Danny Boy

With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, what could be more fitting than the famous Irish folk song “Danny Boy”?

A couple of weeks ago, we discussed how Bartók collected folk songs from the Hungarian countryside and incorporated them into his compositions. Bartók was not alone, especially as the invention of recording devices in the late 19th century gave ethnomusicologists their most valuable tool. The same process was occurring in many regions, including Ireland.

“Danny Boy” is a folk song only in part. The lyrics were written by the English poet Frederic Weatherly in 1910. (A personal note: Weatherly was also a lawyer, and I’m always gratified to see lawyers working productively in the arts.) In 1912, the lyrics were coupled with the folk tune “Londonderry Air” and made immensely popular in a 1915 recording. The tune had been discovered by researcher Jane Ross and published in George Petrie’s folk song collection The Ancient Music of Ireland in 1855.

Musicologists have come up with various theories on the progeny of the tune. But a folk song, existing as it does in oral tradition, is a moving target, always subject to an ongoing process of variation and refinement. The version that finds its way into a published collection is just a snapshot. Although time has obscured the origin of the tune, the various manifestations make an interesting study.

Oral tradition frequently refines tunes in a way that erases rough edges and imparts a certain depth and weight of cultural significance. Often this results in a simple authenticity. But “Londonderry Air” is not a simple tune at all. Its immediate appeal tends to mask its sophistication. The musical richness of this tune naturally attracts serious composers and arrangers who have cast it successfully across many styles.

It also attracts some of the most exceptionally skilled performers, like The King’s Singers.