Carthy's Waltz: A Song History

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The sources consulted here say little about "Carthy's Waltz." The Traditional Tune Archive describes it as an old-time waltz in D major and 3/4 time, played in an AA'BA' pattern. It links the tune to Carthy Sisco through a field that can mean either composer or source, so it is not clear whether he wrote the tune or only passed it on. The archive's notation comes from Gene Silberberg's Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern (2002), and it tags the tune to both the American Southeast and the Pacific West.[1] Silberberg's book also used Sisco as the source for at least one other waltz, "Old, Old House."[2] These sources do not say where or when "Carthy's Waltz" was first played, and they give no biography of Sisco. The title also appears in Stephen Seifert's mountain dulcimer collection Join the Jam II.[3]

1940 photograph of couples dancing at a Saturday night dance in a large hall at a California migrant camp

Arthur Rothstein, “Saturday night dance. Tulare migrant camp. Visalia, California,” photograph, March 1940. Library of Congress. No known restrictions.

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Sources

  1. The Traditional Tune Archive: "Carthy's Waltz".
  2. The Fiddler's Companion (ibiblio.org): "Old, Old House".
  3. Stephen Seifert: "Join the Jam II".