Michael Turner's Waltz: A Song History

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"Michael Turner's Waltz" takes its name from Michael Turner (1796-1885), a fiddler from Warnham in Sussex.[1] A shoemaker by trade, he was appointed parish clerk and sexton in 1830 and held the post for fifty years.[1] He led the band of fiddle, clarinet and bass viol that played in St Margaret's church, and he was also in demand to play for dancing, both at village fetes and in the large houses of the district.[2] His two manuscript books, dated 1845-49 and 1852, are rich in the waltzes, polkas and quadrilles that were new in his day, leading Vic Gammon, who researched his life, to call him "very much a 'pop' musician of his day."[2]

Watercolor of a Sussex harvest field with sheaves of corn, reapers, a hay wagon and farm buildings beneath tall trees

Henry J. Kinnaird, A Sussex Cornfield, watercolor, 1876–1929. Shown for its Sussex setting; it has no connection to the tune.

The waltz appears without a title in Turner's 1852 book.[1] Anne Loughran and Vic Gammon printed it as an untitled waltz in A Sussex Tune Book, published by the English Folk Dance and Song Society in 1982, and it has been known by Turner's name since that publication.[1][3] Writing in English Dance and Song in 2003, Paul Davenport identified the melody as Mozart's: the second of his Six German Dances, K. 536, composed in 1788.[3] The Traditional Tune Archive, following Davenport, places it in the trio section of that dance and treats Turner's version as his adaptation of Mozart's tune.[4]

The Tune Archive traces the Oyster Band's recording, on Lie Back and Think of England, back through Eddie Upton and Vic Gammon to Turner's manuscripts.[4] Eliza Carthy and Nancy Kerr paired it with the song "Bonny Light Horseman" on their 1995 album Shape of Scrape.[5] Dave Arthur recorded it with Pete Cooper and Chris Moreton on Return Journey (2002), in a medley that opens with George F. Root's hymn tune "When He Cometh."[6] Judy House includes it in Jam Across America, a 178-page book of jam arrangements for mountain dulcimer clubs, chosen from club playlists across the country and all set in DAD tuning.[7]

Our book that contains the song "Michael Turner's Waltz"

Sources

  1. Pete Cooper: "Notes on English Fiddle Tunes: English Fiddlers".
  2. Musical Traditions: "Vic Gammon, Michael Turner: A 19th Century Sussex Fiddler".
  3. Pete Cooper: "Notes on English Fiddle Tunes: Tunes".
  4. The Traditional Tune Archive: "Michael Turner's Waltz".
  5. Mainly Norfolk: "Eliza Carthy & Nancy Kerr: Shape of Scrape".
  6. Mainly Norfolk: "Dave Arthur with Pete Cooper & Chris Moreton: Return Journey".
  7. Judy House: "Jam Across America".
  8. Image: Henry J. Kinnaird, A Sussex Cornfield, watercolor, 1876–1929. The Cleveland Museum of Art.

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