Annotation:Zouave Quick Step

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ZOUAVE QUICK STEP. American, Quickstep (2/4 time). D Major (‘A’ part) & G Major (‘B’ and ‘C’ parts). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCC. From the manuscripts of Setauket, Long Island, painter and fiddler William Sidney Mount, on a page headed by the note “From Anderson Hood – his band – June.” The year is probably 1863, as a tune at the bottom of the page, written at a different (presumably later) time, is dated August, 1863.

A zouave in this context was a Civil War era soldier whose unit was patterned after the French zouaves, a name derived from the Zouaoua, a fiercely independent Kabyli tribe living in the rocky hills of Alegeria and Morroco. Although the original colonial units were comprised of members of this tribe and other North Africans, the zouaves became increasingly comprised of native Frenchmen. However, the distinctive uniform was retained, patterned after traditional North African dress. The zouaves were a well-trained and a spectacularly effective fighting force, which (along with the lure of those natty uniforms!) is why they were imitated by American units prior to and during the beginning of the Civil War.

Source for notated version: William Sidney Mount music manuscirpts (Long Island, mid-19th century).

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