It is, I’m sure you already know, practically that most important of holidays, not to be missed or overlooked and certainly never able to be over-celebrated.

Yes, it’s nearly St. Patrick’s Day. The one day everyone believes themselves to be Irish, or at least Irish-adjacent. As a harp player, it’s best not to be caught flatfooted and you need to have a tune or two ready to go. So, I thought I’d share one with you.

The best known composer in Irish history is Turlough O’Carolan. It would behoove each of us know to at least one tune by the man. He was, if nothing else, prolific with over 220 compositions to his name. And regardless of how you feel about the man, his story, his music, or St. Patrick’s Day, it’s never a bad idea to be able to whip out something by TC. He was active during the Baroque era, so you can definitely do double duty with these tunes when you’re scouring your brain for something to play for various specialty programs. Another reason to play Carolan tunes is that they are harp tunes, written by a harp player so at least they make sense and fit into your hands!

So, I wanted to share one of those with you today. This piece is Number 171 in the collection and is often referred to as Carolan’s Welcome. It’s recognized by audiences but it’s not one of the top tunes (like Ellenor Plunkett or Fanny Power) – so it resonates with your listeners but is not overplayed. This arrangement is fairly gentle so you can have it ready to play by St. Patrick’s Day and it’s also a bit spare so you can (when you’re comfortable) add your own ideas and nuances to make the arrangement your own!

So, here’s the tune. Give it a whirl* and let me know how you go (especially if you have a place to share it!). Let me know in the comments.

BTW – do you have any idea how hard it is to find a graphic for St. Patrick’s Day that is not insulting or ridiculous? Between the unending beer mugs, creepy leprechauns, and countless shamrocks – ugh. Hence the coin <sigh>.

PS if you’ve gotten this far and are not sure where the link is, click on the link and download the music!