Annotation:Grand Gigue Simple (La)

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 GRANDE GIGUE SIMPLE, LA (The Great Single Step Dance). AKA and see "Gigue simple," "Grande Rouge (La)," "Jig du Bas-Canada (La)," "Red River Jig." French-Canadian, Reel (3/4, or 6/4 and 3/2 time). D Major. Standard, ADad or ADae tunings (fiddle). One part (Carlin): AA'BB' (Hart & Sandell): ABCD (Reiner & Anick): ABCCD (Remon & Bouchard). This triple-time reel is probably the most popular and famous solo step-dance tune for virtuostic stepping in French-Canadian tradition, though it is in actuality not a jig ('gigue') but a reel. It is performed at a variety of tempos, depending on the taste of the fiddler or the step-dancer for whom it is played. Made up of repetitive phrases, the melodic line is somewhat free-form, states Guy Bouchard, and each fiddler seems to have his or her own version. Métis fiddlers from Manitoba play it under the title "Red River Jig" and there the tune is perhaps the most popular vehicle for stepdancing. Anne Lederman (in her entry on "Fiddling" in the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, 1992) states that this tune and its cognates were one of two important step-dance tunes in the repertoire of the 18th and 19th century fur-trade in Canada, along with "Drops of Brandy." She suggests "La Grande Gigue Simple" (and cognates) may originally have been Scottish hornpipes in 6/4 time (i.e. 'Old' or 'Triple' Hornpipe time). Hart & Sandell (2001) note that fiddler Isidore Soucy recorded the tune on 78 RPM discs five times between 1927 and 1952. The "La Grande Rouge" title seems to be a regional Gaspe title for this tune, and perhaps is associated with the Manitoba title through the word 'red' (rouge).  Source for notated version: Louis Boudreault (Québec) via Lisa Ornstein [Reiner & Anick]; La Bottine Souriante [Hart & Sandell]; Aimé Gagnon [Remon & Bouchard].  Printed sources: Carlin (Master Collection), 1984; No. 101, p. 63. Hart & Sandell (Dance ce Soir), 2001; No. 21, p. 53. Reiner & Anick (Old Time Fiddling Across America), 1989; pp. 60-61. Remon & Bouchard (25 Crooked Tunes, vol. 2: Québec Fiddle Tunes), 1997; No. 17.  Recorded sources: Green Linnett GLCD 3042, La Bottine Souriante - "Chic and Swell" (1988. Learned from Pierre Laporte, "who believes that his interpretation is fairly similar to that played by the late Jules Verret). La Bottine Souriante - "Y a ben du changement." Philo Records 2022, Louis Beaudoin - "La Famille Beaudoin" (1976). 30 Below TB 001CD, Les têtes de violon (Bouchard et al) - "Airs Tordus/Crooked Tunes" (1998). Voyager VRLP-322, Louis Boudreault - "Old Time Fiddler of Chicoutimi, Québec" (1977, 1993). Jean Carignan - "Jean Carignan, ses premiers enresitrements (1958, re-released in 1980). Dent-de-lion - "Les beaux yeux blues." Les Frères Brunet - "Les porteurs de tradition." "Raynald Ouellet & Marcel Messervier, Jr., vol. 1" (1986).  See also listing at: Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources Roy W. Gibbons article from Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1980) comparing regional styles for this melody. Hear Isidore Soucy's 1936 version at the Virtual Gramophone |grande|+AND+|gigue|+AND+|simple|&spi=-&rp=1&v=1

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