O'NEILL'S MUSIC OF IRELAND
("The 1850")
General (hopefully helpful) Notes, in no particular order
[1] ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
[2] TUNE STRUCTURE
[3] "AMBIGUOUS" TUNES
[4] DOTTED RHYTHM
[5] %SWING .25
[6] BALFE
[7] TUNE SOURCES
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Original ABC transcriptions: Vince Brennan (2003). These files represent a massive amount of work
by Mr.Brennan and my sincerest thanks are due to him for sharing the results of his labors.
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TUNE STRUCTURE
Some of the tunes in the older collections (including O'Neill's) are structured as ABA or AA-B-A, which
simply means that the tune returns to the first part before ending. The "segno" sign (looks like a fancy dollar
sign) is used to indicate the starting point for the return, and "DS", "dal segno", "DC", or "da capo" are used
at the end to direct the player back to the "segno" or some other point at the start of the tune.
The A part is then played once through - no repeats - to a "fine" (end) measure, which might be the 2nd ending
if one is present.
This elegant system is a legacy of classical music which is almost totally irrelevant in traditional music today,
where a "binary" structure A-B (or AA-BB if parts are repeated) is the most common structure.
For the tune printouts (PDFs) I kept the segni/DS/fine protocol. However, ABC does not read these symbols
for playback purposes.
However there are workarounds for this problem. I've outlined them here.
A link to this instruction will be included in the header of "non-binary" tune files (e.g. ABA, ABCA, ABCDB, etc.)
Note:
I have occasionally taken the liberty of adding a "coda" whose purpose is to bring the tune back into its starting key
(Technically, to end on a tonic note.) Its use is optional and if you don't like mine, feel free to supply your own.
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"AMBIGUOUS" TUNES
(warning: do not read if you're sleepy)
Many of the tunes in thie O'Neill's volumes that carry major key
signatures of A, D, or G are no longer played as major key tunes. In
some cases (particularly in A) they are now played as A minor (more
correctly A dorian, because the F remains sharp while the C and G are
lowered half a step).
A tune might also be played "modally" (i.e., in mixolydian mode) where
all 7ths are lowered half a step. Tunes adapted from the Scots piping
repertoire are almost 100% "modal". A well-known Irish tune like
"Blarney Pilgrim" is modal because all its C's are natural. G modal
tunes also exist (part 3 of "The Luck Penny" is an example).
There is a table at the end of this section that might help clarify how each scale degree is treated in the different modes.
The problem for a transcriber in encountering an unfamilar tune is to
determine how credible O'Neill's key signature is. In 90% of tunes
there's no difficulty - the Chief's key signature tells you all you need
to know. However figuring out the remaining 10% requires some
experience and guesswork, and even after these are judiciously applied,
the transcriber still can't be 100% sure that his result will be what
the Chief had in mind!
In the case of tunes that suffer from "ambiguity syndrome", I have
included in the individual tune file an alternate version of the tune
that contains my ideas on how it should sound. While I can guarantee
that my version will sound authentic, I can't guarantee that it's the
way the Chief or any other musician would play it.
One of the great things about ABC is the flexibility it offers to users
familiar with it. That means that anyone having a copy of this or any
ABC file can make changes to its contents in order to find a suitable
sound. For example, if I show a tune as being in A minor, a few simple
key-strokes on the appropriate notes will change the tune to A major. If
the results aren't suitable, the tune can be restored to A minor
without permanent damage (strongly recommended is to use only COPIES of
tunes for experimentation purposes!)
In fairness to the Chief, I should note that he is certainly not the
only collector to suffer from the ambiguity syndrome. I would venture a
guess that the advent of recording towards the beginning of the 20th
Century reduced (if it did not completely eliminate) the problem by
providing a "standard" from which other musicians might learn. This
process continues today, and works well once a tune has been recorded.
It's in regards to the older tunes, unfamiliar outside of the pages of
the various collections, that the ambiguity syndrome might persist, at
least until a "definitive" version is recorded.
For anyone interested, here are the various permutations of the keys of A, D, G, and E:
A major = C, F, G sharp +++
A minor = all pitches natural
A dorian = C & G natural, F sharp +++
A modal or mix = C and F sharp, accented G natural +++
D major = C and F sharp +++
D minor = C and F natural, B flat
D dorian = C and F natural, B natural
D modal/mix = F sharp, accented C natural +++
G major = F sharp +++
G minor = F natural, B & E flat
G dorian = F natural, B flat, E natural
G modal/mix = accented F natural +++
E major = F, G, C, D sharp
E minor = F sharp
E dorian = F and C both sharp +++
E modal/mix = D natural
Note the scales marked +++ are those most frequently encountered in Irish traditional music.
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DOTTED RHYTHM
The use of dotted rhythm (a/k/a/ "cut time" or "Scots snap") (denoted in
ABC by a>bc>d, e<fg<a) in 2/4 or 4/4 tunes is very common
among 19th Century collectors, including O'Neill. It may reflect the
influence of Scots forms on what later came to be identified as Irish
tunes.
Many of the tunes credited to the Chief's colleague James O'Neill - from the North of Ireland - share this characteristic.
In ABC, the requirement to use > or < for every second note
makes for a tedious job of transcribing. That fact, combined with the
knowledge that very few of today's Irish players pay any attention to
cut time in the normal course of playing reels or hornpipes, has led me
to the idea of removing it from the tunes in this file. (The fact that
cut time reproduces very poorly in ABC playback helped the decision.)
In the ABC file header I have noted when cut/snap is present in the
original tune. I have left it to the musician to decide where and when
to employ it if desired.
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"%SWING .25"
This instruction is included in my ABC header for hornpipes in this collection and others.
It is a non-printing stress instruction that works with ABC
Transcription Tools (ABCTT). It will not affect printing or playback in
other programs and can safely be "cancelled" (by adding another % sign =
%%swing .25) or deleting it entirely if you aren't happy with the sound
it produces if ABCTT playback.
Note that .25 can be adjusted upwards or downwards to achieve different
stress levels. There's more information on this topic in the ABCTT user
guide.
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MORE ON BALFE
O'Neill admired Dublin-born Michael Balfe (1808-1870), best known for
his opera 'The Bohemian Girl', although he took some criticism for
including Balfe's compositions in a collection of traditional tunes.
Balfe seems to have had some exposure to traditional music in his
younger days as a 'violinist', and most of his other compositions can -
with some critical suspension
- pass as authentic.
Details of his life do not leave the
impression of Balfe as an Irish nationalist (e.g. he's buried in the UK,
not Ireland) but maybe The Chief knew something about him that the rest
of his contemporaries (and subsequent generations of musicians) didn't.
Here's the Wiki link: https: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_William_Balfe
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TUNE SOURCES
There's a wonderful volume called "Irish Minstrels and Musicians" written by Chief O'Neill himself that provides
much background information on his tune sources (e.g. James O'Neill, Cronin, Tuohey, Early, etc.).
I would strongly recommend it to any lover of Irish trad. There are
details on the tunes as well as the players. For anyone involved with
this music, it's like coming across a family history in the attic.
I believe it's out of print but a search on the interweb will provide
many sources where it's available (unfortunately the hard-working folks
at Project Gutenberg haven't gotten around to it yet!)
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That's it for now - thanks for reading - and have fun with the Chief's great collection!
BB
2/1/26
capeirish39@gmail.com