’s Anglo concertina workshop at the North East Concertina Workshop sponsored by the Button Box this coming April in Sunderland, Massachusetts. If you are planning to attend and want to get a head start, here you go... but first a bit of history.
The first Québecois fiddler to record this tune was Joseph Allard (1873-1947) on Victor in 1928. There is also an early transcription by fiddler Omer Marcoux (1898-1982) who learned the tune when young in Quebec. This information and more can be found here.
I’m putting this tune up because I’ll be teaching it at my beginner’s Anglo concertina workshop at the North East Concertina Workshop sponsored by the Button Box this coming April in Sunderland, Massachusetts. If you are planning to attend and want to get a head start, here you go... but first a bit of history.
The first Québecois fiddler to record this tune was Joseph Allard (1873-1947) on Victor in 1928. There is also an early transcription by fiddler Omer Marcoux (1898-1982) who learned the tune when young in Quebec. This information and more can be found here.
I got to wondering about that early Allard
recording and located it online. When I heard him play, I was
pleased that at least some things haven't changed much in the past
100 years. It’s not note for note the way I play the tune for
dances today, but still remarkably similar. Listen for yourself at
The Virtual Gramophone: Canadian Historical Sound
Recordings, a multimedia web site devoted to the early
days of Canadian recorded sound. Listening to the files requires
Real Player which is a free download if you don’t already have
it.
In the 1928 recording, Joseph Allard is
playing a Stroh fiddle with piano accompaniment, the tune is titled
“Quadrille de Chez Nous” ... just click the link below.
Whatever name it goes by, "Glise de
Sherbrooke" sounds great on Anglo concertina in the harmonic style.
I’ve put up a number of files to help you figure it out for
yourself on both C/G and G/D Anglos. The menu below includes scores
in tabulature, midi files of the scores and MP3 files of me playing
the tune on Anglo pretty much the way the scores are notated. Don't
be put off by the tab scores. Reading music is not required for the
workshop.
To download, just click on your
selection below.
