Sheet Music: Old Virginia

TitleOld Virginia
Alternate titlesOld Virginia Reel
Off She Goes
Dance des Sutins
Rustic Dance
ComposerTraditional
InstrumentationFlute solo
KeyF major
RangeF4–Bb5
Time signature6/8
Tempo100 BPM
Performance time0:40
Difficulty leveleasy
Download printable scorePDF Sheet Music (46 kB) (preview)
Download audio tracksMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (323 kB)
Date added2018-10-12
Last updated2018-10-12
Download popularity index☆☆☆☆☆ 0.2 (relatively unpopular)
Categories
Traditional/Folk

Performances

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Friday 12 October 2018

Tune of the Day: Old Virginia

Traditional reel

As far as we can tell, the only appearance of this melody under the title “Old Virginia” is in Harding's All-Round Collection of Jigs, Reels and Country Dances, published in New York in 1905. It is interesting to note how the piece is designated as a ‘reel’, which usually denotes a fast duple-time tune, even though this melody is in 6/8 or jig time.

The tune is however very similar to the English jig “Off She Goes”, which dates back to the late 18th century and of which “Old Virginia” is probably just a variation (thanks to Tom for noting this).