Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1768 (Sí Bheag, Sí Mhór)
| Rhythm ? | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|
| Air | AABB | D Major |
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Sí Bheag, Sí Mhór / Sí Beag, Sí Mór / Si Bheag, Si Mhor / Si Bheag Si Mhor / Sidh Beag agus Sidh Mor / Sheebeg, Sheemore / Sheebeg and Sheemore / Little Hill, Big Hill / The Bonny Cuckoo (5th in set The Humours of Carolan on Ch 5) (also as song or waltz) (composed by pre-Carolan Scotland or Ireland (melody), Turlough O'Carolan (text))
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.
Click 
to hear the first 10 seconds.
to hear the first 10 seconds.| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Performers (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1973 | 9#1 | [Plx 1] Planxty. Planxty. Liam O'Flynn (pipes, whistle), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandola, mandolin, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Donal Lunny (vocals, bouzouki, guitar, bodhrán), Christy Moore (vocals, guitar, harmonica, bodhrán). For this tune: Liam O'Flynn (pipes). |
| ~1973 | 1.18#1 | [FTIM] Festival of Traditional Irish [Music]. Discs 7 and 8 of Celtic Souls. Irish Celtic Ballads & Traditional Music. Sean McGuire (flute), [Joe Sheridan (accordion)]. |
| ~1975 | 8#5 (5:30) | [Ch 5] The Chieftains. 5. Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Seán Potts (whistle), Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina, whistle), Seán Keane (fiddle), Martin Fay (fiddle), Derek Bell (harp, oboe, timpán), Peadar Mercier (bodhrán, bones). |
Bibliography
Here are all transcriptions of this tune 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.
| As tune #26 in volume 1 of [LPTW] Eithne Vallely. Learn to Play the Tin Whistle. |
| On page 32 of [RW] Robin Williamson. The Penny Whistle Book. |
| On page 253 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. |
| On page 98 of [Cr] Matt Cranitch. The Irish Fiddle Book. |
| As ocar #14 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #89 in [DM 4] Dave Mallinson. 100 Vital Irish Session Tunes. |
| On page 147 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. |
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): 1973