ISBN 9781619118560.

At the end of the eighteenth century, Edward Bunting published a major work of Irish music called A General Collection of the Ancient Music of Ireland (1797). He followed this publication with two more collections in 1809 and 1840. Many of the tunes in these books came from the harpers he heard performing at the Belfast Harp Festival in 1792. In the first part of his 1840 collection, Bunting described the anatural keya of the harp used by the Irish harpers as leith glass or leithghlas. The Irish harpers tuned their instrument in this key, which we would recognize as G major because it had an F sharp. Frances Thieleas Leith Glass explores the musical possibilities and sounds achievable with a single tuning on the lever harp. The collection includes nine traditional tunes from Ireland, Scotland and England that together give a sense of the many musical colors that can be produced from the leith glass tuning if we think modally like the harpers of old. Suitable for intermediate lever harp players, the arrangements are all playable on a 34-string lever harp with sharping levers on F and C (C# is only required for one of the pieces with accidentals a aMy Lagan Lovea). The lowest note used is C, two octaves below middle C.

Although ?America? (aka ?My Country, ?Tis of Thee?) has been a beloved anthem in the US for nearly two centuries, its origin is not American at all, and it is not unique to America as a patriotic song. Sometimes attributed to British writer/musician Henry Carey (c. 1685-1743), the tune likely dates to the 17th century or earlier and has also been attributed to the English composer John Bull, the French composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, and even a Swiss military melody. It was published in England in the 1744 tune book, Thesaurus Musicus, and it gained immediate and lasting popularity when, with the words ?God Save the King,? it was performed in September 1745 at London's Drury Lane and Covent Garden theaters in support of King George II. Eventually, the tune became the national anthem not only of Britain, but of several other nations, including Denmark, Prussia, and Liechtenstein. After the American colonies became independent from England, a variety of new patriotic texts were written to be sung to the tune. In 1831, Samuel F. Smith, a student at Massachusetts? Andover Theological Seminary, wrote the lyrics today known as ?My Country, ?Tis of Thee.? Smith's words and the traditional tune were one of several unofficial national anthems of the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This attractively harmonized, contemporary setting of a long-lived traditional tune will be a favorite of both performers and listeners at patriotic observances. ©Copyright 2015, revised 2020 Todd Marchand / www.ConSpiritoMusic.com

Gustav Holst - Folksongs of Hampshire England . In the early 1900's there was great interest in collecting and preserving the folk songs of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Equipped with their newly invented recording devices, people such as Cecil Sharp, Charles Stanford, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Gustav Holst would travel into the country-side to record, or notate songs being sung. They would frequently use these songs in their own compositions. Holst's music in particular is filled with those songs and his two suites for band are especially valued by wind bands around the world. This group of four songs was arranged for voice and piano by Holst and set for flute choir by John Gibson. The songs are 1. Young Edwin in the Lowlands Low 2. Bedlam City 3. The Irish Girl 4. Young Reilly. The instrumentation is: Piccolo, Flute 1-3, Alto Flute, Bass Flute, and Contra Bass Flute.

Gustav Holst - Folksongs of Hampshire England . In the early 1900's there was great interest in collecting and preserving the folk songs of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Equipped with their newly invented recording devices, people such as Cecil Sharp, Charles Stanford, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Gustav Holst would travel into the country-side to record, or notate songs being sung. They would frequently use these songs in their own compositions. Holst's music in particular is filled with those songs and his two suites for band are especially valued by wind bands around the world. This group of four songs was arranged for voice and piano by Holst and set for clarinet choir by John Gibson. The songs are 1. Young Edwin in the Lowlands Low 2. Bedlam City 3. The Irish Girl 4. Young Reilly. The instrumentation is: Eb Soprano Clarinet, Bb Soprano Clarinet 1 - 3, Alto Clarinet (with an alternate 4th Bb part), Bass Clarinet, Contra Bass or Contralto. Although an alternate for alto is provided, the alto is preferred.