Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1771 (Silver Spire)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBD Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Silver Spire
 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 BtB (details in the Discography below).

Where do you get the tune titles?
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Silver Spire, The / Silver Spire / An Spiora Airgid / John Brennan's / John Brennans / Great Eastern Reel / The Great Eastern Reel / Pat Sweeney's Medley / La Grandeuse / La Grondeuse (3rd in set Captain O Kane on NNC) (compare Great Eastern #2965)
What do the "track#tune" codes mean?

cd 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). Album details
and contents
193111#2[WW 2] various. The Wheels of the World. Early Irish-American Music. Classic Recordings from the 1920s and 1930s. Vol. 2. View album details
19317#2[BtB] Paddy Killoran, James Morrison. From Ballymote to Brooklyn. Paddy Killoran (fiddle), James Morrison (fiddle).View album details
193125#2[MG] various. Milestone at the Garden. Irish Fiddle Masters from the 78 RPM Era. View album details
197714#1[MBP] Matt Molloy, Paul Brady, Tommy Peoples. Matt Molloy. Paul Brady. Tommy Peoples. Matt Molloy (flute), Paul Brady (guitar, vocals), Tommy Peoples (fiddle).View album details
199114#1[FS] various. Fiddle Sticks. Irish Traditional Music from Donegal. View album details
~19911#1[SS 1] Sharon Shannon. Sharon Shannon. Sharon Shannon (accordion, fiddle).View album details
19947#1[JDr 1] Joe Derrane with Felix Dolan. Give Us Another. Joe Derrane (accordion), Felix Dolan (piano).View album details
~20025#2[BCw] Brian Conway. First through the Gate. Brian Conway (fiddle).View album details
~200710#3[NNC] Niamh Ní Charra. Ón Dá Thaobh. From Both Sides. Niamh Ní Charra (fiddle, concertina).View album details

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.

As tune #164 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1.
On page 256 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
As reel #140 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
As tune #17 in [DM 1] Dave Mallinson. 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes. [available]
As reel #312 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As reel #159 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. [available]

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): 1931
Please cite your source when you use information from this document.
© 2000–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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