The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #151712 Message #3544490
Posted By: GUEST,leeneia
01-Aug-13 - 11:20 PM
Thread Name: Tune Add: banjo piece by one bach or another
Subject: Tune Add: banjo piece by one bach or another
When you were a kid (or if you are a kid) did you ever write secret messages by writing with lemon juice and giving the paper to your best friend to iron so the writing would appear? I did.
Scholars have applied this technique to some stained and wrinkled papers which were stuffed in the back of the Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach sometime in the 18th Century. The stains have been analyzed and seem to have come from gingersnaps, grape jelly and oatmeal.
Ironing the sheets brought up musical notation in a childish hand, and the title of the piece is "Tanz nach Carolan" (presumably a juvenile attempt to spell 'Charlemagne'). The musical piece is presumably the work of one of Bach's many talented children.
Though the world of Bach scholarship is shaken and trembling, the score clearly calls for banjo in the treble clef and "cello oder andere" in the bass.
Watch this spot for a MIDI of it. Perhaps somebody who knows how can add an ABC form. That would be kind.