Annotation:Castle Hyde (2)

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 CASTLE HYDE [2]. AKA and see "Let Others Breathe in Glowing Words." Irish, Air (3/4 time, "tenderly"). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. O'Neill says a parody of this song is the similarly-metered "Groves of Blarney" (Fitzsimon's Irish Minstrelsy, 1814, even gives "Castle Hyde" to the tune of "Groves of Blarney"). "Groves of Blarney" was written in 1790 by Richard Alfred Milliken, who employed the older "Castle Hyde" melody as the vehicle for his song. Thomas Moore (1779-1852) also set his song "Last Rose of Summer" to the melody in 1813. Irish collector P.W. Joyce (1909) found an entry in the (William) Forde manuscripts indicating the song was sometimes sung to "Youghal Harbor," and Joyce says his "Castle Hyde" is a variation on the "Youghal" tune. The melody can be heard in several classical music compositions. Beethoven used it as part of his contract with George Thomson and Felix Mendelssohn wrote a piano fantasia on it. However, it is perhaps best known for its use in Von Flotow's opera, Martha.

Source for notated version: the air was learned by O'Neill from the singing of his father in Bantry, west Cork [O'Neill]. Printed sources: O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 229, p. 40. Recorded sources:

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