Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

The Silver Spire

reel

Key signature: Dmajor

Submitted on August 20th 2001 by Jeremy.

This tune has been added to 441 tunebooks.

Also known as Bennett's Favorite, Great Eastern, The Great Eastern, John Brennan's, O'Byrne's Fancy, Silver Spire.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

19P by Dennis Botzer And Patrick Cavanagh
A Dark Horse by Martin Murray
A Man Apart by Sean Maguire
Ah, Surely! by Eddie Cahill
Alesia by Rapalje
Are You The Concertina Player? by Kate McNamara
Aris by Le Cheile
Around The World For Sport by The Doon Céilí Band
At The Feis by John Doonan
Back In Town by Paddy Killoran
Bean Chairdin by Dympna O'Sullivan
Before Dawn by Harmony Glen
Best Of Irish Fiddle by Florie Brown
Between The Sets by Barefield Ceili Band
Between The Strings by Adrian McAuliffe And Cathal Flood
Brothers Together by Sean And Jim McGuire
By Heck by David Munnelly
California Celt by Jesse Autumn And Friends
Calliope House by Modesty Forbids
Celtic Reign by Celtic Reign
Cornerstone by Celtic Spring
Corvus by Colcannon
Cuts From The Turf by Hooley
Dans Tous Les Cantons by Accordéonistes Du Québec
Dísirt Tola : Traditional Music From Clare And Dublin by Various Artists
Dookin' For Apples by Alistair Anderson
Doorways And Windowsills by Antoin Mac Gabhann And Mick O'Connor
Draw The Bow by Malachy Bourke
Edel Fox And Ronan O'Flaherty by Edel Fox And Ronan O'Flaherty
Farewell To Ireland CD 4 (Of A Box Set Of 4) by Various Artists
Fiddle Sticks, Irish Traditional Music From Donegal by Various Artists
Fiddlers Five by Fiddlers Five
First Through The Gate by Brian Conway
Fit As A Fiddle by Natalie MacMaster
Foinn Seisiun 3 by Ennis/Dublin Session Group
From Ballymote To Brooklyn by Paddy Killoran and James Morrison
From Both Sides by Niamh Ni Charra
Give Us Another by Joe Derrane
Herding Cats by Gaelic Storm
High Clouds by Greenfield Dance Band
High Rock And Low Glen by Dab Hand
Highly Strung by Alistair McCulloch
II by Guidewires
Irish Traditional Music by Jim McKillop
Just Me And A Fiddle by The Flyin' Fiddler Wayne Cantwell
Keeping It Reel by Ian Walsh And Kevin Buckley
Last Night's Fun by Last Night's Fun
Live At Trinity Hall by Trinity Hall Session Players
Marie And Martin Reilly by Marie And Martin Reilly
Matt Molloy, Paul Brady, Tommy Peoples by Matt Molloy, Paul Brady, Tommy Peoples
Milestone At The Garden by Irish Fiddle Masters From The 78 RPM Era
Misneach by Misneach
Music From The Glens by The Quinn Family
New Irish Harmonica by Brendan Power
One by Murphy Roche Irish Music Club
Portraid by Sean Maguire
Riverdance And Other Famous Irish Songs And Dances by Various Artists
Rogha Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy 2007 by Various Artists
Sharon Shannon by Sharon Shannon
Temple House 2 by Temple House Ceili Band
The Blue Lamp by Jonny Hardie And Gavin Marwick
The Bridge Céilí Band by The Bridge Céilí Band
The Godfather by Brian Rooney
The Great Bear Trio by The Great Bear Trio
The Joys Of Life by Shaskeen
The Living Tradition Vol II by All Ireland Champions Tara And Garrai Eion Ceili Bands
The Maid At The Well by Tony O'Rourke
The Mighty Session by Various Artistes
The Purple Heather CD2 by Vincent Campbell
The Road From Erin—Ireland's Musical Legacy by Dorian Recordings
The Sailor's Cravat by Paddy O'Brien
The Sharon Shannon Collection 1990 - 2005 Disc 1 by Sharon Shannon
The Silver Spire by Karen Tweed
The Tap Session by Andrea Beaton
The Trip Over The Mountain by Michael Queally And Cyril O'Donoghue
The Wheels Of The World, Early Irish American Music, Vol 2 by Various Artists
Tommy Basker: The Tin Sandwich by Tommy Basker
Torch And Fire by Dan Beimborn
Track Across The Deep by London Lasses And Pete Quinn
Traditional Irish Music From Boston by The Magic Square
Traditional Irish Sessions by Various Artists
Tread by Tread
Tuned In by Johnny Murphy
Unleashed by The Border Collies
Walking Stones by Ken Kolodner, Laura Risk, Robin Bullock
Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald: House Parties And 78s by Winston 'Scotty' Fitzgerald
Wire Work by Joel McDermott
Yeh, That's All It Is by John Carty

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

I love the second part of this tune. You'll need to be fairly nimble-fingered to play it at speed but the effect is lovely - a cascade of notes going from low to high.

# Posted on August 20th 2001 by Jeremy

Is this a Donegal tune?

# Posted on March 20th 2003 by Trevor Jennings

Silver spire

As far as I know, it's not particularly associated with Donegal more than anywhere else in Ireland.

# Posted on March 20th 2003 by Kenny

Brian Conway setting

Here's how Brian plays it, swingy and full of lift, on First Through the Gate (a great cd!):

K:D
FE|:D2 FE DFAc|dcde fdAF|GABG FADF|GFED CEA,C|
|D2 FE DFAc|dcde fdAF|GABG FADF|1 EA,CE D2 (3A,B,C:|2 EA,CE D2 CB,||
|:A,B,CD EFGF|~E3F GABc|dcdB ABde|fdgf eA (3BBc|
|defd ceAc|dcdB AFDF|GABG FADF|1EA,CE D2 CB,:|2EA,CE D2 (3A,B,C||

I like this setting's simplicity--staying with the scale run in the 4th bar of Part A (instead of the more common |GEFD CEA,C|), and the first two bars of Part B, where the ~E3 is featured instead of the usual |A,B,CD EFGE|(3FED EF GABc|.

# Posted on August 26th 2004 by Will Harmon

First tune has wrong name- not alternate- just wrong

The name of the first tune is really The Silver SPEAR. The Silver Spire is a different tune entirely.

# Posted on August 16th 2007 by David Levine

I *believe* "spire" here is pronounced "spear", and I've always seen this tune titled The Silver Spire, apparently I'm not the only one, as someone posted this with that title.

# Posted on November 5th 2007 by MR.

You can't play this tune on some instruments. :-(

# Posted on June 29th 2008 by Whiddler

The Silver Spear

Even now I get confused between those two names - Silver Spear and Silver Spire. If someone at a session asks what the tune is I usually end up mumbling something like "Silver Spuh..." (voice trailing off into silence).

# Posted on June 29th 2008 by Trevor Jennings

The Silver SPIRE

Here's this other great classic: The Silver SPEAR http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/182.

You can tell this one-here is The Silver SPIRE because the second part spirals up towards the tip of the spire like running up a steeple or lighthouse's stairway!

Talking of which...One regularly hears that there is no 'programatic' tunes in Irish music but that's far from true. It's a cliché you hear before people are about to launch into the 'only such' piece': The Foxhunter's Chase. But now and then you'll encounter one.
Jennie's Chickens for example (especially if piped well)
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/756.
I'll post more links at the next encounters...

# Posted on April 21st 2010 by birlibirdie

Another onomatopeic tune: The Fat Cat (hornpipe) http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/950 as played by the composer.

# Posted on May 25th 2010 by birlibirdie

As far as "The Silver Spire" and "The Silver Spear" confusion goes, the tunes are different enough from one another they actually work well when paired together (in that order). Trust me - they sound great to start a set of reels.

# Posted on October 22nd 2011 by Eirepublican