Player Sessions
Scarúint na gcompánach [‘the parting of companions’]
Dr Siobhán Armstrong
75 mins
Level: All
Wednesday July 27th
15:30 - 16:45 GMT +1
Support Material
Must have appropriate ticket to download support material

Event Overview
From old manuscript to performance, in real time! We will reconstruct a haunting old harp song, first examining the field transcription made at speed by Edward Bunting, probably from the playing of the venerable harper, Dennis O’Hampsay. We will examine the evidence about which hand played what to discover O’Hampsay’s lower-register in the composition, and learn where he played melodic ornaments. We will then flesh out the texture to get to a playable setting and, if there’s time, we will explore how knowledge of the Irish-language song lyrics can help us phrase the melody.