Clarinet Polka - Fiddle Tune a Day - Day 136

I never really play Clarinet Polka. I know the melody, and I have taught it to a student here or there, but I haven’t ever worked it up or played it publicly (before tonight.) It’s not that I don’t like it, or think it’s cool. I guess it has just sat there on the periphery waiting to be played. 🙂

I almost worked it up in Bb to continue my streak of tunes in flat keys, but I was tired, and decided to take the easy way out and work it up in G. I hope you enjoy it.

Clarinet Polka From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Clarinet Polka or A Hupfata^[1] (pl. Polka Dziadek = “Grandpa Polka”; ee. Vanaisa polka) − a popular musical composition from the end of the 19th century. Since 1971 it has been used as an opener in Lato z Radiem − one of the most popular shows of Polskie Radio Program I.^[2] The piece, performed (as its name implies) as a polka, has a simple and catchy melody, featuring a prominent extended eight-note arpeggio. It is typically performed in B-flat major.

According to Polskie Radio Program I, the music was created in Austria by a composer named A. Humpfat.^[2] Other sources claim that The Clarinet Polka was written under the name Dziadunio Polka by the Polish composer Karol Namysłowski.^[3]

Clarinet Polka according to Fiddler’s Companion

CLARINET POLKA. American, Canadian; Polka. USA; Pa., New York, Missouri. B Flat Major (‘A’ part), E Flat Major (‘B’ part) & F Major (‘C’ part) {Phillips, version #1}: G Major (‘A’ part), D Major (‘B’ part) & C Major (‘C’ part) {Phillips, version #2}. Standard tuning. AA’BBAA’CCAA’. In the repertories of dance fiddler Ralph Sauers, Buffalo Valley, Pa., and hammered dulcimer player Paul Van Arsdale (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) who added a fourth part to the tune. Source for notated version: Mark O’Connor [Phillips/version #1]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pgs. 341 & 342 (two versions). Greenhays GR 710, John McCutcheon ‑ “Fine Times at our House” (1982). MSOTFA 007, Charlie Walden – “Draggin’ the Bow” (1985). RCA Victor LCP 1001, Ned Landry and his New Brunswick Lumberjacks ‑ “Bowing the Strings with New Landry.”