Le Troubadour Wallon
Transcripted music manuscripts of old dance music of Wallonia (Belgium)
Since the beginning of time, musicians from our cities and our countryside have animated our ballrooms.
Some have left handwritten manuscripts which have survived.
They can be found in our museums, in old paper boxes, on flea markets, or simply amongst family
documents.
These music sheets are sometimes difficult to read for a musician and it is
painful to try to play them directly.
For this purpose, I have transcribed some scores to distribute them in
PDF format and ABC Notation format.
Have fun!
Some have left handwritten manuscripts which have survived.
They can be found in our museums, in old paper boxes, on flea markets, or simply amongst family
documents.
These music sheets are sometimes difficult to read for a musician and it is
painful to try to play them directly.
For this purpose, I have transcribed some scores to distribute them in
PDF format and ABC Notation format.
Have fun!
Music of Wallonia ?
Wallonia, Belgium are not islands. Whether in the twentieth century, the nineteenth century or even before, Wallonia has played music imported from France, England and elsewhere. Wallonia has also exported contemporary Napoleon music from Liège to Russia and Sweden.
Wallonian music is therefore rich in its diversity. We played French and English country dances, "allemandes", mazurkas, scottisches, waltzes, ... but we also played "maclottes" (matelottes), "amoureuses", 5 beat-waltzes.
The "authentically Walloonian" compositions are difficult to identify in this corpus.
Wallonian music is therefore rich in its diversity. We played French and English country dances, "allemandes", mazurkas, scottisches, waltzes, ... but we also played "maclottes" (matelottes), "amoureuses", 5 beat-waltzes.
The "authentically Walloonian" compositions are difficult to identify in this corpus.
ABC Notation
The old music scores were transcripted using the ABC Notation which was largely used in traditional English Saxon and Irish music.
This code is generally standardised, independent of the different programmes that generate music partitions which leaves hope for a lasting quality of coding work.
It is well adapted to traditional music, it easily allows transpose, generates midi-files and some tablatures, delivers high quality music sheets.
The ABC-code can even be imported in MuseScore or converted to LilyPond-code.
Consult this link <http://anamnese.online.fr/site2/pageguide_abc.php>
This code is generally standardised, independent of the different programmes that generate music partitions which leaves hope for a lasting quality of coding work.
It is well adapted to traditional music, it easily allows transpose, generates midi-files and some tablatures, delivers high quality music sheets.
The ABC-code can even be imported in MuseScore or converted to LilyPond-code.
Consult this link <http://anamnese.online.fr/site2/pageguide_abc.php>
What can you do with the files on this website ?
What can you do with the files on this website ?
- download the PDF-files you are interested in : you get music sheets that you can immediately play on your favourite instrument
- download the ABC-files you are interested in : you can open an ABC-file just like any text document with your text editor (gedit, Notepad,
…).
As soon as you are familiar with ABC-Notation, you can look for a specific tune and copy/paste it on the page https://michaeleskin.com/abctools/abctools.html that will provide you with the music sheet and the midi-file on a simple mouse click
- download the PDF-files you are interested in : you get music sheets that you can immediately play on your favourite instrument
- download the ABC-files you are interested in : you can open an ABC-file just like any text document with your text editor (gedit, Notepad,
…).
As soon as you are familiar with ABC-Notation, you can look for a specific tune and copy/paste it on the page https://michaeleskin.com/abctools/abctools.html that will provide you with the music sheet and the midi-file on a simple mouse click
Which tool should be used to make full use of the files in ABC Notation?
You will find different software on the internet to read the ABC-Notation files : visualize the scores, play them, modify them, transpose them, compose your own little tunebook....
Personally, I use two of them (Windows based) : EasyABC and ABCExplorer.
Personally, I use two of them (Windows based) : EasyABC and ABCExplorer.
Our thanks to the late Albert, who for years collected copies of manuscripts found in flea markets, archives, and private notebooks.
His work has made it possible to find old traditional dance tunes, to transmit them to curious or passionate musicians, and to keep them alive.
His work has made it possible to find old traditional dance tunes, to transmit them to curious or passionate musicians, and to keep them alive.
Tribute
Albert Rochus
You can find on Facebook (On Aîr Wallon Pa Samwoine) videos of some tunes from this website.
Visit the Melchior Project website and its sound library.
