Comments:

This piece is partly a tribute to an Irish troubadour named Percy French who lived from 1854 to 1920. Although not so many people outside Ireland have heard of his name he wrote the music and texts to many songs, several of which have become very well known all over the world. The three movements are as follows:

1. Phil the Fluter`s Ball.
This is probably the most well known of Percy French`s songs and it tells the comical story of a flute player who tries to raise some money by arranging a ball for his friends. In this arrangement the lively tune is passed around the instrumentation and interlaced with an old Irish folk song called (appropriately in this case) "The Minstrel Boy". These two themes are finally brought together in a tutti climax.

2. The Mountains of Mourne.
Another of Percy French`s songs is used as the basis for this slow lyrical movement. It is "The Mountains of Mourne" and it reflects the longing of a rather naïve Irish emigrant, in London, for his home (and girl) in Ireland. The music begins with an introduction which leads into a conventional version of the original melody. This is followed by a modulation to a long bridge passage in the same style as the main theme. The bridge passage finally builds up, with the use of a motive from the main theme, via a new modulation to the sub-mediant key to a tutti version of the theme decorated by counterpoint in the tenor voice. The music comes to rest after a short coda.

3. The Irish Washerwoman.
This final movement is an arrangement of the traditional Irish folk tunes "The Irish Washerwoman" and " St Patrick`s Day". These two lively jigs are presented separately in various forms before finally being put together for a contrapuntal climax.