Happy St. Patrick's Day

by Gail Smith

Download the music

The month of March always brings thoughts to my mind of Spring, Johann Sebastian Bach's birthday and "The Wearing of the Green". Wearing a green outfit on St. Patrick's Day has been my tradition even though I'm not Irish. I enjoy Irish music and remember the wonderful week spent in Ireland and especially hearing "O'Carolan's Concerto" played on an Irish harp one evening in a castle.

The music of Ireland has a flavor all its own. An interesting characteristic of genuine Irish melody is the omission of the fourth and seventh tones of the scale. The feature that distinguishes all Irish music is the presence of the major sixth melody note as heard in the climax of "Londonderry Air". The music is a reflection of their culture. There are riddle songs, jigs for dancing, and songs to sing while threshing the barley, washing clothes or spinning. There are songs written for every conceivable incident from the cradle to the grave. The music of Ireland was passed down from one generation to another.

We are in debt to a great man named Edward Bunting (1773–1843) for preserving the ancient music of Ireland. He realized that the music needed to be written out in musical notation for generations to come. Edward Bunting decided to gather the ten most respected and qualified harpers in the land who knew all the Irish music. He invited them to Belfast and organized the Harpers Festival of 1792. This was the first musical event of its kind. The object of this event was to bring the old harpers together and have them play the ancient tunes. The tunes were taken down carefully as each harper played the tune. Edward Bunting observed that the most ancient tunes, when performed by each harper, were played the same note for note. He relied on these harpers' memories. It is remarkable how the harpers remembered all the music. Edward Bunting studied the tunes and compiled, edited and published two volumes of the music of Ireland. It took him several years to complete this task. These books are a real treasure today. Volume 2 is in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC and I have a rare edition of Volume 1.

Imagine if we gathered the ten best concert pianists from America and had each of them play pieces only they knew how to play and someone had to write them down to preserve the compositions. It would be a very difficult task for sure writing by hand! There are more than eighty songs in my book, all written down by Edward Bunting.

The first hymn written in Gaelic was written by Saint Patrick. It was sung on Easter morning as Saint Patrick and his missionaries marched toward Tara. Five great roads radiated from Tara which was the heart and center of the ancient Irish Kingdom. Saint Patrick's legacy is not just a legend, he codified the old Irish laws into a monumental work, the Senchus Mor. He was one of the greatest personalities in world history, having founded many churches in Ireland and ordained 370 bishops and three thousand priests. The hymn that St. Patrick wrote has been used by the Irish ever since for special protection. May the words of this hymn bring comfort to all of us during this difficult time in our world as we seek peace and protection.

The following FREE MUSIC is taken from Gail Smith's Ancient & Modern Songs of Ireland for Piano