Annotation:March in Solomon
X:1 T:March in Solomon M:C| L:1/8 R:March S:The late 18th century copybook manuscript of Henry Livingston Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:D |: A>A | e4A4 | F3E D2d2 | edef d2a2 | f3e defg | a2a2a2 gf | g2g2g2 fe | f2 ed g2f2 | e6 :| |: e>e | a4f4 | edef e2a2 | g2f2b2a2 | g4f4 | d4A4 | dcde d2g2 | gefg Te4 | d6 :|]
MARCH IN SOLOMON. AKA and see "Ligoniere's March," "Oxfordshire March." English, March (cut time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The air was included in the late 18th century manuscript copybook of Henry Livingston, Jr. Livingston purchased the estate of Locust Grove, Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1771 at the age of 23. In 1775 he was a Major in the 3rd New York Regiment, which participated in Montgomery's invasion of Canada in a failed attempt to wrest Québec from British control. An important land-owner in the Hudson Valley and a member of the powerful Livingston family, Henry was also a surveyor and real estate speculator, an illustrator and map-maker, and a Justice of the Peace for Dutchess County. He was also a musician and presumably a dancer, as he was elected a Manager for the New York Assembly's dancing season of 1774-1775, along with his 3rd cousin, John Jay, later U.S. Chief Justice of Governor of New York.
The melody first appeared in Georg Friedrich Handel's oratorio Solomon (1749), set in Biblical times. It was entered into a few later English and Scottish publications, such as the 1768 James Gillespie violin manuscript (1768, Part 1, No. 11), and Robert Bremner's Collection of Airs and Marches (London, 1761).
