Just put up on “Youtube”. Arrangement of “The Butterfly” by the “Chieftains” and James Galway. Best thing for me is the beginning with Matt Molloy playing solo. They change tempo from 9/8 to 12/8 - an interesting arrangement, I thought. I think this is from around 1987.
Thanks for posting that. That brings back some memories. I have that on an old Chieftains CD.
Does anyone know what flute Matt is playing there? It looks like a post-mounted Siccama style flute with a French style slide. Is it a conical or cylindrical bore?
Jon
I think it’s conical Hawkes and Son ( or some Hawkes) in Bb with Siccama keys.
Not to mention playing in parallel fifths (Eb/Bb) at 2:12.
That’s Galway–addicted to sheet music. Oh well–if I hadn’t started playing the Irish music, I’d still be trapped in that 2-dimensional world myself.
Pity we can’t count all the notes Galway has played in his career. But if I had a 40-plus-year touring/concert repertoire consisting of God knows how many complex multi-part pieces, I might just refer to sheet music too, especially if it’s a specialized arrangement in a performance.
BTW, thanks for posting this, Kenny. It’s gorgeous. Makes me appreciate the tune again 
P.S. Wha-hey! Where did you find that O’Sullivan’s March video? It’s terrific!
Alright, I’ll guess I’ll give Sir Jimmy a break. But I’ve seen him play warhorse, chestnuts of the classical repertoire, pieces he no doubt has played hundreds of times, pieces he’s touring with, and still reading the sheet music. I think it hints at a lack of musicality on his part, as being more mechanical than mystically musical.
If people were paying $50+ per ticket to hear me talk, I might bring along a few notes, too. Even if I’d given the speech a million times … actually, ESPECIALLY if I’d given the speech a million times. Anyway, drifting off in the middle of the Hindemith Sonata can get kind of bad for your revenue stream.
(Shoot, I’m at the point where I forget B parts of simple jigs. I imagine his head’s 10x as full.)
Sorry to jump on you. I just get weary of the “no dots” trope; it’s been waaay oversimplified. It’s not so much about “don’t look.” It’s about “LISTEN!!!”
In Galway’s defence (and I’m not a fan, though a partial admirer), he spent much of his training/early career learning a great deal of the primary orchestral repertory for flute by heart - at least according to himself. Read his autobiography or read/listen to his assorted anecdotes about his audition for the Berlin Phil. He did much more learning by heart than was normal at that time, or probably since. No doubt whatever he can/could do it, if he chose. But of course his sight reading is just as phenomenal and, in contexts like his gigs with The Chieftains where there was probably rather little rehearsal time, his using dots makes a certain amount of sense as he wouldn’t be used to making arrangements on the fly and remembering them without notation. Not less musical, just a different skill set. As for interpretation, I think he has always veered towards the sentimental, so not just dry, mechanical reading, no. “Taste” is another matter.
The fun thing about Sir James is that he has written (or co-written!) two autobiographies; one early and one late. Fun to compare the two. . .
Bob
Galway’s first taste of music was similar to my own, in a marching band from Belfast. It is rare nowadays to see a marching band with a Lyre on their wrist and when marching but many of those same bands who remember their 50+ tunes repertoire would still have a music stand, and notes when playing indoors. I doubt he needs to read the music nowadays, so i’d say it was force of habit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcuTZxtcnCI
Blackskull FB in concert
Wow, I had no idea we had so many Galway fans and apologists. I refuse to give him slack…OK, part of this is my disdain for the world and repertoire of classical flute. I actually met Sir James years ago backstage at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco when he was rehearsing with the SF Symphony prior to my rehearsal with the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra.
I’ve been inspired by virtuoso pianists, violists, trumpeters, horn players, oboists…never James Galway. And these other virtuosos never used sheet music in concert. Matt Molloy is in my opinion a far superior ARTIST than Galway. I think he is primarily technical player. Hell, last night I heard an 18 year old young woman alto sax player give an inspiring, memorable solo at a Berkeley High School graduation ceremony that far surpasses anything I’d expect from Galway in terms of artistic impact.
Aye, well… bet there’s some classical flautist somewhere with a similar disdain for the world and repertoire of the Irish flute. But you know what? That doesn’t make either of you ‘right’.
Of course, my viewpoint is completely subjective. There is no definitive “right”. It’s just my “right”.
I think a lot of Galway’s fame is cyclically due to his fame. It’s weird but I’ve seen it before, it’s like when people boast that Bela Fleck is by far the best banjo player who’s ever stepped foot on the planet earth - truth is, it’s the only one they’ve ever heard of and have heard others say he’s the ‘best’ (whatever that means, music isn’t a contest that one wins or loses). Same goes for Yo-yo-ma, Allison Krauss, “The Cheiftans” André Rieu etc…
I don’t mean to say that any of them aren’t talented or deserve to make a great living entertaining, I’m just saying sheeple like to bleat the same names to sound like they know something.
Reading sheet music does not make someone unmusical. This is like saying a poet or author reading from a manuscript will…read..in…a…halting…mechanical…way, lacking awareness of the meaning of the words. Nonsense. Usually (except in the case of sight-reading, which also doesn’t preclude musicality), the musician has gone through extensive reflection, examination, and rehearsal, and the sheet music serves as an aide memoire. It was Rachmaninoff, I believe, who, while traveling by train between concerts, would learn and rehearse pieces using only sheet music–no piano at hand.
Sounds like you have baggage around classical (and sheet) music, Akiba, and you’re allowing it to create a rather narrow view of the world.
Yes, I admitted I have a disdain for classical fluting, but I don’t think it’s necessarily baggage per se. I also like sheet music and use it. I still think that Galway’s over-reliance on sheet music hints at a lack of musicality and a lack of profundity as an artist.
I wonder if it’s possible to give a truly deep musical performance while reading sheet music. I think perhaps the act of engaging the eyesight by reading sheet music (even if it is just as a reminder) detracts from an overall musical, aural, artistic performance of sound. I think Galway is guilty of this. I think perhaps he is shallow as an artist and bit of a hack, a very technically gifted hack.
The purpose of posting the clip was NOT to provide a platform for criticising James Galway, and I find it very disappointing that that’s the way this discussion has developed.
Your original post was rather vanilla and non-directional. I think critiquing Galway was fair play. But I’m done now. Carry on. I’ll start–“Gee willickers, isn’t that just a great clip!”
I have the utmost respect for James Galway. My problem is with the musical-industrial complex who, at some point in the 70’s-80’s decided all flautists should sound like James Galway – that big, piercing sound that I find a little grating. (This is from my wife, who was a flute major in college. She prefers Galway’s sound but Rampal’s playing.) My taste has always been toward the dulcet Rampal-like, kind of sweet sound.
Re: the classical-music-reading vs. playing by ear discussion: Some time ago I got a DVD about Stephane Grapelli, mostly because it had some great footage of him playing with Django Reinhardt. Sometime, I think in the 80’s or 90’s, someone decided it would be great to get Grapelli and Yehudi Menuhin together. There’s footage of Grapelli voicing his intimidation at playing with this great classical violinist. It turned out that Menuhin was just as intimidated about playing with Grapelli. Each considered the other’s music harder to play. I found it amazing and refreshing that each of these guys, incredibly revered all over the world, was so humble.