From Erin’s Emerald Isle, vol. 2 (LHS)

“This collection of fifteen ancient Irish airs is the second volume of a projected three-volume set.  They come mainly from Edward Bunting’s The Ancient Music of Ireland, 1840, 1809, 1796, and Alfred Moffat’s The Minstrelsy of Ireland, 1897.  As a young nineteen year old musician, Bunting was commissioned to attend the festival of harpers held in Belfast in 1792, and to take down their music, most of which had never been published.  He was not a harper and his music suits the keyboard rather than the harp; in fact, much of it is unplayable on the clarsech, or the common Irish harp.  These arrangements are designed to make this music available to lever harp players…

The performer will encounter the title “Planxty” (“Plangsty”) for three of these pieces,…They were composed by the harper Carolan evidently as musical portraits…

These pieces were arranged for the lever harp tuned in F.  Seven selections are in F major, three in D minor, two are in A minor and three are in G major.  Although playable on the pedal harp, they were intended to be played specifically on the lever harp.” D. Owens

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