E Dorian?

[narrowdog]

Hi
I've been learning 'Amhran a Leabhair' this last couple of days and I've been told its in E Dorian.
Both the first and second phrases end in E so that makes sence I think,
we have C# and F# so thats OK too but we also have a couple of low Ds so why isn't in D Ionian
I'm sure you'll be able to help

Cheers

[koktach]

E dorian and D ionian have the same notes in them. That's why it's so convenient to play Edor on D whistle. The only difference between them is that the base or root note starts on the different place, from D major that would meant that if play all the same notes but start from second, that would get you an E dorian. The "feel" is different.

[MTGuru]

so why isn't in D Ionian

Because the tonal center of the tune is E. It's that simple, really. That is, if you must impose a modal label at all.

[narrowdog]

so why isn't in D Ionian

Because the tonal center of the tune is E. It's that simple, really. That is, if you must impose a modal label at all.

I thought thats what it was but you have those doubts in the back of your mind and you just need somebody to tell you
Thank you.

BTW what a lovely piece of music it is

[ahogrelius]

BTW what a lovely piece of music it is

I totally agree!
Short story: I'm working next to an old Silver mine that's open for tourists to visit . In the mine there's an stope where they extracted the ore and that particular stope has acoustics that only compare to being in a Cathedral. Some day I'm going to sneak down there with my Chieftain low D and play... ...you guessed it, Amhrán a leabhair!


Cheers,
Anders

[Grexrell]

During the past week I've been learning to play Amhran a Leabhair as well.
I've got it memorized from sheet music/repeating Mp3 file, and am now working on adding feeling to the right sections.

My question is, how do I pronounce the title of the song?
I like the tune, and once I'm fully comfortable with it, i expect to play it for others. But I can guarantee that they'll ask what its called, and I don't think I could get away with handing them a piece of paper with the name written on it

[MTGuru]

My question is, how do I pronounce the title of the song?

I believe "OW-ron na LYAH-oor" (for Amhrán na Leabhar) is close.

[narrowdog]

Amhran A Leabhair (Lament for the Lost Books)

Interesting name for such a nice piece of music.

[Cayden]

Amhran A Leabhair (Lament for the Lost Books)

Interesting name for such a nice piece of music.

In addition to some information on the air, which I supplied in a thread recently I came across this little bit written by Breandan Breathnach In An Piobaire 1983:

Amhran na Leabhar was composed by Tomas Rua 0 Suilleabhain (1785-1848) who, besides being a poet, was also a schoolteacher, fiddler and dancing master. Compelled to yield up his school near Cahirdaniel to a newcomer, he sent his bag of books and other belongings on to the harbour at Derrynane to have them transported across to Goilin. The boat struck a rock on the way over, turned turtle and everything aboard her was lost in the waves. On the same night Tomas's clothes were accidently burnt while he was asleep and he had to stay put where he was until the tailor had made a new suit for him. When he finally reached his destination he heard the bad news and was suddenly struck down ill. On recovering he wrote this lament for his books; in it he mentions also the other loss he had suffered that left him gan snath on speir

Seamus got this song from Colm 0 Lochlainn who wrongly attributed it to Conchiir Maistir Riordain

Fenton in his edtion of Tormas Rua's songs gives "An Spealadoirl' i.e. "Mo lean le lua" (The Cuckoo's Nest) as the air to which this song was sung. He prints eleven verses, of which the first is here given as an aid to phrasing the melody.

Go cuan Bheill fnse casadh me,
Cois Goilinn aoibhinn Dairbhre,
Mar a seoltar f lit na farraige
Thar saile i gcein

1 bPortmagee do stadas seal
Fe thuairim intinn maitheasa
Dlfhonn bheith sealad eadartha

Mar mhaistir leinn;
is gearr gur chuala an eachtra
Ag cach, mo lean!
Gur i mBord Eoghain Fhinn do cailleadh, theas,
An t-~rthach trean.

Do phreab mo chr6idhe le hathtuirse
'Dtaoibh loinge an tfosaigh chalma,
mbIfearrde an tir f seasamh seal
Do raibh an tsein.


[I used scanning software to convert the original to a Word file, this software was not fully able to cope with the fada’s etc used in the written Irish, some mistakes may occur)

[narrowdog]

Thankyou Peter your story makes it all clear and gives it more meaning

[ahogrelius]

My question is, how do I pronounce the title of the song?

I believe "OW-ron na LYAH-oor" (for Amhrán na Leabhar) is close.

Yep, it's close. According to my Irish book it should be:



(In the International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA)

Slán,
Anders

[Grexrell]

Amhran A Leabhair (Lament for the Lost Books)

Thanks for the information everyone. Now I can impress friends and family!
That is, until i start playing But fortunately I now have a Low D to play the song on, so screeching won't be on their list of complaints.

As for writing a lament for lost books. Well, we have several thousand of them all over the house (e:g book cases full in every room) I could understand that.