Samhradh, Samhradh - Summer, Summer - Complete 7 Parts and Directors Score
AUTUMN 2021 SPECIAL: Director’s Scores now €5.00 (normal price €24.00)
Read more about the Autumn 2021 Special here
Ensemble in 4 harp parts (Levels 1, 1, 2 & 2) with optional parts for voice (English), voice (Irish with phonetics) and Violin / Flute
Duration: Flexible 2 – 6 mins
Comprises of 14 downloads (8 pdfs and 6 mp3 files)
Part 1, Voice in Irish (with phonetics)
Part 2, Voice in English
Part 3, Violin / Flute
Part 4, Harp Lead 1 (Level 1), (Beginners)
Part 5, Harp Lead 2 (Level 2), (Low Intermediate)
Part 6, Harp Accompaniment 1 (Level 1A), (Beginners)
Part 7, Harp Accompaniment 2 (Level 1B), (Beginners)
A Flexible Ensemble
A Flexible Ensemble is one where the ensemble director may move around the parts depending on the membership of their ensemble and they may choose a sequence of play as:
- Introduction
- Body: 1st time featuring Parts 4 and 6
- 2nd time: Parts 5, 6 and 7
- 3rd time: Parts 1, 5 and 7
- 4th time: Parts 2, 4 and 6
- 5th time: Parts 3, 6 and 7
- 6th time: Parts 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7
As long as there is a Lead Harp part or a Voice in a mix, the music will work well.
For each repeat of the theme, the director may feature different solos (harps or other instruments on the Violin / Flute part) or voices ….
At Summer festivals and harp camps with my younger students, this piece was our joy.
With the simplest ‘wavy’ repeated pattern of the easier Harp Accompaniment (part 6), even the total beginner could participate – and the loveliness of the air appealed to the child in all of us.
In Ireland, the notion of the sweet tasting milk of the goats in summer, because of all the wild flowers blossoming in the meadows, brings us back to simpler times when these were the looked forward to highlights of the season.
The Irish, ‘Thugamar fein an Samhradh linn’ actually means ‘We brought the Summer with us’ which doesn’t quite make sense in English – so Janet’s English translation is not exact, but follows the spirit of the song.
