Sí Bheag, Sí Mhór

Sí Beag, Sí Mór, "Small Fairy Mound, Big Fairy Mound" from the word 'Sí' for 'fairy mound' in Irish Gaelic[1]) is an Irish tune.

Origins

It is usually attributed to blind harpist and singer Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738) as his first composition, which he wrote to the tune of "The Bonnie Cuckoo".[2] One author describes it as a "beautiful old Irish air, usually played simply and leisurely, and occasionally played as a waltz".[3] Sí Mór (Sheemore) and Sí Beag (Sheebeg) are also two ancient pagan burial sites situated close to each other in south County Leitrim.

Recordings

In modern times, it was recorded by many artists, initially by Planxty on their 1973 debut album Planxty, and by The Chieftains in 1975, on their The Chieftains 5 album (as part of their suite: "The Humours of Carolan").[4] It was performed live on numerous occasions by Fairport Convention, who also recorded it as a single in 1985,[5] and whose fiddler Dave Swarbrick used to showcase it live in his touring partnership with Simon Nicol.[6] It is commonly played on the fiddle[7] and is also a favourite of various fingerstyle guitarists, including Tony McManus[8] and Pierre Bensusan.[9]

References
  1. Phillips, Stacy (5 March 1996). Twin Fiddling. Mel Bay Publications. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-61065-530-9.
  2. Duncan, Craig (28 December 2010). Getting Into Fiddling. Mel Bay Publications. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-61065-277-3.
  3. Dabczynski, Andrew H.; Phillips, Bob. Fiddlers Philharmonic. Alfred Music. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4574-0671-3.
  4. "The Chieftains 5". irishtune.info. 1975. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  5. "Fairport Convention - Sigh Beg Sigh Mor". 45cat.com. 1987. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  6. "Simon Nicol / Dave Swarbrick - In the Club". discogs.com. 1983. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  7. Snyder, Jerry (3 May 2005). Jerry Snyder's Guitar School, Method Book 2: A Comprehensive Method for Class and Individual Instruction. Alfred Music. p. 76. ISBN 978-1-4574-1406-0.
  8. "Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar An Introduction Tony McManus". youtube.com. 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  9. "Musiques". amazon.co.uk. 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2016.


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