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point towards an even broader knowledge-base which has been brought to bear on the work. With this volume Goodman’s biography has been brought up to date with the mention of the discovery of his manuscripts containing his song texts – long thought to have been lost – as well as a very interesting notebook from his student days, parts of which shed light on the story of his student years and his early informants. The volume also contains a number of images of Goodman’s manuscripts which show his neat handwriting and music notation. Volume Two contains a number of melodies composed by Goodman which are simple enough tunes. One is called ‘Humours of Ardgroom’ (named after his second parish) and another ‘The Minister’s Pastime’, the latter title perhaps mildly self-mocking. Playing through quite a number of the tunes I found many interesting melodies and versions. Some of the settings sound that bit unfamiliar, suggesting perhaps an older style. Some of the titles are curious too: ‘The Calais Packet’, ‘The Telegraph Reel’ the ‘Rimini Hornpipe’, ‘The Humours of Peppermint’ and ‘Signora Ferze’s Hornpipe’. Included in the collection are quite a number of Scottish tunes, some polkas and several waltzes, as well as a tune entitled ‘The Indian Melody’ which sounds quite Irish/European and ‘Dicksey Land’, a song from the vaudeville or music-hall tradition. Pipers might wish for more piping detail, such as crans, rolls and triplets, or even staccato markings. However, there is almost no specific piping evident in the settings. That being said, anyone learning these tunes will most likely apply their favourite ornamentation where appropriate. The cover on Volume Two is very attractive. The detail of the instrument is amazingly clear. Makers anyone? The painting is by Edwin Roberts and was painted in 1876. The two volumes closely follow the same format. Volume Two has the task of finishing details such as can only be tackled when such a project is complete. Looking at the source bibliography of collections consulted gives an indication of the incredible amount of work that went into researching the printed and manuscript sources of the tunes. Supplementary online resources are to be found on the ITMA website and include a list of editorial changes. Tunes of the Munster Pipers Volume One contains more than 500 tunes all of which were marked with a ‘K’ in the manuscript, indicating that they were collected from Goodman’s informant Kennedy as well as from other Munster pipers. Tunes of the Munster Pipers Volume Two contains a similar number but avoids tunes in the collection that were sourced in print. It generally includes the remaining tunes that were taken down orally or sourced from other manuscript collections. As these collections include those of O’Daly, Doogan and others, it suggests that quite a few of these tunes are not actually from Munster and indeed probably not from pipers either. However, I feel that this does not detract from the importance and value of this volume. The title Tunes of the Munster Pipers serves to connect the two published volumes, the music of which was collected and compiled by Goodman. Tunes of the Munster Pipers is a remarkable achievement. James Goodman would be pleased. The Irish Traditional Music Archive and its Director Nicholas Carolan (General Editor of the Studies in Irish Traditional Music series) are to be commended for seeing this project through to its completion. This was a labour of love and endless hours counted in years of work for which we should be grateful. The publication stands as a fitting tribute to the scholarship and indefatigable persistence of Hugh and Lisa Shields on what is now an essential resource for traditional musicians and scholars. To paraphrase Hugh Shields from the first volume: ‘Their labours were not in vain’. Reviewed by Jimmy O’Brien Moran

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2014-02-14T00:00:00

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