Annotation:St. Anne's Reel
X:1 T:St. Anne's Reel M:C| L:1/8 N:From an August 1, 1966, field recording of the playing of Fidel N:Martin (1891-1976) of Berlin N.H., originally from Rogersville, NB, recorded N:by folklorist Art Rosenbaum. Martin, a WWI veteran, had a varied repertory that N:consisted of "Down East", Acadian, Irish, American and French-Canadian tunes. D: https://bmac.libs.uga.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/331630 F:UGA Brown Media Archives: identifier artrosen_00180 (Track 16 -12:04 of the tape) Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:D V:1 clef=treble name="0." [V:1] Ad|fdf-g {fg}f-edz|AFAA AFAd|BGBB BG(Bd/B/)|AAAF DFAd| Jf3f {g}fedB|AFAA AFAd|BGBB cABc|dfec (d/c/d)Ad| ff2f {g}fedB|AFAA AFAd|BGBB BG(Bd/B/)|AAAF DFAd| Jf3f {g}fedB|AAAF DFAd|BGBB cABc|dfef (d/c/d)|| ag|fdff fdfa|gggf (g/f/g)gf|eceg eceg|baa^g (a/g/a)-aa| fdfa fdfa|gggf (g/f/g)gg|eccB Aceg|(f/g/f)ec d2Ag| fdfa fdfa|gggf (g/f/g)gg|eceg eceg|baa^g a3a| fdfa fdfa|gggf (g/f/g){f}gf|ecec Acee|fdec .d2||
ST(E). ANNE'S REEL. AKA – “St. Agathe.” AKA and see "Burravoe Rattler (The)," “Reel de la Baie Ste. Anne (La),” "Reel des esquimaults," "Ste Agathe." Canadian (originally), American, Irish; Reel. Canada; Québec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Reiner & Anick, Silberberg): AABB (Begin, Brody, Cranford/Holland, Jarman, Mallinson, Martin & Hughes, Miller & Perron, O'Neill, Perlman, Sweet, Taylor): AA'BB' (Phillips). The reel, well-known in a number of genres in the English-speaking world as "St. Anne's Reel," was first recorded by Montreal fiddler Willie Ringuette as "Quadrille du loup garou - 4ème partie" (1927), followed by a 78 RPM issue by another Montreal fiddler, Joseph Allard (1873-1947), in 1930. Somewhat confusingly, Victor Records released Allard's recording with two separate titles, "Reel de Ste-Anne" and "Reel des esquimaults". Still another Montreal fiddler, Isidore Soucy (1899-1962), soon after recorded a version as "Reel lune de miel" (Honeymoon Reel). There are at least two bays named St. Anne in eastern Canada (as the French alternate title above would suggest), and there is a French community called Baie Sainte Anne, on St. Anne’s Bay near the mouth of Mirimichi Bay, New Bruswick. However, Allard researcher Jean Duval believes the title refers to the municipality of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue at the western end of the island of Montreal[1].
“St. Anne’s” was popularized by Radio and TV fiddler Don Messer (printed under the title “Sainte Agathe” in his 1948 Way Down East collection[2]), and his version has been assimilated into several North American and British Isles traditions and remains a staple of fiddlers’ jam sessions. When asked to play a Canadian tune, for example, American fiddlers generally will play “St. Anne’s” first. It was in the repertoire of Cyril Stinnett, who epitomized the "North Missouri Hornpipe Style" of Mid-West fiddling, and the reel has become a part of the repertory of most Missouri fiddlers. Missouri 'received wisdom' is that Canadian tunes were learned from listening to Canadian radio broadcasts in the hey-day of the big AM band stations, which could be heard clearly in the northern part of the state, but whether "St. Anne's" was actually learned from broadcasts in unknown. Alternatively, "St. Anne's" may have been brought back by contest fiddlers in the 1960’s who attended the renowned contests in Weiser, Idaho, and in Canada. Rounder Record's Mark Wilson says its popularity in the United States dates from the 1950’s after it was recorded by Nashville fiddlers such as Tommy Jackson (whose influential playing was revered by fiddlers throughout the country). Perlman (1996) similarly states the tune entered Prince Edward Island tradition from radio broadcasts from Québec, but that it has become more elaborate (especially in western PEI) over the years to suit the rhythms of the local step-dancing.
The earliest published notational transcription of “St. Anne’s” appears to be in the Jarman collections of the 1930’s and 1940’s, where the arrangement is credited to fiddler John Burt with a copyright date of 1937[3]. Peter Corfield (2024) notes similarities with the Northumbrian triple-time air "Blaw the Wind Southerly" and even suggests a Northumbrian provenance for the tune. There is a general similarity between "St. Anne's" and "Blaw the Wind" in the first strain[4], and there is essentially the same harmonic underpinning (when one accounts for the 'condensed' measures of the former tune). The second strains of the tunes are different with a different harmonic progression. There is possibly a cognate relationship with the first strain, but much more evidence of a link is needed.
"St. Anne's" has also entered Irish traditional musical repertory as well, and has been recorded a number of times. The tune has some affinity to older reels (primarily Irish), including two printed by O'Neill in his Waifs & Strays of Gaelic Melody, The Factory Lass (249) and "The Home Made Reel" (250). There is a similarity in the first part to “Skylark (1) (The),” composed by Sligo-born James Morrison, as well as to "Scholar (The)." However, these tunes are neither cognate nor ancestral, merely similar in parts.
Burravoe, Yell, Shetland fiddler Peter Scollay (1922-2000) played a version of "St. Anne's" under the title "Burravoe Rattler (The)" when he was recorded in the field in August, 1954.
- ↑ Jean Duval, "La Musique de Jospeh Allard 1873-1947", 2018, p. 72.
- ↑ Note that the reel was printed as "Sainte Agathe" in Messer's printed collections of music, but on Don Messer and His Islander's 78 RPM recording of the tune (Apex 26291) in 1950 the tune appeared on the label as "St. Anne's Reel."
- ↑ Burt was hardly the composer. The Jarman company regularly attached the names of their associated musicians to traditional tunes for copyright purposes, although 'neglected' to identify that it referred to the arrangement, not the composition. The 'arrangements' in the Jarman publications were usually the traditional tune on the melody line plus some simple piano accompaniment.
- ↑ Notwithstanding the difference in meter, in "Blaw the Wind Southerly" the similar melodic material is condensed into four bars, while that in "St. Annes" is eight bars.