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William Mullally's Wheatstone


michael sam wild

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I've just been lstening to an RTE recording of a programme on Mullally who emigrated and recorded in the 1920s in the States

 

It mentioned that his concertina had been sent to London to Wheatstone for repairs and returned to his family in Philadelphia, where it was forgotten in an attic. He must have gone on his travels and never picked it up (unless it was sent to them after his death in 1959 (in an 'institution ' in the South)

 

Has anyone any idea of where it is now?

 

Incidentally does anyone know where I could obtain the viva voce label tape and booklet by Harry Bradshaw?

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Guest Peter Laban

The Viva Voce tape is long since out of stock. If you're lucky it's still sitting on the shelf in some shops. In fact some five years ago the same question was asked here and I found it on sale in a local shop and passed it on.

 

As it happens I noticed it sitting in a shop recently and took note as I thought it unusual to see old stock like that, unfortunately I can't remember where that was.

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Guest Peter Laban

I know but I can't think of where it was. Possibly one of the tourist shops in Kilfenora, definitely somewhere around North/West Clare. I am trying to re-trace my recent wanderings.

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Has anyone any idea of where it is now?

 

Incidentally does anyone know where I could obtain the viva voce label tape and booklet by Harry Bradshaw?

Hi Michael

 

This article says that after the recordings, he gave up music and gave his concertina to a nephew. Maybe it's still in Philadelphia?

http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/th/read/M...1-06/0993895122

 

The album mentioned in the article is still available here on CD:

http://www.proper-records.co.uk/artists.ph...w&alid=2033

 

Thanks

Leo

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Thanks Leo

Funnily enough I just found that source. In fact I've just ordered the CD from Proper Records. Apparently the sleeve notes say he became disillusioned with the commercial music business and gave it to his nephew in Philadelphia.. Apparently at his peak there were 4000 records pressed for his first record and then this fell off. The concertina was not too familiar at the time. Maybe it was the economic depression or that the Anglo was going out of fashion about then as Dan Worrall has shown. The fiddle players of the time seemed to have stayed in esteem among the Irish expats as well as people back in Ireland. Although Paddy Murphy and others were inspired by him. But as Paddy said it was unfamiliar to many of the audience when he won his first competition in the 1950s at Cavan.

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FYI, Dan Worrall reported about a year ago that "I'm told that ITMA is re-issuing the Mullaly recordings in 2008, with an expanded set of notes". And there's one Mullaly recording available online here.

 

Thanks Leo

Funnily enough I just found that source. In fact I've just ordered the CD from Proper Records. Apparently the sleeve notes say he became disillusioned with the commercial music business and gave it to his nephew in Philadelphia.. Apparently at his peak there were 4000 records pressed for his first record and then this fell off. The concertina was not too familiar at the time. Maybe it was the economic depression or that the Anglo was going out of fashion about then as Dan Worrall has shown. The fiddle players of the time seemed to have stayed in esteem among the Irish expats as well as people back in Ireland. Although Paddy Murphy and others were inspired by him. But as Paddy said it was unfamiliar to many of the audience when he won his first competition in the 1950s at Cavan.

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Thanks Daniel, I'd be grateful if anyone could let me know of progress on the ITMA front with that reissue

Mike

 

Mike, Daniel,

 

That is what I heard last year from them; like you I've been waiting to hear of its re-release. You could always give them a call.

 

Cheers,

Dan

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Thanks, Dan--

 

I read your post and thought "well, I'll just e-mail them", but I looked at their contact page and discovered, as I'm sure that you already knew, that ITMA doesn't accept e-mail from the public. I don't think that I'll try to phone them from California, but here's the info for those who are closer to Dublin:

To make contact with the Irish Traditional Music Archive, you can

 

Visit the Archive at its premises at 73 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, from 10 am - 5 pm, Monday to Friday inclusive, throughout the year. We are closed only on Irish public holidays and from 24 December to 2 January inclusive, apart from exceptional circumstances.

A visit is naturally the best option for benefiting from our collections and information resources. An appointment is not necessary, unless you have special requirements, are part of a small group, or wish to talk to a particular member of staff. In these cases it is advisable to phone before travelling.

 

Write to the Archive at 73 Merrion Square, Dublin 2. We try to answer brief reasonable questions if we can, but like every other library or archive we do not have the resources to read books for you or do your research for you.

Fax the Archive at +353-1-6624585.

Phone the Archive at +353-1-6619699. Again we will try to answer brief reasonable questions if we can.

The Archive uses e-mail for its own internal purposes only, and regrets that its resources do not enable it to cope with e-mail from the general public. (the Archive website recieves about 1.5 million hits annually). You can e-mail the Archive for contact information only at info@itma.ie. You will receive an automated reply.

Daniel

 

Thanks Daniel, I'd be grateful if anyone could let me know of progress on the ITMA front with that reissue

Mike

Mike, Daniel,

 

That is what I heard last year from them; like you I've been waiting to hear of its re-release. You could always give them a call.

 

Cheers,

Dan

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Thanks, Dan--

 

I read your post and thought "well, I'll just e-mail them", but I looked at their contact page and discovered, as I'm sure that you already knew, that ITMA doesn't accept e-mail from the public.

[/indent]Daniel

 

Hi Daniel, Mike,

 

Yes, it is all coming back to me; I visited them a couple of years ago. They have a small second floor office on a square in Dublin....not a big operation, for something with as many international fans as Irish music has. And it is by design not a commercial enterprise, and also not a big club like Comhaltas....so perhaps not surprising that they are unresponsive to email queries!

 

A phone call is best. I'm pretty sure I was talking to Nicholas Carolan (their Director) when I heard about the Mullaly re-release. I hope I got that right, and this is not all a wild goose chase. Sorry if it is all a bit frustrating. Email me if they have no plans to reissue it; I may be able to help you get a copy offline.

 

Dan

Edited by Dan Worrall
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  • 2 months later...

This is just a followup to this thread from last November. I've been in contact with Jackie Small over the past couple of months. Jackie, working with the Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin, has transcribed all of Mullaly's tunes, to incorporate them into the re-release of the Mullaly recordings in CD form by that association this year. I'm not at all sure when that re-release will be (I would certainly guess this year), but can tell you that Jackie has done a bang-up, brilliant job on the transcripts. We were conversing about the fingering. I won't steal Jackie's thunder by spilling the beans, but be ready for a bit of a surprise, maybe even a tiny bit of a shock, when you see the results.

 

Cheers,

Dan

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Guest Peter Laban
Yes, it is all coming back to me; I visited them a couple of years ago. They have a small second floor office on a square in Dublin....not a big operation, for something with as many international fans as Irish music has.

 

ITMA moved to new premises during 2008.

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I have often found Mullally's "C#BA" triplets, and the settings of some of Mullally's tunes, that are very similar to those used by D melodeon players such as P. J. Conlon and his contemporaries, interesting... Obviously these can be played easily on a 36 or 40 key Wheatstone C/G, and the frequent use of C# in places where today we might expect C natural was "in the air" at that time (for example in many of the 78s by fiddlers and pipers). But I have often wondered if Mullally's concertina had a D row.

 

PG

Edited by Paul Groff
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I suppose we must wait in anticipation. Meanwhile I will keep playing along and trying to get my fingers and head round his brilliance, just as I did with PJ Conlon and what seemed impossible on the basic boxes of the time. Now I realize again what I've always suspected, It's what you have in you and what you put out is only partially limited by the box and its technics

Mike

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I have often found Mullally's "C#BA" triplets, and the settings of some of Mullally's tunes, that are very similar to those used by D melodeon players such as P. J. Conlon and his contemporaries, interesting... Obviously these can be played easily on a 36 or 40 key Wheatstone C/G, and the frequent use of C# in places where today we might expect C natural was "in the air" at that time (for example in many of the 78s by fiddlers and pipers). But I have often wondered if Mullally's concertina had a D row.

 

PG

 

Thanks Paul

I've just got out my D outer row/G inner row, melodeon and I think I can see what you mean

Yours

Mike

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