About this work:
An instrumental suite of five traditional Irish melodies: Lament for Owen Roe O'Neill - The dirge of Ossian -
Deirdre's Lament - The Paisteen Fionn - The Merry Old Woman. The piece begins with a brief introduction based
on two melodies preserved in Redfern Mason's The Song Lore of Ireland (1911), the first a set of tritones built on a
sequence of notes which was reported to W. B. Yeats as representing the Banshee's Cry, the second a very old
wordless Keen. Deirdre's Lament is traditionally considered the lament which Deirdre sang over her treacherously
slain lover Naoise, The Paisteen Fionn (The Fair-Haired Young Girl) is well known, while The Merry Old Woman is
little known today, though there are some recordings of it extant.
Performance Note: One percussion player is required, playing Bass Drum, Tambourine, Chimes, and Cymbal.
A bodhran, played ad lib., may be substituted for tambourine. The measures marked G.P. may be held ad lib.
The sound file was created with software as a demo.
I’d be willing to work with performers to revise this composition to better meet their performance needs. I can be contacted via my permissions page, link below.
Please note that while this composition is based on traditional melodies in the public domain,
this adaptation of them is an original creative work under copyright.