Sunday 31 March 2019
Tune of the Day: La Garçon Volage
French air, arranged for two flutes
This flute duet is taken from Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in Philadelphia in 1833. It is based on a French tune, also known in English-speaking countries under the titles “Cats in the Village”, “Harvest Time” and “Nine Pins”.
“Le garçon volage” can be translated as “the fickle boy”. Astute readers may have noticed that Blake uses the feminine article “la”, even though garçon is a masculine noun. While this could simply be a misprint, it is possible that the article refers to an implied word denoting the kind of tune, such as quadrille, which can be found in other sources.