Irish Tune from County Derry for Orchestra Cover Image

Irish Tune from County Derry for Orchestra: Score & Parts

$45.00 USD
$45.00 USD
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Irish Tune from County Derry for Orchestra Cover Image
Irish Tune from County Derry for Orchestra: Score & Parts

Irish Tune from County Derry for Orchestra: Score & Parts

By Percy Aldridge Grainger / arr. Dana Perna

Grade: 3

Item: 36-10200086
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Description
Irish Tune from County Derry is one of the best known of Grainger's settings based on a folk melody. This version, published here for the first time, was prepared for Leopold Stokowski who recorded it in 1950 (omitting the cymbal part). These parts have been carefully combed through to remove errors and to clarify Grainger's parts from which the musicians played at that recording session. Grainger used his own previously published parts to the string orchestra version for that session but he did not put the changes into these parts as has been done in this publication. Also, his wind parts were handwritten and these materials have been clearly annotated, giving dates on the score, in this publication. Grainger's 'blue-eyed English' terms have been placed into this publication as Grainger had wanted (e.g. the published string parts used at the 1950 session were in Italian which Grainger used to save himself time in preparing parts). Even the cymbal part as it appeared between Grainger's score and his handwritten part differed. This has now been treated in a manner which the editor feels best serves the material. Instrumentation: 2.1.2.1(2): 2.1.0.0+1: Perc: Str.

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Additional Details
Series: Percy Grainger Orchestra Series - LudwigMasters
Publisher: Keiser Productions, Inc.
UPC: 746241244420
SKU: 36-10200086
Instrumentation: 2.1.2.1(2): 2.1.0.0+1: Perc: Str

More about this title

About the Composer: Percy Aldridge Grainger

Percy Grainger was an Australian-born composer and pianist who spent much of his career in England and America, leaving an indelible mark on 20th-century orchestration. He was obsessed with folk music and devoted enormous energy to collecting, arranging, and reimagining traditional melodies from British Isles and beyond. His approach to orchestration was experimental and colorful, often rejecting conventional Italian musical terminology in favor of his own descriptive English phrases.

Why we love this

This edition restores Grainger's original intentions in ways the standard versions never could. Having been prepared directly from materials used in the historic 1950 Stokowski recording, it incorporates Grainger's preferred English markings and clarifies ambiguities that plagued earlier parts. Your orchestra finally gets to play what Grainger actually wrote, not what got lost in translation or transcription.

What to expect

There's an unhurried warmth to this tune, a sense of discovery without sentimentality. Grainger's orchestration unfolds the melody like turning pages in a treasured book, with instrumental colors shifting gradually rather than changing abruptly. The piece settles into your ears and stays there.

Who it's for

Orchestras at the advanced Grade 3 level seeking a genuinely rewarding folk arrangement that treats players like musicians rather than note-readers. Directors programming concerts that need something immediately accessible yet musically substantial will find this ideal.

How to get the most out of it

  • Balance the melody between your first violins and woodwinds carefully; Grainger wrote for both to sing simultaneously in passages, and either can overwhelm the other if not monitored in rehearsal.
  • The cymbal part deserves particular attention since Grainger's own score and handwritten parts differed here. Establish with your percussionist whether the strokes support the phrase arcs or punctuate specific moments.
  • Treat Grainger's English performance directions as musical character cues, not just tempo markings. Words like 'flowingly' or 'gently' should shape articulation and dynamic shape as much as tempo.
  • The wind writing sits high and exposed in places. Give your players room to breathe and support them with a flexible conductor's tempo that honors the folk song's natural phrasing rather than metronomic precision.

How to use it

This works beautifully as a concert opener or as part of a thematic program exploring British or folk-inspired orchestral music. Its Grade 3 accessibility means it won't demand the rehearsal time of more complex works, freeing energy for ambitious pieces elsewhere on your season.

Skills your students will build

  • Balance between melody and accompaniment in heterophonic textures
  • Interpreting non-traditional performance terminology (Grainger's English directions)
  • Sustained legato playing across phrase boundaries
  • Coordinate multiple instrumental choirs carrying simultaneous melodic material

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