back prev next Irish harp terms from Bunting
from Edward Bunting, The Ancient Music of Ireland (Dublin 1840), Page 24: Graces performed by the treble or left hand.
Irish leagadh anuas spoken by Gráinne Yeats Scottish Gaelic leagadh a-nuas spoken by Tony Dilworth Click the play button to hear it spoken. help “By first finger and thumb: thumb stops the string sounded by first finger, and thumb string left sounding.” Simon Chadwick 2008 "A falling" or "Lowering from above" refers not to the musical progression but to the gesture of the hand. The musical notation shows what appears to be five seperate independent instances of leagadh a-nuas. It is worth noting that the first three indicate the stopped note as a semiquaver, beamed to the main note; the last two show the stopped note as a grace note. Perhaps this indicates two different ways of playing leagadh a-nuas, first as a measured note as part of the tune, and secondly as a mordent, as a kind of ornament. The video shows a possible interpretation of this against a right hand bass figure. Simon Chadwick 2008 Leagadh anuas - A falling As in Tead leagaidh & Tead leagtha, Bunting mistranslates leagadh, which correctly means 'a dropping' or 'a lowering'. Anuas is the common adverb for 'from above'. Colm Ó Baoill 2002
Click the play button to hear it spoken. help
“By first finger and thumb: thumb stops the string sounded by first finger, and thumb string left sounding.”
Simon Chadwick 2008
"A falling" or "Lowering from above" refers not to the musical progression but to the gesture of the hand.
The musical notation shows what appears to be five seperate independent instances of leagadh a-nuas. It is worth noting that the first three indicate the stopped note as a semiquaver, beamed to the main note; the last two show the stopped note as a grace note. Perhaps this indicates two different ways of playing leagadh a-nuas, first as a measured note as part of the tune, and secondly as a mordent, as a kind of ornament. The video shows a possible interpretation of this against a right hand bass figure.
Leagadh anuas - A falling
As in Tead leagaidh & Tead leagtha, Bunting mistranslates leagadh, which correctly means 'a dropping' or 'a lowering'. Anuas is the common adverb for 'from above'.
Colm Ó Baoill 2002
