The Legacy of Stephen Grier - Seamus McGuire & John Lee

Music from one of Ireland's treasured nineteenth-century collections

‘The Legacy of Stephen Grier’ brings us a delightful bouquet of music from two of the most distinguished Irish traditional musicians of today, Séamus McGuire and John Lee. At times soulful, elegant, witty and sprightly, the music is a tribute to the unexpectedly harmonious musical interaction that existed in the nineteenth century between the socially fashionable music of the houses of the gentry in rural Ireland and the indigenous music tradition that flourished in the countryside around them. Collections of hand-written music from many parts of Ireland attest to this fruitful collaboration, which is a vital component in the development of what we know today as Irish traditional music.

The music on this CD is a charming potpourri from one of the most important of those collections, that made in Leitrim in the 1880s by a music scribe named Stephen Grier – a collection whose survival gives us a fascinating window into a world of social and musical collaboration that has now vanished.

To listen to this highly personal selection of favourite music from the Grier collection is to be charmed and surprised by how attractive the music in it is and by the great variety of music genres and moods to be found in it. Séamus and John perform their chosen pieces with superb flair and passion, and the result is an enduring joy, as well as a celebration of an invaluable legacy from Ireland’s musical past. (Jackie Small)

Guest musicians: Garry O'Briain -mandocello, guitar, piano     Floriane Blancke - harp     Manus McGuire - fiddle

 1 Planxty No.12
2  Miss Hamilton’s Hornpipe, Logier’s Hornpipe
3 The Poor Soldier Boy
4 The Gladstone’s Bill Set (Reels)
5 Loch Earn Quickstep/O’Connell’s Reel
6 Walk on the Darógs Set (Jigs)
7 Air No. 39
8 The Rights of an Irishman/ The Humours of Ballingarry
9  The Fourth Dragoon’s March
10  Stephen Grier’s Polkas
11 The Raven Wood Waltz
12 Arky’s New Building / The Duke of Gordon’s Birthday / A Ha’porth of Tea (Reels)
13 The Straddy, The Humours of Bantry Bay, The Maid of Hide, The Races of Granard, Peggy on the Hill
14 Roslin Castle
15  Miss Dunbar, The Primrose Girl, The Garland House (Reels)
16 Burns’ Farewell