Vincent Campbell, Con Ciassidy, James Byrne, and Francie Byrne. Some really lovely stuff, all of it interesting. The liner notes are very interesting, giving lots of great info on the tunes and the players.
An example:
"Muilleann Na Maidí (Crushing the Twigs)
"This is one of the big five-part Donegal fiddle tunes which Vincent learned from the Dohertys during one of their frequent visits to the Glenties area. The reel is often called "Mill na Maidí", and Vincent says that the title Muilleann Na Maidí means the milling or crushing of the twigs which were used to make a fibrous pulp probably for rope making.
"n the first part of the tune Vincent expertly combines some fourth finger drones, double stopping and skilful bowing to produce an impressive throbbing rhythmic effect. The tune resembles, in parts, the well known reels The Pinch of Snuff and The Glen Road to Clarrick. In some tunes having three or more parts, the third part is often a repeat or variation of the first part played an octave higher. This probably comes from the practice of two or more fiddlers playing in different octaves. Examples of such tunes include the reels The Pinch of Snuff, Miss Ramsey, The Glen Road to Carrick, The Black Fanad Mare or The Nine Points of Roguery, Lord MacDonald's, and the slip jig Gusty's Frolicks."
Unsurprisingly, the liner note booklet is 14 pages!
All the music is unaccompanied. Dermot McLaughlin, who wrote the liner notes, declares that "the music on this CD is some of the best fiddle music you are likely to hear, saying that it shows the strength and vigour of a tradition which has survived intact (perhaps through isolation) from the levelling influences and standardisation apparent in many regions over the past decades."
The recordings were done, in the case of Vincent Campbell, con Cassidy and James Byrne, at the Highlands Hotel, Glenties, Cty. Donegal, 14-16 April 1986; Francie Byrne's tracks were taken from the Radio One programme The Long Note of August 1983 and are in mono.
Put out by Claddagh Records Ltd., 1987. My copy came from Ossian.
Thanks to Zina the tags 'mazurka' were removed so that these tunes could link to the transcriptions, and that works OK, in some cases but not all. So I'll repeat the links here. Also, check the 'Comments' of these transcriptions because sometimes you'll find trasncriptions in ABC's taken from these recordings. If I had to choose a dozen or so CD's to carry away with me to the stars, this would be one of them...
Track ~ name ~ link
2.) Vincent Campbell's Mazurkas #1 & #2
Vincent Campbell's #1 ~ the right link
Sonny Brogan's / The Hag With the Fiddle / The Old Donegal / The Irish
Key signature: G Major (& D)
Submitted on January 2nd 2003 by lazyhound. http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1276
24.) "James Byrne's Mazurka" ~ links to a slip jig
James Byrne's / Tommy Peoples'
Key signature: D Major
Submitted on January 13th 2003 by milesnagopaleen. http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1323
Vincent Campbell, Con Ciassidy, James Byrne, and Francie Byrne. Some really lovely stuff, all of it interesting. The liner notes are very interesting, giving lots of great info on the tunes and the players.
An example:
"Muilleann Na Maidí (Crushing the Twigs)
"This is one of the big five-part Donegal fiddle tunes which Vincent learned from the Dohertys during one of their frequent visits to the Glenties area. The reel is often called "Mill na Maidí", and Vincent says that the title Muilleann Na Maidí means the milling or crushing of the twigs which were used to make a fibrous pulp probably for rope making.
"n the first part of the tune Vincent expertly combines some fourth finger drones, double stopping and skilful bowing to produce an impressive throbbing rhythmic effect. The tune resembles, in parts, the well known reels The Pinch of Snuff and The Glen Road to Clarrick. In some tunes having three or more parts, the third part is often a repeat or variation of the first part played an octave higher. This probably comes from the practice of two or more fiddlers playing in different octaves. Examples of such tunes include the reels The Pinch of Snuff, Miss Ramsey, The Glen Road to Carrick, The Black Fanad Mare or The Nine Points of Roguery, Lord MacDonald's, and the slip jig Gusty's Frolicks."
Unsurprisingly, the liner note booklet is 14 pages!
All the music is unaccompanied. Dermot McLaughlin, who wrote the liner notes, declares that "the music on this CD is some of the best fiddle music you are likely to hear, saying that it shows the strength and vigour of a tradition which has survived intact (perhaps through isolation) from the levelling influences and standardisation apparent in many regions over the past decades."
The recordings were done, in the case of Vincent Campbell, con Cassidy and James Byrne, at the Highlands Hotel, Glenties, Cty. Donegal, 14-16 April 1986; Francie Byrne's tracks were taken from the Radio One programme The Long Note of August 1983 and are in mono.
Put out by Claddagh Records Ltd., 1987. My copy came from Ossian.
Zina
# Posted on August 24th 2002 by Zina Lee
This is a favourite, so much so that I have it as LP, cassette and CD... I love it. It is full of life and humour, great music and great characters...
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by ceolachan
"The Brass Fiddle" ~ the mazurkas
Thanks to Zina the tags 'mazurka' were removed so that these tunes could link to the transcriptions, and that works OK, in some cases but not all. So I'll repeat the links here. Also, check the 'Comments' of these transcriptions because sometimes you'll find trasncriptions in ABC's taken from these recordings. If I had to choose a dozen or so CD's to carry away with me to the stars, this would be one of them...
Track ~ name ~ link
2.) Vincent Campbell's Mazurkas #1 & #2
Vincent Campbell's #1 ~ the right link
Sonny Brogan's / The Hag With the Fiddle / The Old Donegal / The Irish
Key signature: G Major (& D)
Submitted on January 2nd 2003 by lazyhound.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1276
Vincent Campbell's #2 / The Glenties ~ missed
Key signature: G Major (& D)
Submitted on January 15th 2003 by ScottC.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1332
21.) "The Kilcar Mazurka" ~ the right link
Key signature: G Major
Submitted on July 16th 2004 by ceolachan.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3286
24.) "James Byrne's Mazurka" ~ links to a slip jig
James Byrne's / Tommy Peoples'
Key signature: D Major
Submitted on January 13th 2003 by milesnagopaleen.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1323
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by ceolachan
"James Byrne: The Road to Glenlough" ~ more from the man
Submitted on September 20th 2004 by ceolachan.
http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/1198
# Posted on April 30th 2007 by ceolachan
Danny O'Donnell was also due to feature on this album, but withdrew when the label refused to allow him to be recorded with a piano accompanist.
# Posted on May 23rd 2008 by Floss the Tethers
"Francie & Mickey Byrne: Ceol Na DTéad"
http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/3083
More of the Byrnes brothers and well worth chasing up if you're lucky enough to know someone with this recording...
# Posted on October 8th 2008 by ceolachan