Thursday 30 April 2020

Si Bheag Si Mhor - Turlough O'Carolan

Si Bheag Si Mhor is one of Turlough O'Carolan's (1670-1738) waltzes. Translated into English it is called "Little hill, big hill". It is said to take inspiration from folklore surrounding two hills in which lie to mortal remains of ancient warriors.



Niilo Sirola made a recording with some more instruments.

He also made a tab for this tune. You can find it on his website:
http://irish.muualla.net/waltz/si-bheag-si-mhor/


Here's fine arrangement on the zouk by Carol Murgue.




And another one by Eamon Coughlan




Here's a very differnent approach by someone who calls himself CW, a multi instrumentalist. He has lots of videos on youtube, there are some more with bouzouki.

He writes on youtube:

"It is usually played at a slow and leisurely pace by most musicians; I had the melody in my head one day, and it started morphing into a Planxty-esque jam in 4-count rhythm (as opposed to 3 count as it's usually played), and sitting down with my zouk last night, this is how it came out. I like it a lot, and I'm still practicing it/smoothing it out, but I think this video turned out well! Tuning: FCGC - capo 5th fret"

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