Another bulletin from my safari into lesser known Carolans. I think this one is a cracking tune that mainly seems to be available on YouTube played for set dances at a funereal pace. I am all for easy tempos but this one is a proper jig and should be played as such. Researching the background to the tune I found an unexpected personal connection. It was written for the wedding of John Drury of Roscommon to Elizabeth Goldsmith. (The Drurys were very wealthy Anglo-Irish gentry - the Goldsmiths rather less so.) Elizabeth's cousins were Oliver, who probably needs no introduction from me, and Catherine, who was my five greats grandmother. Poor John Drury died a year later, aged just 20. But that is no reason to play his jig as if he were dead already.
I'm quite tempted to forward this to my colleague John Drury! And that, in turn, reminds me of my erstwhile mandolin teacher who said he knew someone called Eleanor Plunkett. I'm not sure why I find those name matches so amusing, but I do. It sounds like a pretty complex melody for a jig. Well done for keeping all the notes in the right places and sailing through the whole thing so comfortably.
I am with Dennis here - pretty complex for a jig, and I guess that is because of the time and context O'Carolan composed in. Maybe it's more of a gigue than a jig. OTOH I am all for faster tempos, forget your Tai Chi, BUT: is that a banjo? More than tempo, the banjo is leaving baroque in the dust. Interesting story about a distant relation - you might say you are linked to the tune by mitochondrial DNA.
Very nice Richard! Not knowing the history, are you a royal?
Great tune and really well played, Richard. Always good to get some of the story behind the tune. O'Carolan wrote so many planxties in his lifetime but then that was how he earned his keep, as did so many other musicians who relied on the patronage of the wealthier members of society.
Frank, history shows that you are not a royal unless you are being chased by paparazzi...
Thank you all. Dennis and Bertram, I now see that the Traditional Tune Archive has it as an "air, lament or listening piece." The Session, of course, has it as a jig, but they just go by time signature. I [I]feel[I] it is a jig - no better justification than that. It is slightly complex. The two parts are different lengths (12 and 16 measures), unlike the standard eight measure jig. Also, being Carolan, he explores all the possible rhythmic combinations of six beats. As for the banjo, why not? He wouldn't recognize a modern guitar or mandolin either (let alone an Irish bouzouki). The best YouTube version of this, for my money, is on clawhammer banjo. Dennis, you prompted me to remember that the guy supplying the stone for the pond I am building is called John Irwin. The pump is from Lord Inchiquin.* Frank, not royalty but something much, much better - a family connection to a great Irish poet. When Brexit happened I, like half the British population, investigated getting an Irish passport. My mother had been entitled to one, but never got it, so I couldn't either. But there is a category for people with a deep and special Irish connection. I thought I was in with a chance... John, as I wrote about Lady St John, I really hope she appreciated what a gem Carolan wrote. These little pieces of work done for cash are still loved down the ages. *Only one of these statements is true.
I have always liked Carolan's music, it has that Je-ne-sais-quoi that has made them immortal... but I have never dared to learn one of them, like all "celtic" music (excuse the use of that name) I find it quite challenging and behind a cultural barrier that sometimes seems unbreakable to me...but you guys make it appear so easy, play those devilish triplets, etc. with a fluidity that makes me envy... well... excellent as always, Richard...
Thanks again Richard, very competently played, and impressively swift. Here’s Davis H. with another SAW-comrade performance, though sounds a bit different. Same title, or almost the same? https://youtu.be/blQ0t3Pjvdo No problem, Jairo you can use absolutely outrageous phrases on SAW, no hay problema, amigo!
That is gorgeous, Simon. But it's a different tune. This one rather than this one. Jairo, just go for it. In the past couple of weeks I have posted tunes from Brittany and the Caribbean, neither of which have the remotest personal connection to me. Carolan is a good way into Irish music, because you can just treat him like a Baroque composer, even play Baroque ornamentation. And you will have no trouble with triplets - you are a master of tremolo.
"Very nice Richard! Not knowing the history, are you a royal?"...not royalty, I think it would be more appropriate to call him Planxty Carver from now on...
Planxty Carver indeed, Jairo. Makes me think of someone who is a skilled sculptor of wood!
https://thesession.org/tunes/8264 Richard is right. I have relatives from County Roscommon too, great grandfather, which would mean that seven or eight generations before that I too am royalty.
Thank you, Jairo and John. Well, I am carving my way through the more obscure planxties (unjustifiably obscure in most cases). Simon, this only works if you have a poet in the family. But it's Ireland, so you almost certainly do.
Well, I'm thinking of the year 1523 - I have 2 to the power of 20 (generations) of parents of parents of parents... more than a million of them to be exact. -so it seems we are all related to everything.
Awesome Richard! I was a little worried, I have a "thing" with so called "royaly".
Me too, Frank! I promise you none of my family "swore allegiance" to the king last month. Yes, Simon. I have read that everyone in England is descended from William the Conqueror and everyone in continental Europe from Charlemagne. (When I researched my genealogy I found no connection to either.)
I like the second John Drury so much that I thought I would have a go at it. I have called it Planxty Kingsland, which is one of its alternative titles, to avoid confusion. It is also sometimes called "Miss Elphinstone's Compliments to Lady Fingall," which is such a great title that I probably should have chosen that. There are bonus outtakes at the end showing the extremely difficult conditions under which I operate.
What a beautiful cat! is it a he or a she? It should become a norm in the SAW that those "bosses" always participate in the videos... I always have a fat and bossy female dog with me (besides the coffee)... N.B.: your music encourages me to look for some carolans to learn, let's wait and see what turns out...
Two beautiful Carolan-tunes, one beautiful cat.
Thank you, Jairo and Christian. Jairo, it's a she and her name is Essie. She is not only beautiful, but has a lovely personality. She is very affectionate and still playful at seven years old. She came from a rescue shelter and I think she never forgets that (judging by how she eats). She wakes me at 6.00 am to be fed and I then go and practice my music for a couple of hours before breakfast - an arrangement that worked well until recently when she has insisted on climbing on my lap (pushing mandolin or guitar aside), which obviously puts paid to any music. Getting in front of the camera and plopping herself on the laptop instead of the lap is a new development, although she did play a starring role once: https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/g...963&do=discuss. I agree on animal appearances. I am always on the lookout for Frank's dogs. As for the Carolans, Jairo, just do it.
