By popular request, here is (yet another!) version of a tune most closely associated with the dance, the varsovienne (a type of waltz, also called varsoviana and varsouvienne) which took western Europe and North America by storm in the the mid-1800s. The melody is eminently singable and associated sets of lyrics (and parodies) have circulated widely in Ireland (Shoe the Donkey), France and Quebec (Votre petit chien, madame) and the United States (Put your Little Foot). There are as many variants of the dance as there are tune variants. Generally, the A part tends to be the more stable of the two-part version of this tune, while there are many different melodies played for the B part.

“La valse du coq” (The Rooster’s Waltz) is a Quebec version. I can’t even remember where I first heard “La valse du coq” in Quebec; 78 rpm recording artist Joseph Allard recorded a fiddle version under this title (complete with bird calls) in 1930; my version is a bit different from his. Because there are so many different B parts, I’ve included a second B part (from the Montmagny region). For yet another Quebec variant of this melody, check out the Quebec Tune of the Month for Dec. 2012 (a lovely version from Isidore Soucy in the key of G). 

La valse du coq (dance speed, mp3) [wpdm_file id=421]

La valse du coq (sheet music, pdf)[wpdm_file id=422]