Traditional Irish Tune.
An exciting arrangement by Sandra Dackow that students will love to play that remains in first position with strong eighth-note passages and great parts for all. This piece appears in the 1800s and is embraced as traditional folk music by both Ireland and the United States, where it is popularly known as When Johnny Comes Marching Home. The original words "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" are sung by the song's narrator, a young Irish woman who watched her loved one run away to soldier in a war far away. When he finally does return home to her and his child, he is broken, but she still takes him in and loves him. In more recent times the song has become, in some ways, an anti-war anthem. The American words of the song were popular with both the Confederate and Union Armies during the US Civil War. (1:30)
Contest/Festival.
About Orchestra Expressions
Play great songs such as "Over the Rainbow", "Batman", "This Land Is Your Land", and "Star Wars (Main Title)". Listen to and play a variety of styles of music: popular, traditional, classical, folk and patriotic. Read and write music; compose and improvise. Perform in a concert and play for your family and friends. Be a conductor of the orchestra. Learn about composers, such as Antonin Dvorak, Johann Pachelbel, Jacques Offenbach, Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Giuseppe Verdi, George M. Cohan, George Frideric Handel, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giacomo Puccini, Georges Bizet, Neal Hefti, and John Williams. Discover how music and art are related. Learn about a variety of musical ensembles including string orchestra, full orchestra, mariachi band, steel drum band, dixieland jazz band, rock band, and more. Play music from around the world, including North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa.
