The fourth volume of Benjamin Britten's folk song settings, entitled Moore's Irish Melodies, was written between 1957 and 1958. The set is dedicated it to Anthony Gishford, Britten's representative at his publisher, Boosey & Hawkes; the firm published Moore's Irish Melodies in 1960.

Britten prefaced this volume with the following note, which explains the derivation of his sources:

"All the texts of these songs are from Thomas Moore's Irish Melodies, published between 1808 and 1834—in one case from the slightly later National Melodies. In most instances I have also taken the tunes from the same sources [music arranged by Sir John Stevenson; however, in a few cases I have preferred to go back to Bunting's Ancient Music of Ireland, which had in the first place inspired Tom Moore to write his lyrics."

Britten gives each song a subtitle, which reflects the title of the original tune. Britten's accompaniments to these songs are all inspired by the harp, an instrument common to Irish folk music.

© All Music Guide

Portions of Content Provided by All Music Guide.
© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.