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Plangsty Maguire

Hello and welcome back!

Here's another tune with a shared name. The more popular tune of the name is very different from this, which is a jig. I've been looking forward to presenting this one for a while.

All of the possibilities for this situation interest me. For instance, both tunes could be Carolan tunes, and refer to different Maguires, or perhaps the same (Colonel Constantine) Maguire, just played on different occasions. Perhaps there was a misattribution, and this tune's name was misremembered. Perhaps it was just an independent contribution, although from my understanding, Carolan's contribution is so great as to make it difficult to imagine that someone would get away with naming a tune the same thing and then popularizing it. Unfortunately, I can only speculate, but imagining it to be a "lost Carolan" is tempting.

Still, it doesn't have much of the wandering character that I associate with his compositions. The A part is quite regular and jumpy.

The notes of the tune.

(PDF Download)

When I first learned (and the first two times I recorded) this tune, I had a couple notes wrong: the third-to-last note of the third line, and the second-to-last note of the last line. I played the first as an F natural, and the second as an F#. I feel that the tune is lovely with those particular changes, but for the sake of authenticity, I have re-recorded. The final F# has snuck in as a "variation," though, so I hope you do not begrudge it.

This was a tune that I had to be patient with in order to appreciate it. It had enough intrigue for me to continue despite my initial confusion and distaste for it, then over repetitions, it became more and more enjoyable. I'll also say that this tune could definitely be played at a variety of paces, which I've attempted to represent in my recording. The structure of the melody in the A part has convinced me that the tune should be played with some energy, but I think the B part is well-served with a more gentle pace.

I hope you hear in it what I hear in it, and enjoy the tune!

Axel