<![CDATA[The Séamus Connolly Collection of Irish Music]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Folk+dance+music--Ireland&page=3&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CIdentifier&sort_dir=d&output=rss2 Fri, 29 Mar 2024 02:04:38 -0700 burnsref@bc.edu (The Séamus Connolly Collection of Irish Music) Boston College Libraries Zend_Feed http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Rakish Highlander, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/671

Story

Larry Redican, the great New York fiddle player and composer, once told me he loved going through old books and manuscripts 'looking for strange tunes'. The reel on this track is certainly a version of the tune found in Ryan's Mammoth Collection, known as 'The Rakish Highlander'. Here Larry gives us his interpretation.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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09-13_The_Rakish_Highlander-Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:21 -0800
<![CDATA[Séamus Connolly's]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/670

Story

I am so honoured that my great friend, the prolific composer Bob McQuillen, wrote this tune for me. 'The Professor', as I call him, is a special person in my life and I have for many years admired his compositions and music. Bob is heard playing his beloved piano with his 'Dear Girls', as he likes to describe Deanna Stiles, the flutist, and Jane McBride Orzechowski, the fiddle player, in his band. Old New England, as they are known, recorded this track for me in Bob's home in New Hampshire.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
09-11_Seamus_Connollys-Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:21 -0800
<![CDATA[North Road, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/669

Story

My young friend Meghan Mette composed this reel. I was delighted that she asked me to play it with her, along with Nicole Rabata on flute and Kevin McElroy on mandolin. She tells us how the tune came about:

'I wrote this tune for Séamus first and foremost as a "thank you" for all of the musical wisdom he has imparted to me. However, it is also a tale of the many afternoons spent in Séamus' music room, learning, listening, playing... Some days we just sat and listened to old albums on the wonderful sound system, the notes vibrating through the varnished floorboards and bouncing off the walls...

My favourite afternoons, however, were when it was just the two of us, sitting side by side, playing tunes for the fun of it; maybe Séamus would think of a special ornament he wanted to show me or a specific tune that was fun to play in a different key. I often enjoyed just sitting back and observing Séamus when he went on a rant of tunes. I was, and still am, mesmerised by the fluidity and grace of his fingers as they tickle the fingerboard, his bow flying over the strings, his mind at obvious peace. These are my favourite images, frozen in time, Séamus in another world entirely, just playing because he loves it so. When I play "The North Road", it reminds me of these moments...'


Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
09-10_The_North_Road-Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:21 -0800
<![CDATA[Margaret Lawrie's Galliard]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/418

Story

Margaret Lawrie wrote this third and final tune that she and Michael Burnham recorded for this collection. It may also be heard on their own CD Bygone Days, a recording dedicated to Meg's grandfather, fiddle player Michael Cullen from County Roscommon. The tune is based on the gaillarde, or gagliarda, a dance form which was popular in continental Europe in the sixteenth century. Margaret also told me that the galliard was popular in England, but not so with The Birmingham Céilí Band of which she was a member!

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
09-09_Margaret_Lawries_Galliard.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:10 -0800
<![CDATA[Mike Duggan's Polka]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/570

Story

On this track we once again hear Eamon Flynn on fiddle as he plays 'Mike Duggan's Polka'. Thanks to Brosna-born accordionist Michael Mulcahy for the tune title.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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09-08_Mike_Duggans_Polka.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:17 -0800
<![CDATA[Four-Fingered Fisherman, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/529

Story

The young Chicago fiddle player Devin Shepherd composed this fine jig. He plays it on this track with his musical friend, flute player Sean Gavin from Detroit, accompanied by Brian Miller on guitar and Jackie Moran on bodhrán.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
09-07_The_Four-Fingered_Fisherman-Jig.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:15 -0800
<![CDATA[Brosna Reel, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/668

Story

This reel is another composition of Eamon Flynn, taken from his CD recording with permission. It is named for the village of Brosna in County Kerry, a place well-known for great Irish music and whose name has been given to a number of tunes including 'The Brosna Slide'.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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09-06_The_Brosna_Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:21 -0800
<![CDATA[Rock Point Lane]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/528

Story

'Rock Point Lane' is the name of the street in California where Sandy's parents live. One Christmas day, around 1990, when she and I were visiting them, the basic outline of this jig came to me. After working on it for a while and deciding which key would best suit the fiddle, Sandy subtly suggested that we videotape it. Secretly understanding her motive, I reluctantly agreed.

I had forgotten completely about the tune and did not remember any of it when years later we came across the videotape and watched it together. She said as we watched it, 'See I told you, I knew you wouldn't remember it'. How right she was! That was Sandy. Always thinking and a step ahead. The tune is more complete now as I give it my best shot on this track. Another transcription of the jig is to be found in A Drop in the Ocean, a book of Irish traditional tunes compiled by my friend Josephine Keegan.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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09-05_Rock_Point_Lane-Jig.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:15 -0800
<![CDATA[Waltzing Down the Aisle]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/732

Story

Another tune from the pen of Kathleen Boyle from Glasgow in Scotland. She wrote this waltz for her sister's wedding, for her to walk down the aisle to. Here we hear 'K.T.' beautifully playing her own composition on piano and piano accordion.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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09-04_Waltzing_Down_the_Aisle-Waltz.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:24 -0800
<![CDATA[Michael Relihan's]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/667

Story

A lovely tune that came from the playing of John Kelly, the fiddle and concertina master from west County Clare. John had a storehouse of unusual tunes and was ever so generous in handing them down to other interested musicians. Michael Relihan was a neighbour to John Kelly before John moved to Dublin City. I first heard my friend Larry Gavin playing the version played here by Catherine McEvoy.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
09-03_Michael_Relihans-Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:21 -0800
<![CDATA[Sporting Nell]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/666

Story

A fine version of 'Sporting Nell', played here for us by one of my favourite young fiddle players, the talented Tina Lech from Boston. I first heard this reel in Chicago in 1972 played by another of my favourite fiddle players, the great Johnny McGreevy.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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09-02_Sporting_Nell-Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:21 -0800
<![CDATA[For Betty Killoran]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/527

Story

Another composition of accordionist and concertina player Charlie Mulvihill from New York. It is played on this track by Charlie and his children Tommy on fiddle, and Geraldine on piano. It is another of the tunes on the tape that Mr. Mulvihill made for Mrs. Betty Killoran, wife of Sligo fiddle player Paddy Killoran. Hopefully, some day in the not too distant future, we will see and hear a CD recording of more of the music of Mr. Mulvihill, this great tunesmith.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
08-38_For_Betty_Killoran-Jig.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:15 -0800
<![CDATA[Shoemaker's Fancy, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/526

Story

The young fiddle player Liam Lewis played this jig on a tape given to me by a friend one night after a concert. I stuck the tape into the cover of my fiddle case and forgot about it. Finding it later was a lovely surprise. My friend Laurel Martin learned the jig from the tape and traveled all the way to my home in Maine to record it. A version of the tune may be found in The Roche Collection. This tune was a favourite of flute player Eddie Moloney from Ballinakill, County Galway.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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08-37_The_Shoemakers_Fancy-Jig.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:15 -0800
<![CDATA[Drumnagarry Strathspey]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/723

Story

Tommy Peoples played this tune for me at a recording session at Boston College. The tune may also be found on Tommy's fine albums Traditional Irish Music Played on the Fiddle and Waiting for a Call.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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08-35_Drumnagarry_Strathspey.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:24 -0800
<![CDATA[Crooked Hurricane, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/525

Story

My good friend Cindy Polo made this tune and dedicated it to another friend, Randy Bridgman. I enjoyed playing this tune with Cindy and Gabriel Donohue. In Cindy's own words, she tells us about 'The Crooked Hurricane':

'What else to do while the power is out in the middle of a hurricane? Fiddle and fiddle! I composed this tune as Hurricane Irene battered eastern North Carolina in 2011. The hurricane did not travel as expected. Its unusual pattern of travel was described as crooked. The tune too is crooked in the style of some Canadian fiddle tunes. I dedicate the jig to my friend Randy Bridgman, a native of Newfoundland. This tune is also crooked, somewhat like the shape of many of the trees in my garden when the storm subsided.'

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
08-34_The_Crooked_Hurricane-Jig.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:15 -0800
<![CDATA[Ger Brooks' Polka]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/569

Story

My next door neighbour when I was growing up in Killaloe was known to me as Mister Brooks. He loved to play the accordion, and he had many fine polkas in his repertoire. The polka I play on this track was one of his favourites. In almost sixty years of playing and listening to music I have yet to hear someone else play it. Happy memories of a wonderful neighbour and of his wife and family.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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08-32_Ger_Brooks_Polka.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:17 -0800
<![CDATA[Gentle Ann]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/665

Story

Eamon Flynn first recorded his above-titled composition for the Boston branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. It was featured on their 1981 LP We're Irish Still. It is played here for us in fine traditional style by Manus McGuire on fiddle.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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08-31_Gentle_Ann-Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:21 -0800
<![CDATA[Mary of the Grove]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/664

Story

A slightly different version of this reel may be found in The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. On this track, we again hear Kevin Crawford giving us a lovely performance.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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08-30_Mary_of_the_Grove-Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:21 -0800
<![CDATA[Maurice O'Keeffe's]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/568

Story

Máire O'Keeffe is the fiddle player on this track. It is once again a delight to hear my good friend Máire demonstrate the captivating fiddle style of County Kerry. Máire learned this polka from fiddle player Maurice O'Keeffe, a wonderful source of the music of the 'Kingdom' of Kerry.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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08-29_Maurice_OKeeffes-Polka.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:17 -0800
<![CDATA[Men of Ulster, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/449

Story

Seán Maguire recorded this tune and gave it the above title. It may be found in Ryan's Mammoth Collection in the key of G-major under the name 'Norfolk'. The beginning of the tune always brings to mind the hornpipe 'The Wily Bachelor'. Laurel Martin plays it in her own distinctive style on the fiddle. Thanks, friend. As our mutual friend Peter Barnes once said of you, 'You're the hornpipe queen!'

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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08-28_The_Men_of_Ulster-Hornpipe.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:12 -0800