Uilleann piper Séamus Ennis plays two tunes at the Willie Clancy Summer School.
One of the leading figures in Irish traditional music, uilleann piper Séamus Ennis plays to a rapt audience at the Willie Clancy Summer School in Miltown Malbay, County Clare.
Before he plays a note, Séamus blows his nose and advises,
That now is N flat minor; you can all tune in on that beam now.
He jokes about the problems he is having with the
Microphone cable here leading into my coronary thrombosis.
But he says,
I can play you a tune on me coronary trombone, and I can also play another tune on me dislocated clavichord.
Beginning with ‘Danny Boy’ Seamus Ennis then introduces ‘Éamonn an Chnoic’ or ‘Ned of the Hill’, a popular song in traditional Irish music.
Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, which began in 1973, is a week-long summer school in traditional music and set dance held each year in Miltown Malbay. The summer school commemorates Miltown Malbay’s best-known uilleann piper, Willie Clancy (1918-1973).
The school provides music and dance classes, workshops, lectures and recitals.
This episode of ‘PM’ was broadcast on 13 July 1978. The producer is Nuala O’Faolain.
