It’s been months since my stay in Seattle for Fiddle Tunes and IIFET, but for several reasons my mind still wanders back to that summer, the great atmosphere in Port Townsend, and the wonderful people I met. While I was there I wrote a mazurka^(*) that I started playing at the local Irish session here in Wageningen. Some people asked me to put the notes online, so here goes:

Note that mazurkas are never played as straight as they are written down. They may be noted as 3/4, but they are usually played with a bit of swing that makes it sound more like a 9/8.

Here is the abc code:

X:1
T:Sleepless In Seattle
R:Mazurka
C:Rolf Groeneveld
M:3/4
L:1/8
K:D
ddc |: B3 c BA | F3 F FE | D2 E2 (3FED | B,3 B, A,B, |
| D3 F A<B | A3 G FD |1 (E6 | E3) D dc :|2 (D6 | D3) FGA ||
| B2 c2 d<e | d3 c BA | (A6 | A3) F GA |
| B2 c2 d<e | d3 A de | f3 f ed | e3 d dc |
| B3 c BA | F3 FFE | D2 E2 (3FED | B,3 B, A,B, |
| D3 F A<B | A3 G FD | (D6 | D6) |

(*) OK, OK I get it – it’s probably more a waltz than a mazurka – at least in the Irish and American traditions! What I had in mind when I wrote it was the mazurka as I know it from the bal folk tradition. See this beautiful tune by the legendary Snaarmaarwaar for an example.