4 Cotillions (J. Fishar, 1778), mandolin/mandola duets

[Martin Jonas]

James Fishar (1778): "Sixteen Cotillons, Sixteen Minuets, Twelve Allemands and Twelve Hornpipes"
1. Cotillon "The Favorite" - 0:00
2. Cotillon "The New Walk" - 1:38
3. Cotillon "The Rarce Show" - 3:17
4. Cotillon "The Jesuit" - 4:52

These are four cotillions from a 1778 collection by James Fishar. I found these in some old copies I had lying around of a long-out-of-print edition for soprano and alto recorders (Heinrichshofen 244). The original doesn't seem to be online, but from one of the tunes reprinted in a textbook on old English dancing it appears that Fishar included a melody line, a bass line and a brief description of the dance figures. According to a contemporaneous advert for the book, Fishar was "for ten years first dancer, ballet-master, and head teacher of all the dancing at the King's Theatre, London". There's more info on cotillion dancing in general and on Fishar in particular at:

https://www.regencydances.org/paper011.php

The Heinrichshofen edition has only seven of Fishar's original 16 cotillions, along with a selection of the allemandes, minuets and one hornpipe. I have copies of only five of the cotillions (I'm missing two pages) and have recorded four of them as duets on mandolin and octave mandolin (GDAE mandola) -- they fit the instrument well and are fun to play! Apologies for some sloppy trills, especially in the first tune.

Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin
Mid-Missouri M-111 octave mandolin



Martin