Ceol na nGaedheal: Carl Hardebeck’s Arrangements for Tin Whistles

The two-line interactive music scores presented here are from arrangements made for tin whistles by the English-born classical musician and dedicated arranger of Irish music Carl G. Hardebeck (1869−1945; Hardebec in Irish). They were published in 1937 as Ceol na nGaedheal (music of the Irish), a small inexpensive collection suitable for school use, by the Dublin educational publishers Browne & Nolan Ltd (Brún agus Ó Nualláin Teor. in Irish). The scores were added to the site on 10 February 2015, the 70th anniversary of Hardebeck’s death on 10 February 1945.

The booklet contains twenty-five popular national airs and dance tunes, and a basic tutorial introduction which views the tin whistle as an easy and cheap means of initiation to playing music for all children. With a view to giving easy access to the reading of music, its melodies are set in the tonic sol-fa notation which had been widely used in Irish primary schools since the 19th century.

The arrangements were produced in Hardebeck’s last years, when he was living in poverty in Dublin, and they may have been commissioned from him as a practical support. Nevertheless they are interesting and original, and he evidently undertook the work seriously. The first line of tonic sol-fa generally carries the melody and the second provides harmony, but occasionally the melody alternates between the two lines.

Given that Hardebeck was blind and unable to proofread, and that the typesetters probably did not read music, there are very few errors in the book’s musical content. It is very likely that items from this book fed into the live tradition, and probable echoes of it can be heard in the repertories of prominent Irish 20th-century musicians.

Nicholas Carolan, Jackie Small and Treasa Harkin, 10 February 2015

Cnuasacht Port agus Cor do’n bPíano / A Collection of Jigs and Reels Arranged for Piano 1 & 2: Piano Arrangements by Carl G. Hardebeck

The two-line interactive music scores presented here are from published arrangements of traditional dance tunes made for piano sometime before or in 1921 by the English-born classical musician and dedicated arranger of Irish music Carl G. Hardebeck (1869−1945). They were published first in Dublin in two slim volumes by the obscure Crow St firm of Sullivan & Co, presumably in the early 1920s, and were republished and kept in print by the large Dublin specialist music publishers Pigott & Co of Grafton St.

The 53 dance tunes of the volumes comprise, in Hardebeck’s classification, jigs and reels in a ratio of about 2:3, a hornpipe and a ‘fancy dance’. Some of his reels would however nowadays be regarded as hornpipes or set dances. His main sources were fiddlers − Sean O’Gorman of Co Galway, Treasa Halpin of Limerick, a Mr O’Curran of Co Waterford, and a John Duffy among them – and he tells us that his elaborate arrangements seek to imitate fiddle style, and are meant also to be played with a delicate early harpsichord tone. They are listening pieces, not intended for dancing. An indirect source, through O’Curran, was the Co Waterford fiddle player and Irish music theorist Fr Richard Henebry. O’Gorman had been taught by a Co Clare fiddle master and dance teacher, Lynch, and Hardebeck recommends the slow pace of his performances.

It seems clear that Hardebeck, in contrast to 19th-century arrangers of Irish music, adheres conscientiously to the tune versions and performance practice of his source musicians. He takes scrupulous care with the reproduction of traditional rhythms, for example, by making extensive use of crotchet-and-quaver triplets to represent the elusive traditional reel rhythm. He also faithfully reports a sharpened fourth interval where it occurs, in situations where a standard fourth would be preferred in standard usage today; he thus regularly specifies the Fah mode (which has now virtually disappeared from the tradition) for tunes that incorporate this phenomenon, which is amply attested in early sound recordings.

Nicholas Carolan, Treasa Harkin & Jackie Small, 12 May 2015

Cnuasacht Port agus Cor do’n bPíano / A Collection of Jigs and Reels Arranged for Piano 1 & 2: Piano Arrangements by Carl G. Hardebeck

The two-line interactive music scores presented here are from published arrangements of traditional dance tunes made for piano sometime before or in 1921 by the English-born classical musician and dedicated arranger of Irish music Carl G. Hardebeck (1869−1945). They were published first in Dublin in two slim volumes by the obscure Crow St firm of Sullivan & Co, presumably in the early 1920s, and were republished and kept in print by the large Dublin specialist music publishers Pigott & Co of Grafton St.

The 53 dance tunes of the volumes comprise, in Hardebeck’s classification, jigs and reels in a ratio of about 2:3, a hornpipe and a ‘fancy dance’. Some of his reels would however nowadays be regarded as hornpipes or set dances. His main sources were fiddlers − Sean O’Gorman of Co Galway, Treasa Halpin of Limerick, a Mr O’Curran of Co Waterford, and a John Duffy among them – and he tells us that his elaborate arrangements seek to imitate fiddle style, and are meant also to be played with a delicate early harpsichord tone. They are listening pieces, not intended for dancing. An indirect source, through O’Curran, was the Co Waterford fiddle player and Irish music theorist Fr Richard Henebry. O’Gorman had been taught by a Co Clare fiddle master and dance teacher, Lynch, and Hardebeck recommends the slow pace of his performances.

It seems clear that Hardebeck, in contrast to 19th-century arrangers of Irish music, adheres conscientiously to the tune versions and performance practice of his source musicians. He takes scrupulous care with the reproduction of traditional rhythms, for example, by making extensive use of crotchet-and-quaver triplets to represent the elusive traditional reel rhythm, and also faithfully reports a sharpened fourth interval where it occurs, in situations where a standard fourth would be preferred in standard usage today. He thus regularly specifies the Fah mode (which has now virtually disappeared from the tradition) for tunes that incorporate this phenomenon, which is amply attested in early sound recordings.

Nicholas Carolan, Treasa Harkin & Jackie Small, 12 March 2015

Carl Gilbert Hardebeck (1869−1945) was a classical pianist, organist and composer, a music teacher and choirmaster, and also a dedicated collector, arranger and publisher of Irish traditional music. Traditional song was his main area of Irish interest, and he edited and arranged for voice and piano several influential collections of Irish-language songs. But he was also responsible for three published collections of instrumental traditional music, and these are reproduced here from the collections of the Irish Traditional Music Archive to mark the 70th anniversary year of his death.

Born in London of prosperous German and Welsh parentage, the precocious Hardebeck was blind from childhood. He received his music education at the Royal Normal School for the Blind, and in 1893 moved to Belfast to establish a music store. When this failed, he devoted the rest of his life to music, living in Belfast until 1919, moving to Cork to take up academic positions before returning to Belfast in 1923, and ultimately moving to Dublin about 1933. His final years were spent in poverty but he remained a keen advocate of Irish music until his death.

Married to an Irishwoman and poet Mary Reavy, Hardebeck became involved with the Gaelic League and Feis Ceoil movements in the 1890s. He learned Irish and devoted his life to Irish traditional music after coming into contact with traditional singers and musicians: ‘I decided to leave all and follow it’. His arrangements respected the nature of the music and are still highly regarded. Hardebeck’s music was published by himself in Belfast and by various London publishers; his other publications and re-publications came from Dublin publishers: Conradh na Gaeilge, Pohlman, Whelan & Son, Sullivan & Co, Pigott & Co, The Sign of the Three Candles, Browne and Nolan Ltd, and Oifig an tSoláthair. The two O’Sullivan-published volumes presented here were republished by Pigott & Co.

With thanks to the Breathnach Family for the donation of the volumes.

Nicholas Carolan & Maeve Gebruers, 1 February 2015