Top of page

Audio Recording Soldier's Joy

Soldier's Joy

About this Item

Title

  • Soldier's Joy

Names

  • Jabbour, Alan (Transcriber)
  • Jabbour, Alan (Collector)
  • Reed, Henry, 1884-1968 (Performer)

Created / Published

  • Reed family home, Glen Lyn, Giles County, Virginia, May 6, 1967

Headings

  • -  Instrumental music
  • -  Fiddle tunes
  • -  Folk music--Appalachian Region
  • -  Breakdowns
  • -  Reels
  • -  Ethnography
  • -  Music
  • -  Field recordings
  • -  United States -- Virginia -- Giles County -- Glen Lyn

Genre

  • Ethnography
  • Music
  • Field recordings

Notes

  • -  Key: D
  • -  Meter: 4/4
  • -  Compass: 12
  • -  Strains: 2 (low-high, 4-4)
  • -  Performed by Henry Reed, fiddle.
  • -  Duration: 1 minute, 11 seconds
  • -  Rendition: 1r-2r-1r-2r-1-tag
  • -  Phrase Structure: ABAC QRQC (aba'c a'bde qrqs qrde)
  • -  Stylistic features: Slurred bowing pairs in second strain. Sounds fast and lively, as if designed for dancing. Henry Reed may have played the low strain up an octave on another occasion.
  • -  Recording chronology: 106
  • -  "Soldier's Joy" is one of the oldest and most widely distributed tunes in the English-speaking world. The earliest printings of the tune are in the later eighteenth century, and its appearance in manuscript tunebooks such as "Henry Beck's Flute Book [1786]" shows that it was already in circulation before 1800 on both sides of the Atlantic. Nineteenth-century printed sets abound, as do twentieth-century printed and recorded versions. See the extensive comparative citations in Bayard, Hill Country Tunes, #11 "The King's Head," and for the title "French Four" in American Fiddle Tunes (Library of Congress, AFS L62).Some American sets seem to have an arpeggiated first strain, while others are more scalar or linear in their melodic style. Henry Reed's set is of the arpeggiated variety. He played it at a fast and lively pace and described it as a good tune for dancing. Some fiddlers add a third strain by recasting the low strain in the upper octave. This set by Henry Reed lacks that feature, but he may have added it on another occasion when he was not being recorded.

Medium

  • Audio tape

Call Number/Physical Location

  • AFC 1969/008: AFS 13703B06

Source Collection

  • Alan Jabbour duplication project, part 2

Repository

  • American Folklife Center

Digital Id

Online Format

  • audio

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress is not aware of any U.S. copyright protection (see Title 17, U.S.C.) or any other restrictions in the material in this collection, except as noted below. Users should keep in mind that the Library of Congress is providing access to these materials strictly for educational and research purposes. The written permission of the copyright owners and/or other holders of rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. See our Legal Notices for additional information and restrictions.

The Center asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here. Researchers are also reminded that privacy and publicity rights may pertain to certain uses of this material.

Photographs in this collection produced by Carl Fleischhauer, Karen Singer Jabbour, and Kit Olson are reproduced here with their permission. Mr. Fleischhauer does not object to additional use of the photos he created provided he is credited as the photographer. Persons contemplating other kinds of uses or use of the other photographers' work should contact the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

Credit line

Please cite the source collection title, collection number, and repository, for example:

Alan Jabbour duplication project, part 1 (AFC 1967/007), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Alan Jabbour duplication project, part 2 (AFC 1969/008), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Fiddle tunes of the old frontier: the Henry Reed collection online presentation (AFC 1999/016), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Jabbour, Alan, Alan Jabbour, and Henry Reed. Soldier's Joy. Reed family home, Glen Lyn, Giles County, Virginia, May 6, 1967. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/afcreed000175/.

APA citation style:

Jabbour, A., Jabbour, A. & Reed, H. (1967) Soldier's Joy. Reed family home, Glen Lyn, Giles County, Virginia, May 6. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afcreed000175/.

MLA citation style:

Jabbour, Alan, Alan Jabbour, and Henry Reed. Soldier's Joy. Reed family home, Glen Lyn, Giles County, Virginia, May 6, 1967. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afcreed000175/>.