Please note: This site will look much better in a browser that complies with web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.
"While Rolling My Ball"
The voyageurs and coureurs-de-bois sang to the rhythm of their paddles as they traveled the Canadian river system trading furs. Many of the songs they sung were old ballads brought with them from Europe. En roulant ma boule was one such popular tune, which has been notated in many different versions. Originally a French jongleur song dating from the fifteenth century, this melody also served as a dance tune in the trading posts throughout the forests of New France.
This story of the prince who shoots a duck has been documented by anthropologist, researcher and folksong collector Marius Barbeau. According to Barbeau, the text is the same in all 92 versions he collected. En roulant ma boule is the best known form of the trois beaux canards story.
Sources: The Penguin Book of Canadian Folk Songs, compiled by Edith Fowke Maryland: Penguin Books Ltd., 1973.
Canada's Story in Song by Edith Fowke and Alan Mills ; piano accompaniments by Helmut Blume. Toronto: Gage, 1960.
(b. Johann Friedrich Conrad)
(born: Hanover, Germany,1759 - died: Quebec City, 1836)
Band conductor, music dealer, keyboard and string instrument player, music teacher
Frederick's father, Wilhelm Glackemeyer, played in a military band in their home town of Hanover. To date, all that is known of young Frederick's early childhood years is a story that was retold over a century and a half later. The story tells that at the age of five Frederick Glackemeyer began to learn the viol. As a child virtuoso, he soon attracted the attention of the nobility and was invited to play in their courts. According to the story, rather than pursue what would likely have been a brilliant musical career, Glackemeyer instead packed his instruments and traveled to Canada on a sailing ship. Research indicates that he likely arrived at Trois-Rivières in 1777, at the age of 17. Upon his arrival he was recruited into a Canadian mercenary regiment under the command of Baron von Riedesel. During the winter of 1783 Glackemeyer gave piano lessons to the baron's two daughters. He also began teaching viol, bass-viol and violin lessons. In June of that same year he was discharged from the regiment with the rank of a private and Riedesel offered him a position as organist in Germany. Glackemeyer turned down the position, preferring to stay in Canada.
In 1790-91 it is recorded that Glackemeyer participated in subscription concerts in Quebec City. He was a highly regarded musician, and was placed in charge of the regimental band in the city. From 1816-18 Glackemeyer was organist in the Quebec Basilica and served as vice-president of the Quebec Harmonic Society in 1820.
Glackemeyer wrote voice and piano arrangements of voyageur songs, one of which is his setting of "En roulant ma boule roulant", dated ca. 1817. He also left several unpublished compositions, including two piano scores and two marches. Glackemeyer was a musical pioneer who made a significant contribution to musical life in Quebec City.
Sources: