The Sleeping Tune reel

Written by Gordon Duncan

Posted following a request by king’s taxes

THIS IS NOT A REEL - It is more of a slow air or possibly a very slow reel. It is very stately and sombre.

The melody of this tune is so beautiful. I remember hearing it played in a session on a set of border pipes the day Gordon Duncan died and it was so moving.

When playing it don’t be afraid to draw it out - particularly the long notes.

this is a great tune. i’ve always wanted to play it at a session on the uilleann pipes and you know what, maybe i will. thanks for posting it.

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf7d9c4tNK0

play video

Keep an eye out for the new Gordon Duncan tunebook coming out in August. This and many other tunes will be in it. A must for any fan of Gordon’s music.

The Sleeping Tune is definitely composed by Gordon Duncan - it’s listed in his book “Gordon Duncan’s Tunes”. So IMHO it’s a copyright infringement to present the sheet music on this site.

If you would read the comments above you will see I credited the tune to Gordon Duncan - it was the first thing I did.

I also then went on to mention the tunebook “Gordon Duncan’s Tunes”, admittedly not by name - but that was because it was not out by that point and a name had not been decided. I would encourage everyone to buy his book - I did. The funds from the sale of the book go to the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust (http://www.gordonduncan.co.uk/) - a very worthwhile cause.

I am aware of copyright issues but I hope Gordon would not have had an issue with it being posted. If Gordon’s family or the Trust were to request its removal then of course it - and all of Gordon’s tunes that are on this site - would be removed.

I did not need to check in the tunebook to know who composed this tune.

All this is doing IMHO is spreading awareness of Gordon and his music which may hopefully increase sales of his CDs and tunebook, t-shirts and other assorted paraphanelia.

I would agree with you there NCFA. Also, his family will benefit from other people recording the tune. Remarkably, one of his tunes, Andy Renwicks Ferret, has been recorded by over 100 artists. The man was a colossus of tune writing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvbVug9ayVo

play video

You have no idea how much it bugs me that u have this down as a reel, it is a SLOW AIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please, please change it!!

Dear Euan,

I know it is a slow air! If you read my first comment you will see that I said it was a slow air. Without an actual category on this site for slow airs however there is not much that can be done about that is there?

Hello everyone,
Tune is great! I’m learning it for the GHB. Thanks a lot for posting.

However, I just wanted to make sure about the ending of the music. I remember it didn’t had a “distinct” ending on the recordings I heard, it either jumped to another connected tune or, as in the case of Wolfstone for example, it just repeated until the volume faded away…
How does it end? Is it simply a long B after that final C? Or is there anymore?
Thanks a lot again.

POAPIPES, you might enjoy listening to Ceolbeg’s version of The Sleeping Tune (I think it is excellent) - they end with a definitive long C. No fade out and no segue into another tune.

http://youtu.be/BnhgwNbrMtU

play video

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6_pT4LX4tE

play video

really adore this one
Gordon’s tunes are never out of season

a version from “Not Enough Shouting” - a live album by Wolfstone

Incredibly, this tune appears in the Scots Guards Standard Settings of Pipe Music Volume III (published 2012) as a strathspey with the composer given as Pipe-Major I. Lowther. It is a very corrupted version but is definitely the same tune as Gordon Duncan’s.
Scots Guards Volume III was compiled by Brigadier Harry Nickerson, assisted by, amongst others, one Pipe-Major Iain Lowther. Perhaps he heard the tune in his sleep and thought he had composed it.

In response, member Philip W said me:
“It’s so hard to imagine the corner of the GHB world where this is not known to be a Gordon Duncan tune. I suppose the Scots Guards is that corner.”

The tune in Scots Guards III is a different tune entirely.

Having said that, it’s curiously similar in many phrases - a very odd situation indeed!

It’s obviously (at least to me) derived from Gordon Duncan’s tune.
It would surely be too much of a coincidence for two tunes with the same title to have many similar phrases and not be connected.

I agree with you in retrospect DonaldK. As you say, it’s very corrupted but should surely have been listed as an arrangement by I, Lowther rather than a composition.

Can anyone suggest chords on this one? (Not the Tony McManus solo-guitar version… chords to accompany the melody.) I’m not the best at transcribing and I’ve found several different versions of chords online, including some that refer to alternate tunings and some that don’t… Thanks.

This basic version should work (based on version #1 in Bm):
|:Bm|Bm|A|A|
G|G|A|A:|
|:D|D|A|A|
G|G|A|A:|

For more harmonic movement you could go for:

|:Bm|Em|A|D|G|C#m7-5|F#|[1 F#7/A#:|[2 A7||
|:D|D|A|A|Em7|Em7|A|[1 A7/C#:|[2 A#dim7||

You can play Em instead of the C#m7-5 and F#7 instead of the A#dim7 if you’re not familiar with those chords.

Thank you, Jeff and Donald!

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=gnxKcv9LTqw&feature=share

play video

Clean but plaintive version with harmony on massed pipes, above. I hear the chords as
|:Bm|G|A|A|G|Em|A|A:|
|:D|D|A|A|G|Em|A|A:|
Could quite effectually slip to relative minor F#m after the A’s, as Wolfstone. But it’s a sad enough air as it is.

Adding a chapter to the discussion on ending - consider just holding the final note, 5th scale degree. Breaks the ‘rule’ of ending on tonics, and gives it a suspended, hopeful, ‘to be continued’ feeling. Somehow seems right for a GHB rulebreaker like this composer.