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Irish Flute Tunes

Michael Clarkson•irishflute.podbean.com
Music
Traditional Irish Tunes Played on the Flute (iflute@googlemail.com)
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Episodes

The Corner House

Here's a nice reel I was asked to play (is this it, M?). I used to hear this tune more than I do now. Maybe that's just because I need my ears syringed.

Jul 06, 2007•3 min

Courting Them All

This sounds like the stage between mass arrests and sentencing. I think this tune is on a record of Kevin Burke and Jackie Daly. I know it is in CRÉ 3, number 119 as that's where I stole this version from.

Jul 05, 2007•2 min

Killannan's Fancy

I never knew the name of this tune and seems to have about 6.3 half versions of it floating around in my head. While I was in the process of stealing tunes out of Ceol Rince na hÉireann Vol 3, I found this version with this name. It is number 116 and comes from Roger Sherlock's flute playing.

Jul 05, 2007•2 min

Pull The Knife and Stick it Again

Here's a tune I was asked to play. It's on Matt Molloy's first record. I don't know where he got the tune or the name from. It sounds a bit odd played slowly but here goes ... (The quicker version seems to recover its composure a bit) Brendán Breathnach put it in Ceol Rince na hÉireann 3 (No. 12) in case you want to see the dots, or blood spatters.

Jul 04, 2007•2 min

Lománach Cross

Here's a flute friendly sort of reel. Brendán Breathnach got it from Denis Murphy but it appears on a few other people's records, including one of Mary Bergin and one of Matt Molloy. My playing here is more Lame Knack Cross than Lománach Cross but hopefully it is still a cross that is possible to bear.

Jul 04, 2007•2 min

Lucy Campbell

I must have pressed the wrong buttons on the recorder. Poor Lucy sounds like she's calling for rescue from an oil drum, or maybe it's a big soup tin. This is a good sturdy reel of Scottish stock - more soup. I hope Lucy isn't stuck in an echoey BROTHel.

Jul 03, 2007•3 min

Seán McGuire's Reel

Here's a common enough reel named after a far from common fiddle player. The tune may well have other names but this is what Roger Sherlock called it on a record.

Jul 03, 2007•2 min

The Wexford Reel

Here's a tune Brandán Breathnach collected from the South Sligo whistle player Jimmy McGettrick and included in Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2, number 215.

Jul 02, 2007•2 min

The Maid Behind the Bar

Here's the one after the one before it. This tune is fairly hyperphenominally popular and can be found rattling around sessions everywhere. I'd imagine Miltown Malbay is getting its fair share as we speak.

Jul 02, 2007•3 min

Patsy Touhey's Reel

Here's a reel named after a great Co. Galway piper who moved to America and made a great success of his career as a musician and entertainer. I believe he was hyperphenominal. I just impaled my food (I meant to write "foot" - never ask a spellchecker to make your dinner - fish fingers are where I draw the line) on a cassette (pre-recorded / legal and all that) of Matt Molloys's first record. Never walk round an untidy house with bare feet. Anyway, this tune is on that record. I had to keep time ...

Jul 02, 2007•1 min

The Drunken Tinker

Here's one a good friend reminded me of recently. I'll now maybe give my poor old Rudall / Willis / Murray creation a chance to rest and settle into its newfound freedom from its 3 year long subescalatory incarceration.

Jul 01, 2007•2 min

Elanor Keane's Reel

Here's an Ed. Reavy composition. I was reminded of it this week by the fiddle player Dónal O'Connor - one of Dundalk's finest musical exports to Belfast.

Jul 01, 2007•2 min

The Maids of Mullaghmore

Here's another John Doherty tune. He's been ringing in my ears of late. I remembered after playing the tune that this old flute has low C keys. Maybe I should have used the C# key in the first part. On second thoughts, I shouldn't have. That note belongs on a fiddle.

Jul 01, 2007•2 min

The Oak Tree

Here's a John Doherty sort of reel. I can't remember how many times each to play the parts. I was out playing last night and the person who started this very same tune had a similarly random approach to this matter also.

Jul 01, 2007•2 min

Life is All Chequered

Like a cheap Parisian tablecloth or an Irish Times crossword, or maybe a flag you find by driving far too fast. I'm carrying on with my poor George Rudall's rehabilitation so please forgive the fluffier bits in this playing.

Jul 01, 2007•2 min

It Goes as Follies

I've just found my poor, neglected George Rudall flute in the cupboard under the stairs. The thing is around three million years old (early 1820s - is that just 2 million then?) and Sam Murray rescued it a bit more recently than the 1820s. It's not firing on all cylinders due to my neglect but I thought this reel would be a fairly gentle device for coaxing it back into some sort of life. I heard this tune on Michael Tubridy's excellent "Eagle's Whistle" LP.

Jun 30, 2007•2 min

Miss Lyon's Fancy

This title sounds more like some sort of cherry-topped cup cake but the tune itself sounds like a reel. It's another tune from a many years ago maestro. In this case, the fiddle player James Morrison.

Jun 30, 2007•3 min

Ballinasloe Fair

A lot of horses (and a very good Londis supermarket as far as I recall). This reel was made famous by Michael Coleman who recorded it many years ago. That could really have gone without saying as he died many years ago. I heard people saying they knew a tune so well that they could play in in their sleep but never ...

Jun 30, 2007•2 min

Martin Ansboro's Reel

Here's a tune which I'm glad to be able to put on here. I glad to and an on here at all. The site www.went away for a while but the hosting people kindly got it back for me. This tune was previously recorded by a flute player called Matt Molloy. I'm sure some people may have heard of him.

Jun 30, 2007•2 min

The Dances at Kinvara

Here's another Reavy tune - a barndance this time. I'm a bit rusty at it but you should get the idea.

Jun 29, 2007•2 min

The Swans Among the Rushes

Here's a jig from Mr. Reavy. I'm told it can break a person's arm with one of its wings,

Jun 29, 2007•2 min

The Whistler of Roslea

Here's a reel composed by Edward V. Reavy. I fear it may be somewhat decomposed here by Michael J. C. Reavy's tunes are usually robust enough to survive even my minor brutalities. Hopefully this version is learnable.

Jun 29, 2007•3 min

The Union Reel

Here's a good tune (197 in Ceol Rince na hÉireann 3 is almost the same as this version). I played the bits twice in the slower version. I think once is more normal - the unity of one and all that. There's a bit of the bass of a Richard Thompson CD coming through the ceiling too - hopefully not enough to get me into bother for copyright infringement. I was feeling guilty for neglectful cruelty to a website. Hence the three tunes in the one day. I'm away out now to play some in a pub.

Jun 28, 2007•2 min

Johnny Cronin's Reel

Here's a reel named after the Kerry fiddle player Denis Murphy - sorry Johnny Cronin. I'm not sure whether to play the parts single or double. I never thought counting up to 1 would be such a challenge.

Jun 28, 2007•2 min

Ríl Gan Ainm (Miss Langford's)

Here's a reel in A minor. It often appears in G minor but my fingers aren't feeling too Geed up just yet. It's a nice one for the flute in this key too.

Jun 28, 2007•1 min

The Irish Washerwoman

This poor jig is much maligned. To add insult to injury I've put it in the 1100 rpm spin cycle towards the end. I think it recovered eventually.

Jun 26, 2007•3 min
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