The Colonial Music Institute^(tm)
Bringing History to Life Through Music

A Choice Selection of American Country Dances
of the Revolutionary Era, 1775-1795
by Kate Van Winkle Keller and Ralph Sweet
Introduction by Joy Van Cleef and preface by James E. Morrison
New York: The Country Dance & Song Society of America, (1976), 3rd edition, 1993.
ISBN: 0-917024-03-6
56 pages    ACD-bk:  $13.00

For a music book, see below.

This path-breaking book contains directions and music with chord indications for 29 country dances, a glossary of figures and steps, and some historical background.  The dances are all selected from hand-written notations made by Americans between 1775 and 1795 and represent the most popular dances of the period.  Because none of the original manuscripts include music, the dances have been set to their proper tunes taken from similar hand-written collections of music from the same period. Where possible, tune variants from the same geographic area were selected.

CONTENTS: Allemande Swiss, Ashley’s Ride, Barrel of Sugar, La Belle Catherine, Black Joke, College Hornpipe, Dusty Miller, The Dutchess of Brunswick, Fisher’s Hornpipe, Flowers of Edinburgh, German Spa, Greensleeves, Hunt the Squirrel, Hessian Dance, Irish Wash Woman, Lady’s Breast Knot, The Lily, Love Forever, Maid of the Mill, Miss Moore’s Rant, Nancy Dawson, Over the Hills and Far Away, Rural Felicity, Saint Patrick’s Day in the Morning, Soldier’s Joy, Successful Campaign, Sukey Bids Me, Sweet Richard.

One tape of functional dance music is available to accompany the dances in this book.

Sweet Richard, Tunes from A Choice Selection of American Country Dances
The Country Dance and Song Society, 1990.
Played by the Playford Consort, Marshall Barron, Music Director. Instruments include: violin, soprano recorder, bassoon, and harpsichord.
SR-cs:

CONTENTS: Sweet Richard, Greensleeves, Dusty Miller, Love Forever, Maid of the Mill, Black Joke, Rural Felicity, Ashley's Ride, Hunt the Squirrel, Successful Campaign.

"Sweet Richard" is performed in an 18th-century arrangement using reproduction instruments.

Successful Campaign and other Early American Country Dances
by Marshall Barron
New Haven, CT: Playford Consort Publications, 1989
20 pages   SC-bk   $12.00

This book contains three-part arrangements of music recorded on the cassette "Sweet Richard, Tunes from A Choice Selection." It will lie flat on a music stand.

CONTENTS: As in "Sweet Richard" above, plus "Soldier's Joy."