Bunting, Edward.

The Ancient Music of Ireland, arranged for the Piano Forte. To which is prefixed a Dissertation on the Irish Harp and Harpers, Including an Account of the Old Melodies of Ireland / [″A General Collection of the Ancient Music of Ireland, arranged for the Piano Forte; some of the most admired melodies are adapted for the voice, to poetry chiefly translated from the original Irish songs”].

Reprint of the First Edition (Dublin, 1840). Three Volumes in One. Dublin, Cahill & Co., 1969. Folio. Pagination: Three titlepages for three works bound in one: Volume I: “The Ancient Music of Ireland” (1840): 11, 100 pages of History of Irish Music and the Antiquity of the Harp and Bagpipe of Ireland” as well as 109 pages of “The Ancient Music of Ireland arranged for the Pianoforte” with the essential “Index to the Irish Names of the Airs” [Names of Airs are displayed in Gaelic / in English Translation and then Translated [For example: “A muinnin” / “A muirnin” / “The Darling”] and “Index to the English Names of the Airs” [with “Name of the Air”, “Author and Date of Origin of the Air” as well as “Where and from Whom procured”]/ Volume II: “A General Collection of the Ancient Music of Ireland” (1809) – with: “An Historical and Critical Disssertation on the Harp” – 28 pages of text plus two p;lates of Historical Harp – Illustrations plus 72 pages of Irish Airs set to Music / Volume III: “A General Collection of the Ancient Irish Music – Containing a variety of Admired Airs never before Published” (1796), 31 pages//. Original Hardcover. Excellent condition of this important reproduction of the original 18th and 19th century edition of Bunting’s work on Airs and the Harp. Essential for every collection on the History of Irish Music and in this reprduced form especially carefree to use.

The chapters in the dissertation – Part include: Of the Characteristics of Irish Melody / Of the Method of Playing and Musical Vocabulary of the Old Irish Harpers / Of the Antiquity of the Harp and Bagpipe in Ireland / Of the Various Efforts to revive the Irish Harp / Anecdotes of the more Distinguished Harpers of the Last two Centuries / Notices of the More Remarkable Melodies and pieces of the Collection / /

Edward Bunting (1773–1843) was an Irish musician and folk music collector.
Bunting was born in County Armagh, Ireland. At the age of seven he was sent to study music at Drogheda and at eleven he was apprenticed to William Ware, organist at St. Anne’s church in Belfast and lived with the family of Henry Joy McCracken. At nineteen he was engaged to transcribe music from oral-tradition harpists at the Belfast Harp Festival in 1792. As Bunting was a classically trained musician, he did not understand the unique characteristics of Irish music, such as modes, and when transcribing tunes he ‘corrected’ them according to Classical music rules. One proof of this is that some tunes published by him were in keys that could not have been played by the harpists. His notes on the harpists, how they played and the terminology they used is however invaluable, and also many tunes would have been lost if he had not collected them.

Bunting went on a number of collecting tours between 1792 and 1807, and was the first to transcribe music ‘in the field’ as played by the musicians. He realised the importance of the Irish words to the songs and Patrick Lynch was employed to collect these. Bunting, who lived in Belfast with the McCrackens until his marriage in 1819, moved to Dublin where he held the post of organist at St. George’s Church. He died in Dublin on 21 December 1843 and is buried at the Cemetery of Mount Jerome, Dublin.

Bunting’s papers were lost for many years, but were rediscovered in 1907 and currently reside in the library of Queen’s University of Belfast. Donal O Sullivan has restored the original words to the airs that Bunting published without the words. The Chieftains’ 1993 album “The Celtic Harp” is a tribute to Edward Bunting.

Bunting published ‘The Ancient Music of Ireland’ in three volumes. The first volume, published in 1796, contained 66 tunes which he had notated at the Belfast Harp Festival. The second volume was published in 1809.

In 1840 Bunting issued his third collection of The Ancient Music of Ireland, complete with 151 tunes. “A Dissertation on the Irish Harp and Harpers, Including an Account of the Old Melodies of Ireland” of about ninety pages is also included. With this final volume Bunting hoped to promote the antiquity not only of the Irish music he had collected, but also of the Irish harp. He also wished to provide “the remaining airs of the collection arranged in true harp style.” (Wikipedia)

• Keywords: Bagpipe · Catalogue Irish History Two – Origins of Irish Identity · Harp · Harps · Irish History – Rare · Irish History in the 18th century · Irish History in the 19th century · Irish History of Music · Irish Music · Irish Song · Irish Songs
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 31883AB

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