Edward Bunting was engaged ‘to transcribe and arrange’ the music of the harpers at the 1792 Belfast meeting. Bunting made a number of trips around the northern half of Ireland, in the late 1790s and early 1800s, to transcribe tunes from harpers, singers, and other sources. He published three volumes of piano arrangements of ‘ancient’ Irish music, but his original manuscript papers and notebooks have been a key resource for a better understanding of the music of the old Irish harpers. This workshop will investigate the work of Edward Bunting in his manuscripts and printed books. How much of the collection is harp music? How much did Bunting stay true to the performances of the harpers, and how much did he invent his own piano arrangements? How can we tell?

Post festival access: this event recording is available to ‘Early-Bird All Access’ and ‘All Access’ ticket holders until 29 December 2021.