Most-Recorded Pieces
The Top Ten Pieces of the Century

Of related interest:
  • Top 100 Tunes of the Century.
  • Top Ten
  • Rhythm Distribution: How common is this rhythm (tune type) in the bigger picture of all distinct Irish tunes?
  • Recordings by Decade: A graph of the historical distribution of the recordings considered here.

This list ranks the top ten most-recorded pieces out of the 132 distinct pieces on the indexed recordings. The tunes are ranked in descending order of number of recordings. When tunes have the same number of recordings, tunes having the oldest recordings appear first. Note that reuses of a particular cut in later anthologies are counted, which is fair, since the popularity of a recording is a good indicator both of the popularity of the tune and of the likelihood that musicians will learn the tune from that recording.

Click Tune Info below to see tune details and sources.

RankNumber of
Recordings		Explanation
Titles used for this tune (and other notes)
17 – Tune
Info		Fox Chase, The / The Fox Hunt / The Irish Fox Hunt / Fiach an Mhadra Rua / An Madradhín Ruadh / An Madradhín Ruad / An Madradin Ruadh (contains The Foxhunter's Jig #668) (compare Paddy Moloney's medley The Foxhunt included here and the English tune The Little Red Fox)
26 – Tune
Info		Transcription of first 2 bars of Planxty BrownePlanxty Browne / Planxty Maggie Browne / Planxty Maggie Brown / Pléaráca an Bhrúnaigh / Maggie Brown's Favourite / Maggie Brown's Favorite / Maggie Brown's / Maggie Brown / Miss Brown's Fancy (also as set dance) (possibly by Turlough O'Carolan or by Nathaniel Gow)
36 – Tune
Info		Transcription of first 2 bars of Princess RoyalPrincess Royal, The / Princess Royal / Iníon Nic Diarmada / Iníon Nic Diarmad / Miss MacDermott (also in G; wide range of settings) (compare distantly Rodney's Glory #1692) (composed by Turlough O'Carolan?)
45 – Tune
Info		Transcription of first 2 bars of O'Carolan's ConcertoO'Carolan's Concerto / Carolan's Concerto / Comhsheinm Uí Chearbhalláin / Mrs. Power / Mrs Power / Mrs. Poer / Mrs Poer (composed by Turlough O'Carolan)
55 – Tune
Info		Transcription of first 2 bars of O'Carolan's WelcomeO'Carolan's Welcome / Carolan's Welcome (composed by Turlough O'Carolan)
65 – Tune
Info		Music for a Found Harmonium / Tune for a Found Harmonium (mislabeled on SS 1 as Queen of the West) (also in D) (composed by Simon Jeffes of Penguin Café Orchestra)
74 – Tune
Info		Transcription of first 2 bars of Planxty Fanny PowersPlanxty Fanny Powers / Fanny Powers / Planxty Fanny Power / Fanny Power / The Invocation (also in A, also as waltz) (composed by Turlough O'Carolan)
84 – Tune
Info		O'Carolan's Draught / Carolan's Draught / O'Carolan's Draft / Bolgam Chearbhalláin (also in C) (composed by Turlough O'Carolan)
93 – Tune
Info		Transcription of first 2 bars of Planxty DruryPlanxty Drury / John Drury / O Will You Sit in the Bower? (also as set dance) (composed by Turlough O'Carolan)
103 – Tune
Info		Miss Hamilton (also in G) (composed by Cornelius Lyons)
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This page was updated on 29 April 2008.
© 2006–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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