Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1626 (Queen of the West)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hornpipe | 32 | AABB | D Major |
about these two bars
These two bars are the start of my transcription of how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording SS 1 (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Queen of the West, The / Queen of the West (mislabeled as Retour des Hirondelles and Tune for a Found Harmonium on SS 1) (also in F)
Discography
Here are all recordings of this tune considering only the indexed recordings. I have discovered by careful listening that these sources are in fact musically the same tune, regardless of the tune titles they use, key changes, retuning, etc. They are listed in order of when they were recorded.
| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Primary musicians (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1991 | 4#1 | [SS 1] Sharon Shannon. Sharon Shannon. Sharon Shannon (accordion, fiddle). |
| ~1999 | 4#2 | [BCB 2] The Bridge Céilí Band. Sparks on Flags. Tom Ahearne (fiddle), Robert Gleeson (fiddle), Karen Gavigan (fiddle), Carthage Daly (fiddle), Catherine McHugh (fiddle), James Kinsella (accordion), Fionnuala Gleeson (flute), Eugene Nolan (flute), Pat O'Meara (piano, synthesizer), Liam McCormack (drums, bodhrán). |
| ~2005 | 3#1 | [JCt 5] John Carty. I Will If I Can. John Carty (banjo, guitar, fiddle). |
Bibliography
Here are all transcriptions of this tune under any title whatsoever – considering only the indexed books – listed in chronological order. I have discovered by careful comparison that these are very similar to this tune as played on the recordings listed above.
| On page 7 of [TP] Tommy Peoples. Fifty Irish Fiddle Tunes. |
| As hp #19 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. |
If you are considering using the above transcriptions to help you learn this tune, I invite you to check these practical Tips for Learning Irish Traditional Music. See also: So why do you bother indexing books and abc?
Year of the oldest source for this tune, considering the recordings and transcriptions listed above (note that I concentrate on sources after 1900): 1986