Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#2824 (Bonaparte's Retreat)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording CC (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Mode ? |
|---|---|
| Set dance | G Major |
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Bonaparte's Retreat / Boneparte's Retreat / The Retreat / Cúlú Napoléon (appears within collage Bonaparte's Retreat on Ch 6) (also in D, also in E Dorian or D Dorian) (compare hornpipe Bonaparte's Defeat included here)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 7#1 | [CC] Bernard O'Sullivan and Tommy McMahon. Clare Concertinas. Bernard O'Sullivan (concertina), Tommy McMahon (concertina) except where solos noted. |
| ~1976 | 3#3 (7:52) | [Ch 6] The Chieftains. 6. Bonaparte's Retreat. Paddy Moloney [misspelled as:] Maloney (pipes, whistle, bodhrán), Seán Potts (whistle, bodhrán), Martin Fay (fiddle), Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina, whistle), Derek Bell (harp, oboe, tiompán), Seán Keane (fiddle). |
| ~1986 | 3#1 | [HMSP] Joe Burke, Michael Cooney, Terry Corcoran. Happy to Meet and Sorry to Part. Joe Burke (accordion), Michael Cooney (pipes, whistle), Terry Corcoran (guitar, vocals). |
| ~1990 | 3#2 | [DMa] Declan Masterson. Deireadh an Fhómhair. End of the Harvest. Declan Masterson (pipes, whistle). |
| 1992 | 5#1 | [MR 5] Micho Russell. Ireland's Whistling Ambassador. Micho Russell (whistle, vocals). |
| ~1998 | 2.9#1 | [JCrehan] Junior Crehan. The Last House in Ballymakea. Junior Crehan (fiddle, vocals, concertina). For this tune: Junior Crehan (fiddle). |
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 #1710 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #1789 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #902 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #980 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #280 in volume 2 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. |
| As tune #187 in volume 3 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. |
| On page 200 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| On page 221 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As setd #9 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music. |
| As tune #317 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. |
| In [FMH] Tom Hastings. The Feis Musicians Handbook [sic]. |
| As setd #4 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As setd #5 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #291 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): 1903