Eileen Curran, Five Mile Chase

About this film

Irish bagpipes solo, Emerald 10394. On a later 78 fiddler Paddy Killoran named the first reel the Sailor's Return, playing it in G minor, which title/key is usually heard, this allowing the fiddler to play the highest note of the melody without shifting position up the neck of the fiddle. It is fairly common to find fiddle versions of tunes that avoid this shifting position, which requires skill to perform in tune. Curiously enough the musician listed as contributor for this tune in O'Neill's was the Chief himself, who was a flute player. While it is possible to play a tune in G minor on the old simple system flutes Irish musicians favor, it is very difficult to do. The Five Mile Chase is called the Four Hand Reel in O'Neill's; O'Neill also printed a few variations on this tune played by his brother-in-law, the great piper Barney Delaney; in his annotation for this setting he bemoans the inability of notation to convey what music from a great player really sounds like.

Directors & creators

Tom Ennis

Subjects

Irish; Celtic; Bagpipe; Uilleann; Folk; Oldtime; 78rpm

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