Rose Of St Magnus barndance

Ivan Drever’s tune in honour of the Rose Window of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney. Took ABC from a rather uncomfortable transcription and simplified it slightly - tied notes a bit annoying. Someone with a fresh eye might improve this setting.

Recording made of the tune recently for "Live from Orkney" an album with a lot of songs written by Ivan.
cf The Rose of Kristiansen, a later tune by him is posted here. His son Kris also writes songs.

Love this tune!

the first tune I learned after my move to Kirkwall!!

It’s called "The Flower of Kristiansand", Susan K.

Also, should there not be a first time ending to the A part of Rose of St Magnus? You’ve got only the second time ending with the AG leading to the F4 at the start of the B part but that doesn’t work if you’re going back to the C4 at the start of the A part.

DonaldK you are correct about my setting. I wrestled with the tune so much that I simplified it a bit. Not feeling v. well just now but I may edit as you suggest later on. Or - could you put in an X:2? Am away to Orkney for 4 days at w/end.

Rose of St Magnus and Rose of Kristiansand are 2 separate tunes. I believe Ivan wrote the latter for his Norwegian wife.

Both lovely tunes, as are Leaving Stoer and El Caballo Blanco, also tunes of Ivan’s. I transcribed Rose of St Magnus and Leaving Stoer from one of the albums he did with Duncan Chisholm.
Would agree with Donald about needing A1 and A2 endings: also the ending of the B tune is as for the A tune: I think it is also repeated so needs a B1 and B2 ending.
And to my ear the final E of bar 6 is tied to the first note of bar 7, with corresponding tie in the B part. One other minor timing thing, but too complicated to explain, and not crucial!
And you are right about his wife!
Hope you soon feel better.

"The Rose of St Magnus" was composed when the Queen visited Orkney for the unveiling of a stained glass window. If you like Ivan’s tunes, he has published a tune book, ‘The Works Vol.1’ available through www.ivandrever.co.uk

That was in 1987, the 850th anniversary of the founding of St Magnus Cathedral: it is indeed a beautiful window, though as Ivan says, "dubious idea to open windows in Orkney!" 🙂
The CD I mentioned (Redpoint) came out in 1997 and I bought it soon after. Did my transcription at least 15y ago and been playing it since.
The book looks interesting, 15 titles, but doesn’t say which ones. (But website says info to be added)

Ok, Susan K, X:2 is how I think it should be set out, taking into account Trish’s comments, with which I agree. I’ve also had "Redpoint" for many years. At one time it was probably my favourite CD, particularly for the slow airs.

Also, Susan K, what I meant was that the other tune you mentioned is called "The FLOWER of Kristiansand" as opposed to "The ROSE of Kristiansand".

Should add that the guitar plays the seventh and eighth bars of the B part as |e6 f2|e6, as opposed to the |e8-|e6, played by the fiddle (and transcribed here).

"The book looks interesting, 15 titles, but doesn’t say which ones."

Mrs Wylie’s Front Door; The Flower of Kristiansand; The Fisherman; Kristy Jane Drever; Angelina; Moira McCrossan; Song for Yesterday; 15 Jars of Rhubarb Jam Rag; The Braes of Sutherland; The Ballad of Pirate Gow; I Could Be Good for You; Forget Me Not; Rose of St Magnus; The Dark Haired Ruby; Bless the Wind.

Note that this tune is in song form. That is, instead of being structured AABB (like most tunes), it is AABA (where the A part is 10 bars long instead of the usual 8 bars). In the recording on "Redpoint" this is extended to AABAABAABA, the fiddle joining on the fourth A.

Rose is a flower, I got them mixed. DonaldK, your attention to detail is creditable.

Donald’s version looks much the same as mine, but thanks for putting us right about the As and Bs.
Incidentally, Norway has 2 port cities, Kristiansand in the south, and Kristiansund much further north!
And thanks to Nigel for the tunes/songs list in the book: Braes of Sutherland is a favourite.

Nigel, not strictly relevant - the rose window was renovated with clear glass and looks lovely. The marvellous 850th anniv. window was put in in 1987 (west window) and the light coming in throws bright shadows on the stonework, a lot of red and blue. Included are the rare red primula scotica, a viking ship and the emblems of the gospel writers. Beautiful.

Sounds beautiful, Susan. Alas, I have never been to Orkney.

NG - make 2018 (or’19) the year!

Came across this tune through The Orkney Series by Scottish fiddle group FARA. Beautiful version online performed by Kristan Harvey, Jeana Leslie, and Jennifer Austin. The version they play is more like the second version posted here.