Bourree reel

This is a bourrée by G.F. Handel (1685 - 1759). I don t know much about the piece more than it sounds very nice on the tin whistle. I´ve added the chords myself.

X:1
T:Bourrée - accompaniment
C:G.F. Händel
Q:"Allegretto"
L:1/8
M:C
K:G

V:2
G2 | F2G2D2E2 | C2c2B2c2 | F2G2C2D2 | G,2GFG2D2 |
G2F2E2G2 | F2D2C2A,2 | D2F2A2A,2 | D2D^CD2 :|
|: D2 | D2d4c2 | B2GAB2c2 | B2E2A2B2 | E2E^DE2G,2 |
E2F^GA2A,2 | D2EFG2B2 | c2B2F2G2 | D2D^CD2G2 |
F2G2D2E2 | C2c2B2c2 | F2G2C2D2 | G,2GFG2D2 |
E2G2F2D2 | G2F2C2A,2 | B,2B,CD2D2 | G2G,4 :|]

You play two whistles at the same time? How do you ‘handle’ that ~ six fingers to the hand? 😉

Well, one does ones best…

Bourrées are normally two beats per measure. If you play the transcription as given, but in a fast 2/2 it would be more the standard.

As Handel’s Messiah was premeried in Dublin, I suppose he could be considered a composer of Irish music… ;)

Well, Handel´s musik is not exactly ITM, but I think that baroque music often blends very well with traditional irish music. For example, Mary Bergin´s sometimes plays pieces by Rameau and O´Carolan is clearly influenced by the concert music of his day.

I had a music history teacher that commented (more than once) that Handel was a German, living in England writing Italian music.

I know the tune and play it myself sometimes.You couldn’t dance a bourée to it though.

Some elements (whole beats and runs) of this ‘bourrée’ are conspicuously like some parts of O’Carolan’s Draught:
https://thesession.org/tunes/1421
http://www.oldmusicproject.com/AAOCC/Gif172-191/186-OCarolansDraught.gif
G.F. was 15 years younger than Turlough but no hasty conclusion should be drawn from that. Carolan composed in the manner of his time to please his Anglo(fied) patrons and this fashion increasingly displaced/threatened the native idiom.