Annotation:Reel de Tadoussac (1)
X:1 T:Reel de Tadoussac [1] C:Joseph Allard M:2/4 L:1/16 Z:Transcribed by Bruce Osborne K:G GA|B2B2 cBce|d2dc BGBd|cBcA FDFA|eddc BGDG|! B2B2 cBce|d2dc BGBd|cBcA FDFA|G2GF G2:|! |:Bd|gagf ecge|d2dc BGBd|cBcA FDFA|eddc BGBd|! gagf ecge|d2dc BGBd|cBcA FDFA|G2GF G2:|!
REEL DE TADOUSSAC [1] (Tadoussac Reel). AKA and see "Big Ship (The)," “Bluebell Reel,” "Chasseurs (Les)," "Glise à Sherbrooke," "Home Sweet Home (2)," "Quadrille de chez nous (1)," "Quadrille national 2ème partie." French-Canadian, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB'. Tadoussac is a town on the west bank of the St. Lawrence river, above Quebec City. Editor Joyal points out the interesting juxtaposition when one compares fiddler Joseph Allard's two versions, recorded 18 years apart (when the violinist was aged 55 and 73, respectively). He recorded the melody in 1928 under the title “Quadrille de chez nous (1)” (Our House/Home Quadrille) {Victor 263514}, and again in 1945 as “Reel de Tadoussac” (Victor Bluebird 55-5225). It appears Allard's style of playing remained remarkably consistent over the intervening years, as the two versions are almost identical. “Reel de Tadoussac" (or, as New England fiddlers tend to call it, "Glise à Sherbrooke”) is the tune played for the dance La Grande Chaine. The first strain of "Reel de Tadoussac (1)" was introduced twice by Montreal fiddler Isidore Soucy in his 1925 recording "Set américain 2ème partie (Soucy)", which is basically a two part tune; however, Soucy interjected the 'Tadoussac' strain at two different times as a change-up during the course of the recording.
René Houlé recorded a “Reel de Tadoussac” in 1931, but it is a different tune (See "Reel de Tadoussac (2)").
Fiddler Lisa Ornstein points out the reel is an elaborate setting of the familiar song melody “Home Sweet Home,” composed by Sir Henry Bishop (1786-1855), an operatic conductor, composer and arranger. It first appeared in the play Clari, or the Maid of Milan, by John Howard Payne, produced in London in 1823. See Samuel Bayard's Pennsylvania-collected "Home Sweet Home (2)" for a reel setting of the same air; it may be that Bayard's version and "Reel de Tadousssac" developed independently from the same air by musicians in different regions.
