Ancient Music of Ireland (Bunting - paperback)

Author: Edward Bunting

ISBN: 9780486482323

Binding: paperback

Section: Music

Subtitle: Arranged for Piano

Edward Bunting (1773–1843), the first systematic collector of Irish folksongs, was educated as an organ and piano player in Belfast. He published his first collection of Irish music in 1796, and in that volume and two later ones, published almost 300 airs — some of them, according to tradition, dating as far back as the tenth century — and practically single-handedly rescued his country's ancient music from oblivion. The present collection, the last of Bunting's three such gatherings, contains 151 Irish airs arranged for piano, with the Irish names of the airs, their authors, and (where known) their dates of composition. Hard to find elsewhere, this is an indispensable book not only for students or lovers of Irish music, but also for students of general music history.