Hi all. I’m searching for music sheets of slow airs and other songs that.. could cast some reverie and dreams about primeval nature and old times (that’s how can I describe this music). I like these melodies very much especially when they are in minor key.
In Russia (where I’m from) I could only find the copy of book called “110 Irish Slow Airs” - most of tunes are in major key and some are not right to my pipe (because of including some special notes as low C and H, A#, D# etc.)
I’ll be glad if you add some links to sheets with proper tunes.. especially sad and melancholic tunes ))
Also I’d like to find some suitable records. Maybe there are some bands and musicians that play congenial music.
“O’Neill’s Music of Ireland” has a whole chapter of airs/songs.
Note that of all Irish music forms, the air is the hardest to do any justice to on paper. You’re really much better learning these by ear from piping CDs, or by going “straight to the source” and listening to singers (recorded or live). Traditionally, slow airs all come from singing.
Seamus Ennis went so far as to say that to play any air properly on the pipes, you have to know its words. The next best thing (since few of us, especially non-Irish-born, are fluent in Gaelic) is to at least try to imitate how the air would be sung.
A wonderful recording of slower tunes and airs is Desi Wilkinson’s Shady Woods Album. All Played on the flute, but you can get the feel of it. Here is a link that might be helpful. http://thesession.org/recordings/1532 The album “could cast some reverie and dreams about primeval nature and old times”, for sure.
If you don’t mind spending a bit, Tomas O’Canainn’s book is awfully nice, and very pipe-friendly. Tomas is a great piper and an eminent figure in Irish music. A friend gave me a copy and I enjoy it very much.
tomas o’cannain has produced a very good book on slow airs.he sets out the phraseology of the melodies very well with long ties over the notes and then stresses the need for the spaces between the phrases emphasising that an irish slow air is traditionally played out of any set rythm and is down to each players feel and interpretation,it also comes with a helpful cassette.i cant remember the publisher but na piobairi uilleann will probably know.allan.oops,sorry did not read the above post first but it is a very good work.getting old.
Hi Newcomen!
There is a nice little online collection of airs from the Chris Langan’s book “Move Your Fingers” that sits just fine on the pipes. However, don’t fool yourself when it comes to speed and an easy looking score. Even though airs are slow, I still think they are the hardest tunes to do justice. They are intended to be heard as a song by a talented singer with a fantastic voice, a task very difficult to mimic on the pipes. At least for most of us
I’ve always felt uncomfortable about the phrasing of Lochnagar, and wonder if this tune and the Byron poem really belong together. Any singers care to comment? Or should we take this outside behind the Mudcat café?
The only people I’ve heard sing Lochnagar are the Corries, and I have no idea to what extent they “interpreted” it. It is the same tune, but with considerable alteratins to what’s written in your link.
Thanks to all of you with help. I’ll try to find some second-hand books on Amazon.
I don’t press towards to play the tunes with its historical and musical accuracy, but the remark about “playing as singing” is useful.
