I can’t find any sheet music, anywhere on any website, for this tune by Clannad. Is that because it’s their own composition? It sure has the trad sound. I know we’re supposed to learn by ear, but I can’t pick this out. I’m missing something.
I have a vague recollection that the song is spelled Nil Si Na La. Try that.
Tony
Thanks Tony, but I can’t find anything with that wording either. Maybe it’s just not trad…but it sure sounds trad.
Perhaps try Nil Se Ina La. (Got this from a search on Amazon.com.)
It is indeed traditional, but I’m not sure where you might find it written out.
If I remember correctly, it’s an Irish version of the “Is it a nightingale? Is it a lark? - No it’s romantic love” theme, in which two lovers argue about whether day has broken or not.
In any database in which tunes are classified (jigs, reels, airs etc.) you should look for it under songs or airs.
One of the difficulties is that two syllables are slurred together to fit into one note, and it may be listed with a corresponding spelling which you haven’t tried.
You could try any of the following, with or without accents and/or apostrophe, and permutations thereof, bearing in mind that most on-line databases are kept by people whose Irish is probably rather shaky:
níl sé ina lá (which is the full grammatically correct version)
Nil sé 'na la
nil s’ina la
nil 'na la
you could even try substituting tá for níl, since that crops up as the other side of the argument.
[ This Message was edited by: Roger O’Keeffe on 2002-06-08 18:41 ]
[quote]
On 2002-06-08 18:40, Roger O’Keeffe wrote:
It is indeed traditional, but I’m not sure where you might find it written out.
If I remember correctly, it’s an Irish version of the “Is it a nightingale? Is it a lark? - No it’s romantic love” theme, in which two lovers argue about whether day has broken or not.
****Roger, my understanding of the lyrics is that it’s a drinking song, where the husband comes home drunk and his wife has locked him out. He’s calling to her to open the door and she’s refusing. But since I’m usually wrong about this kind of thing, I won’t stake my life on it.
In any database in which tunes are classified (jigs, reels, airs etc.) you should look for it under songs or airs.
One of the difficulties is that two syllables are slurred together to fit into one note, and it may be listed with a corresponding spelling which you haven’t tried.
You could try any of the following, with or without accents and/or apostrophe, and permutations thereof, bearing in mind that most on-line databases are kept by people whose Irish is probably rather shaky:
níl sé ina lá (which is the full grammatically correct version)
Nil sé 'na la
nil s’ina la
nil 'na la
you could even try substituting tá for níl, since that crops up as the other side of the argument.
****Thanks, Roger, I’ll give it a shot. And thanks to everyone else, too.
Howdy, Hawk.
Now you mention it, I did have a feeling at the back of my mind that “the question of consumption of alcohol might have arisen”.
I’m wondering about the music of it too. The tune that I have in mind is one which I recall from the early days of what I hope I can call “the trad revival” without getting flamed.
I think it was probably done by Seán O Sé, either with Ceoltóirí Cualann or the Chieftains or some other grouping of the same usual suspects. It’s a very simple tune. But I wonder now if the tune which Clannad recorded isn’t a different one. Do you know what Clannad album it’s on?
On 2002-06-08 18:58, Roger O’Keeffe wrote:
Howdy, Hawk.
***Howdy, Roger!
I think it was probably done by Seán O Sé, either with Ceoltóirí Cualann or the Chieftains or some other grouping of the same usual suspects. It’s a very simple tune. But I wonder now if the tune which Clannad recorded isn’t a different one. Do you know what Clannad album it’s on?
****It’s on two of their greatest hits CDs (I’ve never seen a group with so many different greatest hits albums…I guess it’s all about marketing) and also “Clannad Live.” There’s also a mellower version of exactly the same song done by the young lady who sang in Riverdance…I can’t remember her name now. I listened to it, but it had no whistle playing in it, so it basically just went in one ear and out the other, unlike Clannad. But the song was the same one. I’ve probably heard everything the Chieftans have done in the last two decades, but don’t remember them doing this one (they should, though…they’d do it right).
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/8998/nil_se_na_la.html
'luck now,
brian k.
Thanks Brian…it has the lyrics and many links. Hopefully I will be able to find the notes some place through this site. Roger had the right idea, too, the actual title is spelled different that I realized.
This strengthens my suspicion that there are two different songs with the same title (wow, what a novel experience!)
If I remember correctly,the one which I had in mind has a slightly different chorus which includes the lines
Níl (sé) 'na lá
A mhíle grá
Níl (sé) 'na lá
'S ní baol ar maidin.
(It’s not morning, my thousand loves, and there’s no danger of morning coming). The love interest seems to be totally absent from the song that Brian gave the link to.
I don’t know standard ABC notation, but the tune which I have in mind goes something like this:
G B: D D: E’F’: G’
G B: D B: Cnat B B A
G B: D D: E’F’: G’
G B: D B: A B A G
where the colons mark the bar breaks, and the first note in each bar is slightly more than twice the length of the second. The apostrophes indicate the higher octave.
Try it and that should at least give us an idea if we’re talking about the same song.
[Edited to remove superfluous colons in the second and fourth lines]
[ This Message was edited by: Roger O’Keeffe on 2002-06-09 18:43 ]
On 2002-06-09 17:55, Roger O’Keeffe wrote:
This strengthens my suspicion that there are two different songs with the same title (wow, what a novel experience!)
***Isn’t that the truth? How many Foggy Dews are there? Or Blackthorns, etc.If I remember correctly,the one which I had in mind has a slightly different chorus which includes the lines
Níl (sé) 'na lá
A mhíle grá
Níl (sé) 'na lá
'S ní baol ar maidin.(It’s not morning, my thousand loves, and there’s no danger of morning coming). The love interest seems to be totally absent from the song that Brian gave the link to.
I don’t know standard ABC notation, but the tune which I have in mind goes something like this:
G B: D D: E’F’: G’
G B: D B: Cnat B: B A
G B: D D: E’F’: G’
G B: D B: A B: A G
where the colons mark the bar breaks, and the first note in each bar is slightly more than twice the length of the second. The apostrophes indicate the higher octave.
Try it and that should at least give us an idea if we’re talking about the same song.
***That’ll take me a while, Roger, I’m only just now beginning to learn ABC notation. But thanks for your effort, I really appreciate you taking the time.
Howdy, Hawkster, me again.
Since I haven’t paid my hungersite dues for a while, I thought I’d use the search engine on the C&F homepage with built-in donation to the hungersite, and your question seemed like an obvious candidate.
I found words and sound sample here:
http://www.jtwinc.com/clannad/snilsenl.htm
This confirms that the tune which you had in mind is different from the one which I wrote out for you. But it also raised doubts in my mind about whether there are two sets of words, because in the Clannad version reproduced there, the barkeeping-type person is of the female persuasion, and the man with the shilling to spend addresses her as “my love”. The translation supplied is less than perfect, but it’s adequate and I wouldn’t dare to try to improve on it.
I don’t know what key Clannad play it in, but as soon as I heard the tune I recognised it. If you have classical musical training or inclinations, or are otherwise less than illiterate, you might be confused by the following.
I’m a simple piper who’s terminally confused by stave notation, but I suggest that you listen to the tune on the sound sample above a few times, then switch off and try to play the tune to the following crude transcription, which is the key that I’d naturally play it in in terms of ease of fingering and based on the assumption that we’re talking about a D whistle. If you have several whistles, and find one that allows you to use this fingering while playing along with the recording, that’s even better.
Clue: singers often sing in keys which sit easier with a C whistle than a D, but that’s not true in this case. It’s actually suited to a pitch higher than D. But I’ve just tried playing along with the recording on a D whistle and, even though it’s not the right key, it’s OK for the purposes of learning the tune.
A Cnat: E’ E’E’ D: E’
ABCnatD’: E’ E’:D’ BBA
ABCnatD’: E’ E’E’ D’:E’
E’F’: G’ F’:G’ BBA
Good luck.
R.
Roger,
Not wishing to “muddy the waters” here, but I just found words & music to a 3rd (and slightly different) version of this song – it’s on the cover insert booklet of a CD set called A STÓR 'S A STÓIRÍN by Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin. I don’t know abc well enough to transcribe it yet (the version printed in the insert is written in F maj), but I will try to move it all one whole tone, to G maj (for ease in pennywhistle playing), and write out the abc for that. Give me about a week …
Blackhawk,
If you’ll send me a private message with a snail-mail address, I’ll send you a Xerox copy of the (only) G clef music that I have for Níl Sé ina Lá (written in F maj), as described above.
Both of you,
It is not unusual for old “oral tradition” tunes like this one to have different, competing versions. Breathnach lists dozens of them in his collections, but unfortunately, not this particular one. (That’s why we have the C&F message board, I suppose …)
'luck now,
brian_k
Roger and Brian, thanks a million!! You guys are the greatest! I really appreciate the time you’ve spent to help me in this. I love this song and will really enjoy learning to play it.
Now I’ll see if I can figure out the private message thing. I’ve never used it before.
T. Níl Sé 'na Lá
M. 6/8
L. 1/8
K. Gmaj
Tá na caoi-righ | 'gith an gheamhair 's
B2 d d2 B | e2 e e2 d
Tá na gamhn’ ag | ól a’ bhain - ne Tá
B2 A G2 A |B2 G (A/G/) >G G/
Prá-taí thíos gan | díol ó Shamhain a
B2 d d2 B | e2 e e2 d
Dhui-ne gan bheoir nach | rach-fá 'bhai-le
B- B A G2 A | B2 A G B2
Curfá:
Níl 'na lá – | ná na lá
G2 E (D2-E)| G2 G G3
Níl 'na lá-- | ná 'na mhai - din
A2 B (C2-B)| A2 G B d2
Níl 'na lá – | ná 'na lá
G2 E (D2-E) | G2 G G3
Bean á rá 'gus | í mar mha-gadh
B2 d B2 G | A2 G G G2
Whoever wants the other 3 verses [& the English translations] can send me his e-mail address in a private message.
'luck now,
brian_k
Brian, you’re a king!! Now I have even more incentive to master abc notation. Hey, my email address is on the bottom of each post. Please do send me the rest, ok? Thanks Brian!
i think this song also might be on a solas cd. if it is they do a really cool version of it.
caryn