While it does seem a bit of a sacrilege in the trad community to talk about duets or trios, has anyone scored up a tune or two for UPs, violin, harp or such with something other than the same melody line they’d be willing to share?
Mike
I have some recordings of Leo and Leon Rowsome going the full harmony route. And I remember (as will some others here) Browne and Keenan doing some harmonising on a few slow pieces at a mid-nineties Willie week recital. So it’s nothing too new or unusual. That sort of thing goes all the way back to the multi part pieces in O’Farrell’s. Not sure it would suit your regular dance tune very well though.
Try this : My Home_Leo & Leon Rowsome
Two duo’s at the same time ,how did they manage to keep in tune?
RORY
Two duo’s at the same time ,how did they manage to keep in tune?
Their modern incarnation managed. But it was unison all the way through.
Do any recordings exist of the quartet?
I’m sure I asked before and the answer was no but can’t remember?
Also I thought I read of Pat McNulty trying to do a quartetish type thing?
Did it ever happen? Did I imagine this?
Still trying to track down one of the first pieces of piping i ever heard, I think On Ciaran MacMathuna’s show in the late 70s, of Leo and Micheal O Riabhaig playing Blind Mary in rather lovely harmony.
Do you mean late 60s? Leo died in 1970.
Liam Hackett told me Pat McNulty did have a quartet (Liam was in it)
Pat’s wife also featured and I have no idea who else.
This was all fairly recently I think.
Pat is well into his 80s now I think. Maybe even more
Liam (Uilliam) might enlighten us sometime.
Boyd
Two I can think of:
Finbar Furey recorded a duet with his brother(?) called Roy’s Hands. I think I’ve seen it called something else as well. Here’s Jack Brennan and Nick Martin playing it together in Adelaide, Australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5I422eNGjU
Niall Vallely wrote The Singing Stream as a four part piping piece for the William Kennedy Piping Festival in Armagh in 2000. The sheet music is available here http://niallvallely.com/niallvallely.com/Scores_files/singingstream%20complete%20score.pdf
Thanks Peter!
as i’m sure you all know keenan doubles up alongside himself on the ballintor jig - i think it’s 1st and 3rd parts and then 2nd and 4th parts played simultaneously
i don’t remember hearing anything similar anywhere else
I heard about McNultys quartet through Liam and I think they may have had plans for a DVD which I may have read in An Piobaire?
A few years back there was a TG4 documentary (Sé mo laoch, s5e5) about Paddy Moloney. At one point, he plays a duet with Kevin Rowsome (six penny money) with Paddy playing a line of harmonies. IIRC He mentions that he composed the harmonies for the Rowsome Quartet.
Do any recordings exist of the quartet?
I do not know of any formal recordings of any line up of the Rowsome quartet. There are some bits that may give an impression of what the approach was. Below is a selection of marches recorded at a concert that took place after the Oireachtas competitions in 1964. Leo Rowsome and company (not sure who the pipers are, possibly some of Leo’s pupils, or some of the pipers playing at the same concert). There are also some recordings, from the same Oireachtas competitions, of Leo and pupils playing but they are generally straight unison playing, comparable to the group playing with Felix Doran (including Pat McNulty, Leo Rowsome and others) from the Felix Doran concert recording.
Leo Rowsome & co, 1964
And I suppose that also answers Rory’s question.
PJ, I meant I heard it in the late 70s.
I suppose Ciaran’s archive must be massive. Anybody know if there are plans afoot to digitize and/or make it accessible?
Isn’t the inter web thingy great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkLLTR6ayfU
RORY
Great to see Denis in there. Just the man for the job.
Hello there,
I wrote down some 15 or 20, O’Carolans, Jigs, Hornpipes, Airs and some more. May be I issue them at any time. I have written the sets for two or three pipes or Fiddle-Whistle-Flute-combinations. I play with friends since 10 years or so.
If interested send me a pm and I remail a testing-set.