December 9, 10, 11 - (Air / Jigs) - Amhrán Dochais / The Bride’s Favorite / Haste to the Wedding

#tuneaday #Keiths365 #air #jigs Amhrán Dóchais is two pieces. That first part was written by Osborn o’bAimbéirgin in about 1900. The main part is an old SW folksong, dates to the 1600¨s. The Bride’s Favorite is one of those pieces almost certainly made up by the great Rossport Co Mayo born, Bronx fiddle teacher John MacGrath, who never listed all the pieces he made up, MANY MANY are among those everybody plays. There will be a few more before this project is over. MacGrath was legendarily able to write out tunes, in a couple minutes, showing bowing strokes and everything, and he freely and gladly did, for anyone in need. He died when I was 4 years old, at the young age of 59. A truly magical figure in Irish-American music. Haste to the Wedding is a piece written for a 1767 London stage production, for a scene that did indeed depict a wedding, and the piece caught on immediately. It was widely popular especially in America by the later 1700’s. It was one of the extremely few jigs (pieces in 6/8 time) that made