The rich musical heritage of Ireland represents some of the greatest traditional melodies. These melodies somehow retain the flavour of the culture and its traditions which at times can be as lively as they are enchanting. This setting for Brass Band features a familiar selection of contrasting dance-like tunes that are drawn from the modern era of traditional Irish songs.

Britten's Irish Reel was composed in 1936 as title music for a documentary film made by Marion Grierson and Evelyn Spice. Around the Village Green was made for the Travel and Industrial Development Association which explored the changes to rural life in East Anglia after the increased mechanisation of agriculture. In his incidental music Britten incorporated a riotous medley of folk songs and other traditional tunes (including 'Early One Morning' 'The Vocar of Bray' and Sheild's 'The Plough Boy') many of which were suggested to him by the Norfolk-based composer E.J.Moeran.

Folksong from the Hebrides. Par REINSHAGEN FRANK. Writing these arrangements, Frank Reinshagen has created little masterpieces, which broaden the rhythmical and harmonic context of the original tunes in an interesting manner without detracting from their archaic and melancholic character. These original tunes are - in a direct or wider sense - of „Celtic origin', in other words, they have been borrowed from the Irish, Scottish and Gaelic musical tradition. These through-composed arrangements are rather easy to perform from the rhythmical and technical point of view. Yet, they are quite demanding in respect of the key they are written in, their intonation and, especially, their interpretation. Their different instrumentations are fully compatible with each other and, due to their overall structure, they are also suitable to be played with multi-scored parts. Annotation on 'Aignish on the Machair'. The arrangement of Aignish on the Machair illustrates, above all, the melancholic character inherent in the harmonies of the original tune. A short rubato passage is followed by several variations over the flowing melody in 3/4 time. The short triplet passages embedded in these variations are quite demanding from the technical point of view - considering the key they are written in, however, these passages are not too difficult to play./ Répertoire / Quatuor de Cuivres