The Irish Reel Book- alle Melodieinstrumente: für Flöte, Geige, Banjo, Mandoline, Gitarre und alle anderen Melodieinstrumente. Dt. /Engl. Spiralbindung – 1. September 2004

Surely many pieces have been lost to the commotion and disorder caused by war; despite this, the Irish music repertoire still contains about six thousand instrumental titles and almost the same number of vocal songs as well. Traditional Irish folk music is an unbroken, living tradition that still flourishes today and whose origins become lost somewhere in the fog and mist of early Celtic history. The old Irish tribes and clans passed down their history and melodies primarily through oral tradition and it is due to the untiring diligence of the song collectors, in addition of course to the people who play music on the green island, that we today have access to such a great treasure trove of Irish music also outside of Ireland. Worthy of mention here is the epochal work of the Irishman Francis O'Neill who emigrated to America by way of a number of detours (including a shipwreck) and after arriving in the suburbs of Chicago, he started to collect, notate and publish the songs of his countrymen he found there at the beginning of the 20th century. In the rapidly growing cities of the New World, strang communities were formed by the hundreds of immigrants that arrived daily. Francis O'Neill must have for seen the vicissitudes of the tradition and its incipient upraoting as he journeyed to the so-called Irish towns, sought out the musicians amongst the immigrants and had them perform songs from the old homeland so that they wouldn't be forgotten. O'Neill's more than voluminous collection of over one thousand pieces has made musical history and is known as O'Neill's Collection. Irish folk musicians of today have a simple name for this extensive work: the bible.

Especially during the time of national recollection after the partially achieved independence from England, many writers, intellectuals and artists began to gather up and record their own cultural assets that had almost been lost and publish them.

The Gaelic language was promoted as well as the performance of Irish music which had been prohibited by the British to some extent for the longest time. The influence of the Irish' island neighbors hose annexation and plundering of Ireland left real conomic and ecological traces that can be still seen even today. It is only due to the unfaltering will and the desire for freedom and self-determination of the Irish people that Irish music (and the same goes for poetry, fairy tales, legends etc.) has survived in the variety of forms that we know today.

''''It should not go unmentioned that based on my experiences as a collector of our songs and melodies, I have seldom if at all ever heard two exactly identical versions of a piece that has yet to be published. In some cases there were more than 50 different notated versions for the same piece. The differences between the individual versions were sometimes so extreme that only a very careful analysis of the song's structure, the knowledge of its history and process of transformation allowed me to recognize the song as the same piece.''''
(George Petrie, COLLECTION OF THE ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND)

This collection is intended to be nothing more than very personal selection from the sheer inexhaustible pool of Irish music. Surely people will legitimately ask, why this or that piece isn't included in the collection (AMA-Verlag)

Others may think that certain pieces are superfluous as they're hardly performed anymore today. The pretense of completeness can of course not be fulfilled in a project of this dimension. Despite this, I will still be very happy if this collection gives rise to a dialogue or even controversial discussions. This way people will become more aware of Irish music which aids to its preservation and propogation.

According to the definition of the 1954 International Folk Music Council, Irish traditional music is ''''...the product of a musical tradition which developed as a process of oral tradition. The factors which shape this kind of tradition are: (a) continuity in the transmission which connects the past with the future; (b) variations that are created by individuals or groups; (c) selection of the topics by the community of musicians and listeners which decides in which form the music is passed on.''''

All pieces are notated in the standard keys of C, G, 0 and A major used by traditional players and include chord symbols for the accompaniment.

The best way to get to know this music is to buy a typical Irish tin whistle (also called a penny or pocket whistle, available at any well-stocked music store starting at around 6.00 Euros) and jump right in.

The contents of this book are my very own personal favorite pieces that I enjoy playing and listening to again and again. I believe they present an adequate foundation for making music together and offer a sound overview of the timelessly beautiful music of Ireland, a small island situated at the edge of Europe which is the only country in the world that sports a musical instrument as its national emblem: a harp.

I wish you much pleasure playing, studying and perusing.

Yours Truly, Patrick Steinbach Neu-Isenburg, Fall 2004'' (AMA-Verlag)