Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#376 (Congress Reel)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | A Dorian |
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 ECst (track 1, 1st tune) (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Congress Reel, The / The Congress / An Chomhdháil (composed by Joe Mills in 1932)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1977 | 1#1 | [ECst] various. Traditional Irish Music in America. The East Coast. |
| ~1977 | 19#1 | [ECst] various. Traditional Irish Music in America. The East Coast. |
| ~1977 | 11#1 | [FG 1] Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn. Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn. Frankie Gavin (fiddle, whistle), Alec Finn (bouzouki). |
| ~1978 | 1#2 | [Dbl] Paddy Glackin and Paddy Keenan. Doublin'. Paddy Glackin (fiddle, viola), Paddy Keenan (pipes). |
| ~1978 | 12#1 | [IT 2] The Irish Tradition. The Corner House. Billy McComiskey (accordion), Brendan Mulvihill (fiddle), Andy O'Brien (guitar, vocals). |
| 1995 | 2#3 | [JK 2] James Kelly and Zan McLeod. The Ring Sessions. James Kelly (fiddle), Zan McLeod (guitar, bouzouki). |
| ~1997 | 8#1 | [GL1] various. The Dance Music of Ireland. Jigs and Reels. |
| ~1998 | 11#3 | [KH] Kieran Hanrahan. Kieran Hanrahan Plays the Irish Tenor Banjo. Kieran Hanrahan (banjo). |
| ~1998 | 13#1 | [BG 5] Bobby Gardiner. The Clare Shout. Bobby Gardiner (accordion, lilting). |
| 1999 | 1#1 | [GCJR] Gerard Commane and Joe Ryan with Eoin O'Neill. Two Gentlemen of Clare Music. Gerard Commane (concertina), Joe Ryan (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.
| As tune #122 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1. |
| On page 73 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. |
| As tune #54 in [Cr] Matt Cranitch. The Irish Fiddle Book. |
| In [L] Alan's private loose music. |
| As tune #36 in [DM 1] Dave Mallinson. 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes. |
| On page 6 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition. |
| On page 16 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition. |
| As reel #42 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #9 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. |
| In [LM] L[arry]. E. McCullough. ? |
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): 1963