Help! I’m trying to put together some hymns or other appropriate-for-church type music that is irish or otherwise celticish with parts for whistle (high or low), violin (aka fiddle), and piano (or not). I’m finding that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of material that fits these rather vague specifications. Got any ideas, or know anyone who could help?
The hymnbook that my church uses (Canadian Anglican) has lots of hymns set to traditional tunes. For instance, the tune to the Star of the County Down is in it. Be Thou My Vision is another folk tune. There are several others. Look through your own book. You’d have to either just play the melodies in unison, letting the piano player play what’s written in the book or adapt the parts in the book for harmony. If you use a D whistle, many would have to be transposed.
Steve
On 2001-10-05 09:58, skendal wrote:
(snip)
If you use a D whistle, many would have to be transposed.
Steve
Or used as an excuse to buy whistles in other keys. 
This wouldn’t necessarily require a new whistle for every key, though; see Dale’s exceptionally useful:
http://www.chiffandfipple.com/whistlekeys.html
for what whistles you can use for which keys. Unfortunately (for one’s bank account at least) the usable range of the second major scale may not work well for all tunes.
Plus, no one here would settle for just one whistle per key, would they? What a thought!
Last night at choir practice we sang music in D, G, F, A, Bb, and Eb. For better or worse (probably the former), none were ones I felt inclined to suggest to the director I accompany. It’s Sacred Harp and Southern Harmony and traditional Irish tunes that make my fingers itch, and last night’s were all modern except “How Great Thou Art.” (See http://www.cyberhymnal.org/non/sv/ostoregu.htm for the Swedish original; the English is apparently still under copyright.)
John, still seriously considering a low F
The melody of “Morning Has Broken” is supposed to have Celtic origins and I believe is also included in UU hymnals.
[ This Message was edited by: Feadan on 2001-10-05 12:30 ]
Thanks all. I knew about “Be thou my Vision” and “morning has broken”. Those are in the Hymnal (United Methodist, that is). I also figured I would put the music into the appropriate key for the whistle, and let the chromatic instruments tough it out. I was looking for some less obvious choices however. Got any?
“Come Thou Traveler” P 311 in the old Methodist Hymnal The Scottish melody for Burns “Bonny Banks and Braes” conveniently in 6/8 and in G.
Mack
Hi all:
Depending on the songbook/liturgy you use, another couple of suggestions might be:
“Take up Thy Cross”, and perhaps “I Come With Joy to Meet the Lord”. The first is a traditional English melody, the second is listed as an “ancient Irish” melody.
I’ve done these three pieces as a medley, and they work quite well.
All the best,
Mark Sackett
Hi Mark,
I have a “Take up Thy cross” of German origin, can’t find “I Come with Joy” (the second piece), and what was the third one again?
Mack
Also, “The King of Love My Shepherd Is” (the tune is “St. Columba”) is an Irish folk melody and would be great for those instruments. And hey, guess what, it’s even in D!
Beth
Our Praise Team plays 10 to 12 pieces every Sunday and I whistle all. This Sunday the music for D whistle is Spirit of the Living God, In the Name of the Lord, God Is Good All The Time, I Go To The Rock, I’m Standing On The Solid Rock, Oh Lord, You’re Beautiful, Come, Now Is The Time to Worship, The Old Rugged Cross. I do play my C, E, and sometimes A and Bb or Bn. One of these Sundays I’ll try my low D but so far everybody loves the high whistle carrying the melody. Last Sunday I played the descant for Seek Ye First and everybody loved it. Everyone is just amazed at how much the whistle adds. We could’a told em all along.
Gm
PS…having said all that…you specifically asked for Irish or Celtic music…sorry…will think on that.
Love one another…
[ This Message was edited by: Grannymouse on 2001-10-05 19:58 ]
Though not Celtic in origin, I should think some of the early American hymns (I think someone already mentioned the shaped note school of hymnody) would also do well for this treatment. One that comes to mind is “I Will Arise” - Glen Campbell did a version of it a few years back with the Harlem Boy’s Choir, and it was chilling!
Someone to check out would be a singer/pianist named Fernando Ortega. He’s recorded an entire hymns project, but you’ll find other hymns and such on his other albums. He’s very gifted, and much of his music has a very whistle-friendly acoustic feel.
My favorite hymn to play on whistle? A tie between “Great is Thy Faithfulness” and “O The Deep Deep Love of Jesus” (in F minor - works great on a low Eb…)
Cal
We may be even using the same UM hymnal, since you never replace anything until it’s as old as the hills. I’ve used the following for recorder music, but I’ve double checked these as songs without the lower C.
O Sing a Song Of Bethlehem #179
God Of Grace And God Of Glory #577
Be Still My Soul #534
Lord You Have Come To The Lakeshore #344
Lord Of The Dance #261
There’s A Song In The Air #249
The Gift of Love #408
Morning Has Broken #145
Julie D
Still waiting for that whistle to come…
“The Boys of Wexford” is a lovely, and very Irish, tune in my hymnal.
Check out Jesus Lover of my soul, there are usually two versions of this in hymnals, make sure you get the right one. Also Jesus what a friend for sinners is set to a celtic melody. And aren’t we forgetting the most overplayed Piper’s hymn of all Amazing Grace?
PP
Just FYI, two good online resources for Southern Harmony and Sacred Harp are: The Fasola](http://fasola.org/%22%3EFasola) Home Page and The On-line Southern](http://www.ccel.org/s/southern_harmony/%22%3ESouthern) Harmony.
[ This Message was edited by: Charles on 2001-10-06 15:13 ]
His eye is on the Sparrow - would sound great on a high whistle.
Joyful, Joyful we adore thee.
And there’s that song that sounds like “Michael ride the boat to shore” - but I can’t remember the name.
If you have more then one, a Low Whistle and high whistle doing parts would sound great.
I go to a Messianic Congregation and a two popular songs, “Bo Ruach Elohim” and “Halleluah (by Joel Chernoff)” are absolutely great on a whistle.
Hey dkehoe,
Try this link:
If you know what you’re looking for this might help.
Vinny
There are a couple of really good cds out there with some amazing whistling: Hungry form Vineyard Music, Revival in Belfast and a new one by the same group, that I forget the name to.
A lot of the songs have whistles on them!
Nico
Hi Mack:
Sorry for the slow reply. The third piece that I’ve used in a medley was “Be Thou My Vision”. I like that the three pieces come from different areas.
The song “I Come With Joy to Meet The Lord” is an ancient Irish piece that comes from the Slane, I believe.
If you are unable to find the piece, contact me and I’ll get you a copy of the piece. It’s a pretty 6/8 piece.
Kindly,
Mark Sackett
Heard of a group that played “Whiskey Before Breakfast” for their church service - of course they told the congregation it was called “Water of Life” 