English Dance – dance collection Dahlhoff (ID VII-166)

  1. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    This dance was collected on the end of 18th century by the family Dahlhoff in Westphalia, Germany. It was titled “Engl.” what probably means “English Dance”.

    The ABC is available at Simon Wascher’s TradArchive:
    http://simonwascher.info/TradArchiv/...Englischer.abc

    I used the rare opportunity to record this dance together with my niece Helene who played the second voice.



    https://youtu.be/jdACgbxmXr8
  2. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    What a beautiful duet you and Helene have created here, Frithjof. I love the way she keeps having a look at you from time to time and the ending is such a great indication of the fun you both had playing and recording this. Always so good to see family members maintaining the tradition.
  3. Don Grieser
    Don Grieser
    Wonderful! Loved the interaction between the instruments and you and Helene. Great to see Helene enjoying the music with you.
  4. Frankdolin
    Frankdolin
    Beautiful Frithjof ! So much fun, more please!
  5. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Many thanks, John, Don and Frank.
  6. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    Really nice playing. Heleme and Frithjof!
  7. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    The smiles at the end made me smile too. A lovely duet by both of you - such a talented young lady and her uncle. It doesn't get better than this.
  8. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Thanks to Christian and Ginny.
  9. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Very nice, Frithjof and Helene! I need to convince my daughter to start playing duets with me -- she does play guitar, piano and cornet, at least two of which are suitable instruments for a mandolin duet...

    I'm not entirely sure what type of dance an "Engländer" would have been in a German 18th century tunebook. According to the book of Baroque duets I've been playing around with recently, the French name for an English country dance was either "Contre dance" or "Anglaise", but strangely the name for that dance in German was "Française". The German folk dance site dancilla.com doesn't have an entry for "Engländer ", but the Dahlhoff manuscript may have translated "Anglaise" into German to indicate a country dance.

    Martin
  10. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    The titles of the dances of the Dahlhoff collection are often a little confusing. The are certainly not made by music scientists. Some cryptical titles are probably free translations in the Low German (“Platt”) of the time and region.

    Any way it is a great source of music and it is fun to play it.
  11. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    Exceptional! Family bands are so heartwarming and interesting to see how the living tradition of music continues. You obviously enjoyed this, and so did I.

    The Dahlhoff collection is a treasure trove.
  12. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    I opened the lid of the treasure chest only a little and could use any help to dig out some more of these gems.
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