Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1774 (Skylark)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 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 JC (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Skylark, The / Skylark / The Lark / An Fhuiseog (also in C) (composed by James Morrison)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1935 | 17#1 | [WW 2] various. The Wheels of the World. Early Irish-American Music. Classic Recordings from the 1920s and 1930s. Vol. 2. |
| ~1958 | 16#2 | [TDMI] various. Traditional Dance Music of Ireland. |
| ~1963 | 3#2 | [JC] Joe Cooley. Cooley. Joe Cooley (accordion). |
| ~1966 | 7#2 | [TMC] Joe Burke, Andy McGann, and Felix Dolan. A Tribute to Michael Coleman. Joe Burke (accordion), Andy McGann (fiddle), Felix Dolan (piano). |
| 1978 | 4#1 | [NHTL] Noel Hill and Tony Linnane. Noel Hill and Tony Linnane. Noel Hill (concertina), Tony Linnane (fiddle). |
| 1986 | 12#5 | [TJC] Frankie Gavin and Paul Brock. Ómós do Joe Cooley. A Tribute to Joe Cooley. Frankie Gavin (fiddle), Paul Brock (accordion). |
| 1992 | 13#2 | [ScE] Gerry Harrington and Eoghan O'Sullivan. Scéal Eile. Gerry Harrington (fiddle), Eoghan O'Sullivan (accordion). |
| ~1994 | 9#2 | [NMCMM] various. The Northern Meeting. Celtic Music in Milwaukee. |
| ~2002 | 10#1 | [BRny 2] Brian Rooney. Leitrim to London. Brian Rooney (fiddle, accordion). |
| ~2005 | 2.2#2 | [WFO 3] various. Wooden Flute Obsession 3. |
| ~2006 | 12#2 | [MSHtn 2] Matt and Shannon Heaton. Blue Skies Above. Shannon Heaton (flute, whistle, vocals), Matt Heaton (guitar, bouzouki, mandola, bodhrán, vocals). |
| ~2008 | 15#1 | [RossBr] Ben Lennon and Tony O'Connell. Rossinver Braes. Ben Lennon (fiddle), Tony O'Connell (concertina). |
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 #156 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1. |
| On page 21 of [TP] Tommy Peoples. Fifty Irish Fiddle Tunes. |
| As reel #212 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music. |
| As tune #33 in [DM 1] Dave Mallinson. 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes. |
| On page 58 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition. |
| On page 98 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition. |
| As reel #313 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #80 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. |
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): 1935