Sounds interesting but a quick search brought up fairly pricey options to buy. More than I would spend to just give something a try. I wonder why no recordings are available. How did you become familiar with it?

yea weird, I couldn’t find any recording either! interested to hear...

Only found this: 

Recordings: 1991 Continuum CD (Irish Fantasy) performed by sister duo Fionnuala Hunt (violin) and Una Hunt (piano)

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Originally posted by Brian Wood

Sounds interesting but a quick search brought up fairly pricey options to buy. More than I would spend to just give something a try. I wonder why no recordings are available. How did you become familiar with it?

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I found a pdf of the edition I used here for free:

https://openlibrary.org/books/OL25611287M/Irish_fantasy?v=2

My father selected the piece for that recital. I don't know if he had played it before himself or come across it as he wrote reviews of recordings. His knowledge of violin literature is the most encyclopedic I've ever encountered.

Short pieces used to be an important part of repertoire, and many of the great players recorded them. But over time, there started to be an attitude toward them as if they were intellectually wanting and therefore only suited to encores. When Eugene Fodor started championing the shorter pieces, a lot of people acted as though he was squandering his talent by playing fluff.

I've always felt that many of the short pieces are as great as any of the concerti or sonatas and they deserve more credit.

I imagine there are other recordings of the piece out there somewhere, but they don't seem to have made it onto YouTube if they do exist. 

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Originally posted by The Violin Beautiful

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Originally posted by Brian Wood

Sounds interesting but a quick search brought up fairly pricey options to buy. More than I would spend to just give something a try. I wonder why no recordings are available. How did you become familiar with it?

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I found a pdf of the edition I used here for free:

https://openlibrary.org/books/OL25611287M/Irish_fantasy?v=2

My father selected the piece for that recital. I don't know if he had played it before himself or come across it as he wrote reviews of recordings. His knowledge of violin literature is the most encyclopedic I've ever encountered.

Short pieces used to be an important part of repertoire, and many of the great players recorded them. But over time, there started to be an attitude toward them as if they were intellectually wanting and therefore only suited to encores. When Eugene Fodor started championing the shorter pieces, a lot of people acted as though he was squandering his talent by playing fluff.

I've always felt that many of the short pieces are as great as any of the concerti or sonatas and they deserve more credit.

I imagine there are other recordings of the piece out there somewhere, but they don't seem to have made it onto YouTube if they do exist. 

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Thanks! Looks like I will have to create an account to "borrow" it but I probably will.

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Originally posted by Brian Wood

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Originally posted by The Violin Beautiful

quote:

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Originally posted by Brian Wood

Sounds interesting but a quick search brought up fairly pricey options to buy. More than I would spend to just give something a try. I wonder why no recordings are available. How did you become familiar with it?

---

I found a pdf of the edition I used here for free:

https://openlibrary.org/books/OL25611287M/Irish_fantasy?v=2

My father selected the piece for that recital. I don't know if he had played it before himself or come across it as he wrote reviews of recordings. His knowledge of violin literature is the most encyclopedic I've ever encountered.

Short pieces used to be an important part of repertoire, and many of the great players recorded them. But over time, there started to be an attitude toward them as if they were intellectually wanting and therefore only suited to encores. When Eugene Fodor started championing the shorter pieces, a lot of people acted as though he was squandering his talent by playing fluff.

I've always felt that many of the short pieces are as great as any of the concerti or sonatas and they deserve more credit.

I imagine there are other recordings of the piece out there somewhere, but they don't seem to have made it onto YouTube if they do exist. 

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Thanks! Looks like I will have to create an account to "borrow" it but I probably will.

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Maybe things vary with the device you're using, but I was able to open it and download to my Google Drive without making an account. I printed out the violin part to test that it was working. 
 

I think the dynamic markings and the deliberate use of rallentando at the end of sections really adds a nuance that makes the piece compelling for violinists, who tend to find fiddle tunes very dull and flat since they lack dynamics or expressive phrasing.

I think this piece is also provides some tangible evidence that the worlds of fiddling and classical playing were not so starkly divided in the past, and fiddlers were not so averse to the use of fiddle music in classical compositions as some are now. Harty was highly respected in Dublin just as much as in London. 

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Originally posted by The Violin Beautiful

quote:

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Originally posted by Brian Wood

quote:

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Originally posted by The Violin Beautiful

quote:

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Originally posted by Brian Wood

Sounds interesting but a quick search brought up fairly pricey options to buy. More than I would spend to just give something a try. I wonder why no recordings are available. How did you become familiar with it?

---

I found a pdf of the edition I used here for free:

https://openlibrary.org/books/OL25611287M/Irish_fantasy?v=2

My father selected the piece for that recital. I don't know if he had played it before himself or come across it as he wrote reviews of recordings. His knowledge of violin literature is the most encyclopedic I've ever encountered.

Short pieces used to be an important part of repertoire, and many of the great players recorded them. But over time, there started to be an attitude toward them as if they were intellectually wanting and therefore only suited to encores. When Eugene Fodor started championing the shorter pieces, a lot of people acted as though he was squandering his talent by playing fluff.

I've always felt that many of the short pieces are as great as any of the concerti or sonatas and they deserve more credit.

I imagine there are other recordings of the piece out there somewhere, but they don't seem to have made it onto YouTube if they do exist. 

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Thanks! Looks like I will have to create an account to "borrow" it but I probably will.

---

Maybe things vary with the device you're using, but I was able to open it and download to my Google Drive without making an account. I printed out the violin part to test that it was working. 
 

I think the dynamic markings and the deliberate use of rallentando at the end of sections really adds a nuance that makes the piece compelling for violinists, who tend to find fiddle tunes very dull and flat since they lack dynamics or expressive phrasing.

I think this piece is also provides some tangible evidence that the worlds of fiddling and classical playing were not so starkly divided in the past, and fiddlers were not so averse to the use of fiddle music in classical compositions as some are now. Harty was highly respected in Dublin just as much as in London. 

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I've been dealing with other internet issues so haven't gone back to it. I am curious to see if I have enough reading skill to play this piece. My general goal in transcribing pieces is often 'less is more', while providing accurate attention to the main details. I'm curious to see what this transcription provides that you find especially valuable. And I hope I find something in it too.

Well, I am definitely a fiddler. I had to look up rallentando.

I appreciate that the tunes are woven together by some nice progressions. It’s not simply a set of tunes.

As far as I know, they are all Harty’s own compositions as well. If someone recognizes them as older tunes that have been borrowed, I’d be interested to hear about it.

On a separate note, there are aspects of the piece that seem more Scottish to me, but perhaps that just reflects the close kinship of Scottish and Irish music (after all, a number of tunes in Irish repertoire came from Scotland).

I am skeptical he wrote the tunes, rather just borrowed from folk culture, sometimes just orchestrated, sometimes chopped up as melodic phrases. (not uncommon practice)

The opening section is based on a somewhat familiar Scottish Air that I've played before; but I can't recall the name. IIRC was in that Capt. Fraser book of Airs.

The G minor reel, also seems familiar.

The jig section seems pretty based on "the Campbells Are Coming"

Many of his other compositions have Irish in the name,  and use familiar tunes (like Girl I left Behind Me)

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Originally posted by alaskafiddler

I am skeptical he wrote the tunes, rather just borrowed from folk culture, sometimes just orchestrated, sometimes chopped up as melodic phrases. (not uncommon practice)

The opening section is based on a somewhat familiar Scottish Air that I've played before; but I can't recall the name. IIRC was in that Capt. Fraser book of Airs.

The G minor reel, also seems familiar.

The jig section seems pretty based on "the Campbells Are Coming"

 

Many of his other compositions have Irish in the name,  and use familiar tunes (like Girl I left Behind Me)

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I agree that setting popular tunes to classical compositions was popular then, so it's not unbelievable for that to be the case here. I don't think it detracts from the piece in any way if it is. But since sources aren't listed, it would be interesting to trace them if they precede the Irish Fantasy. 
 

I looked though the Fraser book but couldn't find the same air. 
 

Comparing the jig to "The Campbells Are Coming," there do seem to be resemblances between certain versions. It may well be the tune. 

One could play a Fantasy using the tunes in their repertoire. I often fantasise about improvising a Fantasia.

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Originally posted by buckhenry

One could play a Fantasy using the tunes in their repertoire. I often fantasise about improvising a Fantasia.

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That used to be a more common practice, and there are a number of old pieces in this style. I like when they are woven together by nice transitions.

It was also common to take a popular folk tune and write a set of variations on its theme. These themes and variations offered composers a chance to show off their hand at writing technically complicated literature for the violin and they offered soloists the chance to showcase their technical brilliance. Over time they became viewed as fluff pieces that had no depth, but I think that was an unfair assessment.

I would genuinely like to see more compositions in this style. I also think an improvised fantasia might be interesting, although I think that there would be a benefit to writing it down so that other players could share in it and trade it more broadly. Although they're not compositions in the aforementioned style, I really appreciate that Augustin Hadelich has written his own versions of some fiddle tunes and made the transcriptions available to the public freely. I'd like to see more contributions with that philosophy.