Londonderry Air arranged for String Orchestra.

A big band version of the song is used as the theme for The Danny Thomas Show (a.k.a. Make Room For Daddy).

"Danny Boy" was used to represent Northern Ireland at the start of the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, sung by a choir of children on the Giant?s Causeway.

On November 25, 2014, the Vancouver Canucks used the song in honor of the recently deceased Pat Quinn, who played and worked in many executive capacities for the team.

There are various theories as to the true meaning of "Danny Boy". Some listeners have interpreted the song to be a message from a parent to a son going off to war or leaving as part of the Irish diaspora.

The 1918 version of the sheet music included alternative lyrics ("Eily Dear"), with the instructions that "when sung by a man, the words in italic should be used; the song then becomes "Eily Dear", so that "Danny Boy" is only to be sung by a lady". In spite of this, it is unclear whether this was Weatherly?s intent.

Why the name Londonderry Air? Londonderry and Derry refer to the same place, a city in the north of Ireland, and also to the surrounding county. Supposedly the city of Derry was founded by St. Colmcille, although archaeological evidence shows that people were living there thousands of years earlier. There is an excellent museum in the city, which is worth a visit if you want to find out more. The name of the city was actually "Doire", corrupted to "Derry" by people who can?t pronounce Irish. It thought to derive from an Irish root meaning "oak tree".

Moving quickly along in history, about a millenium later the government of England was having a difficult time colonizing Ireland because of the fierce and warlike clans living there, especially in the north of the country, Ulster. The monarchs of England, almost all of whom were notorious cheapskates, were continually looking about for ingenious ways to conquer places without actually having to put up the money themselves, or run the risk of unpopularity if they lost. In the case of Ireland, some of these schemes of the "Brish gummit" (as it is termed nowadays in Ulster) are still producing unfortunate long-term consequences.

In 1608, King James I gave the city of Derry to the City of London corporation. I guess the deal could be summed up by saying that if the City of London could figure out a way to chase all the inhabitants out of Derry, they would be allowed to keep the loot, minus a percentage for the King of course. If they lost, well too bad. In celebration of this historic agreement, the name of Derry was officially changed to Londonderry. (For further information, check out the Northern Ireland Tourist Board?s History of Derry.)

The linguistic outcome of all this today is that, if you think that King James?s deal with the City of London was a good idea, you call both the city and county "Londonderry". If you do, you are probably a supporter of the Unionist movement that seeks to keep Ulster a part of the United Kingdom. If you think it was a bad idea, you call both "Derry", and you are probably a supporter of the Irish Nationalist cause. Or you might just be someone who thinks it?s confusing for kings to be going around changing the names of places all the time for no good reason.

You can find plenty of discussion about the political side of the question elsewhere, but here let?s look at the musical side. We have an air, collected in county Derry/Londonderry, and it doesn?t have a title. What do we call it?

If you were a proper Victorian, there?s no way you were going to call it the Londonderry Air, much less the Derry Air, because of the improper sentiments that these titles might suggest. My parents tell me that in their youth in Australia, it was usually called the Air from County Derry. (This would, I suppose, support Winston Churchill?s theory that Australia was inhabited by "convicts and Irishmen".)

My mother also sends the following information, referring to an arrangement of the tune by the Australian composer Percy Grainger:

Just another note about Danny Boy, that I grew up in Australia believing to be the Air from County Derry. We were looking through some LP?s last night (back to vinyl yet!) and found a Mercury Wing Classical Favorites stereo LP SRW18060, COUNTRY GARDENS and other favorites by Percy Grainger {played by} Eastman-Rochester Pops, Frederick Fennell, conducting. The cover notes included the following: "Irish Tune from County Derry was harmonised in memory of Irish childhood friends in Australia." Considered by many to be Grainger?s masterpiece of harmonization, the tune was collected many years ago by Miss Jane Ross of New Town, Limavady, Ireland. Grainger has set it for many instrumental combinations. So there?s another variant on the name for it. It doesn?t say who wrote the notes, but the bits in quotes for each of the works on the record are Grainger?s original comments.

The references to Londonderry Air that I?ve seen don?t go back any earlier than the late 1930s. For example, the Glenn Miller Orchestra recorded Danny Boy (Londonderry Air) in February 1940. Bing Crosby?s version was recorded in July 1941 (reference). (So many different things I could check up on!) Londonderry was an important American naval base during WWII, but the US hadn?t come into the war in 1940.

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Violoncello Octet - Advanced/Intermediate - Digital Download. This arrangement of the "Allegro" movement from Henry Purcell's Sonata for Trumpet would be a fabulous addition to any music library and could be performed for concerts, recitals and church services. It is suitable for high school and college students but professional musicians would also enjoy playing this selection. This selection is one of the arrangements from The Regis Bookshar Trumpet Ensemble's extensive music library, many of which are being made available for the first time. They have performed the Trumpet Quintet version of this composition quite often for numerous weddings and other special occasions. The original composition was written in D Major but Regis Bookshar has transposed it to Bb Major, making it a little easier for many modern musicians. Included are a score and a complete set of parts (13 pages). The 17th century composer, Henry Purcell, is generally considered to be one of the greatest English composers of his generation. His Sonata for Trumpet and Strings in D Major, composed in 1694, was probably written for the London Theatre, where a fine tradition of trumpet playing had developed. Purcell almost certainly had in mind either John Shore or his brother, William, the most renowned trumpet players in England at the time. The trumpets of the time were normally tuned in D and there were no valves on the Baroque trumpets, so they were limited in the number of notes that they could play. The term "Sonata" here probably means no more than "a piece of incidental music" and looks forward to the style that would become the solo concerto where soloist and strings are pitted against each other but also looks back to an older type of instrumental music which emphasized equality between members of the ensemble. The music is in three movements and looks forward to the "fast-slow-fast" plan popularized by Vivaldi's concertos. Regis Bookshar thought that it would be wonderful if other instrumentalists, besides trumpet players, could also have the opportunity to play the "Allegro" movement from Purcell's Sonata for Trumpet, so he has created other arrangements of this selection. This particular arrangement is for a Violoncello Octet, consisting of 8 Violoncellos, but there are Quintets, Sextets, Septets and Octets readily available for a wide variety of instrumental ensembles. Please take the time to look for other versions of this piece. You may find something else that may suit your needs. I would also encourage you to search for other arrangements by Regis Bookshar as well, as there are numerous arrangements in a wide variety of styles also available for purchase. You may find something else which might interest you. Please continue to check back periodically because new arrangements are added as often as possible. I'm certain that this exciting arrangement of Purcell's "Allegro" from his Sonata for Trumpet will continue to entertain both performers and audiences alike for years to come.

As a student 40 years ago I wrote a thesis about all existing cello methods. Then I started writing my own method by putting all positive aspects of all methods together.
The music selection is the best I could find for each level progressing in well prepared steps, enjoyable to play.
Exercises are compact and to the point, only used when needed.
Volume 3 contains No 64-100 on 60 pages - Learning to shift from Half position over first, second, third to 4th position. All pieces are written in form of a cello duo to be able to play with a friend or teacher together - includes traditional songs, fiddle tunes and compositions by Offenbach, Bach, Carcassi, Tchaikovsky, Moore, , Boccerini, Boris Fomin and Kummer.
To each number are video cello lessons published on Patreon. The links click through when viewed on phone, tablet or computer.
There are also Youtube recordings of all pieces as Cello Duos with fingerings and bowings as in the Cello Method, see https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa4x_CVYDVRXAnJJ_6HeRujngwTZ8cMEd