About

Much of what survives of the old Irish harp repertoire comes from the notebooks Edward Bunting filled at the 1792 Belfast Harp Festival. Over three days the festival gathered ten Irish harpers, and Bunting, a classically trained organist, was set to write their music down. The transcriptions he produced are the main source we have of what the old harpers played, and they have shaped how the tradition has been interpreted and understood ever since. But how faithful were they, and how should we read them? Any notation that fixes pitch and rhythm discards the nuance and flexibility of a music not conceived in this manner. Join Gráinne Meyer, Laoise Kelly and ensemble for a talk and recital which explores what the notation can and cannot capture of a lived, improvised tradition.