Samhradh, Samhradh - Summer, Summer - Complete 7 Parts and Directors Score

Samhradh, Samhradh - Summer, Summer - Complete 7 Parts and Directors Score
For: Voices, Harps and Violin or Flute

Part 1: Voice in Irish (with phonetics)

Part 2: Voice in English

Part 3: Violin / Flute

Part 4: Harp Lead 1 (Level 1)

Part 5: Harp Lead 2 (Level 2)

Part 6: Harp Accompaniment 1 (Level 1A)

Part 7: Harp Accompaniment 2 (Level 1B)

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.