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Contemporary Music Score Collection UCLA Contemporary Music Score Collection Title A Carolan Suite op IX Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/55q3v7dt Author Willmer, Richard Publication Date 2020 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California A Carolan Suite op IX I - Prelude - Mrs Power or Carolan's Concerto II - Pastorale - Fanny Power III - Reel - Carolan's Draught IV - Elegy - Blind Mary V - Merry Dance - Sir Festus Burke VI - Carolan's Jig VII - Carolan's Fugue per violino (barocco) e clavicembalo (pianoforte) Richard Willmer 2020 Turlough O'Carolan (Toirdhealbhach Ó Cearbhalláin) was an itinerant Irish harper who performed on the metal-strung diatonic harp, an small instrument that virtually disappeared by the end of the XVIII century, only to be revived in the latter half of the XX century and which is now commonly referred to as the Celtic harp. Carolan was not a composer in the sense Bach or Vivaldi were. Being blind from the age of 18, he relied on memory rather than on paper, his music passing on orally after his death. Only a very small part of his music was printed during his lifetime, but the largest part of his oeuvre was published posthumously between 1796 and 1840 by Edward Bunting as part of a “General Collection of Ancient Irish Music (...) adapted for the Piano-forte” These anachronistic arrangements are in the spirit of Haydn and I would even say they could have been influenced by the settings of folk songs the latter undertook during his London visits of 1791-92 and 1794-95. More recent editions of his music, notably by Donal O' Sullivan, comprise a total of 214 works (and an appendix of 12 extra pieces which cannot definitely be attributed to him.) Some are airs, others instrumental pieces and two are sets of variations on Scottish airs. The latter author, contrary to Bunting, limits itself to publishing only the melodies, with no indication of harmony. After O' Sullivan's death, in 1973, a further collection attributed to Carolan was discovered in 1983. Some of these are airs "improved by Carolan", while five are considered to be original pieces. As there is no scholarly way to reconstruct his music, he has tended to be interpreted by proponents of Irish and Celtic music. Apart from James Galway, most classical musicians do not perform his pieces; there is, however, a “Carolan Suite in the Baroque Style”, written by the XX century Irish composer T. C. Kelly, which I have not heard in its entirety. More recently some early music groups have recorded his music on the violin, recorder and viola da gamba. My suite consists of seven short movements, Here is a small description of each one, as well as the source I used: I - Prelude Mrs Power or Carolan's Concerto - Edward Bunting Carolan's Concerto is a humorous name given to a piece that has few of the characteristics of a concerto. It seems that Carolan wrote it under the influence of the music of Corelli that he surely heard in one of the stately homes he was wont to perform in. In fact the "concerto" is not an air, but consists mostly of violin figurations, in imitation of of the Italian style then in vogue. My version of the "concerto" derives from Bunting: the original is is binary form, with no modulation (not possible on a diatonic harp). I adapted the melody to conform to the tonic- dominant, dominant-tonic scheme and I added some extra bars to each of the sections so both sections would be perfectly balanced. The harpsichord part is mine. II - Pastorale - Fanny Power - Edward Bunting I used this as a basis, but the drone and the "Pastorale" are my ideas. The melody is unchanged, but I did change the harmony here and there. III - Reel - Carolan's Draught - Edward Bunting and Donal O'Sullivan Interestingly here the modulation is to be found in both sources. This I kept, as well as the basic harmony, which I elaborated. IV - Elegy - Blind Mary - Donal O' Sullivan I only had the melody to work from. I called it elegy not because Mary died, but because there is melancholy about her blindness - and, we should remember Carolan was blind too, so he knew what blindness was. V - Merry Dance - Sir Festus Burke - Edward Bunting Just the name called my attention to this piece and I was sure it was humorous - and so it proved to be! This is the piece most faithful to the source, though I did change some things and I added a little surprise at the end. VI - Carolan's Jig - Donal O' Sullivan I called this a Jig, as, in the source it is referred only as No 174. I had only the melody to work from, so the harmony and the fugato are mine. VII - Carolan's Fugue - Edward Bunting The fugue is not Carolan's - as he wrote no fugues - but mine. I took the subject from Mrs Powers. This subject calls for such a treatment and works quite well as a conclusion to the suite. I tried to give some semblance of Baroque to these pieces, though it is was not always possible or even desirable to be too strict. omehow I think that Blid Mary in the style of Corelli would not sound too well, though in the Reel it works perfectly. All markings on the violin are mine and there and I have added fingering. This suite can also be can be played on the modern violin and piano. Bunting gives metronome markings, though almost all the ones I used are do not derive from him. Only the marking in No V is to be found the source. I would like to thank Yehezkel Yerushalmi for helping me with fingering and bowing for the violin in the first and last movements. Lent 2020 .
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