Folk: Simon Ager

This is a tune I wrote in 2015. I composed it on the cavaquinho, then arranged it for harp and piano. This version is played on the harp.

You can find the score for a version of this tune at: https://musescore.com/user/16918231/scores/5840785

My Tunes

Climbing the Stairs / Dringo'r Grisiau

This a tune I wrote with in June 2017. It was inspired by the clockwork octopus that appears in Natasha Pulley's novel "The Watchmaker of Filigree Street". I thought clockwork octopus was a good name for a tune, and this is what I came up with

The recording features the cavaquinho, low and high whistles, guitar and bodhrán. At folk sessions in Bangor we play this tune in a set with The Bells of Hirael.

You can find the score for a version of this at: https://musescore.com/user/16918231/scores/5870228

The Clockwork Octopus / Yr Wythdroed Clocwaith

This is a tune I wrote in February 2017, played on the cavaquinho, high and low whistles, guitar, piano and bodhrán.

02/07/2017

The Spider's Adventures / Anturiaethau'r Pryf Copyn

This is a tune I wrote in February 2017, played on the harp, cavaquinho, guitar, high and low whistles, piano and bodhrán.

The photo comes from: https://flic.kr/p/iQPRf

14/07/17

The Field Mouse's Delight / Llawenydd Llygoden y Coed

This is a tune I wrote in July 2017, played on the cavaquinho, high and low whistles, guitar, piano, melodica and bodhrán.

The photo comes from: https://flic.kr/p/cnNouE

You can see the dots for a version of this tune at: https://musescore.com/user/16918231/scores/5804450

The Swallow / Y Wennol

This is a tune I wrote in August 2017, played on the guitar, cavaquinho, low and high whistles, piano, melodica and bodhrán.

The name of this tune comes from an encounter with an unexpected badger in Glencolmcille in Donegal in the northwest of Ireland. I was walking along the road one night and saw a creature running towards me. At first I thought it was a dog or a cat, but when it got closer I saw its black and white stripped nose and realised it was a badger. It paused for a moment in a gateway, looking at me, then disappeared into the night.

The photo comes from: https://flic.kr/p/gvU4nX

You can see dots at: https://musescore.com/user/16918231/scores/5602328

The Unexpected Badger / Y Mochyn Daear Annisgwyl

This is a tune I wrote in April 2017, played on the harp, high and low whistle, piano, cavaquinho and ocarina. The ocarina makes the tweeting sounds at the end.

The title came to me after looking out of my kitchen window one day and seeing the hedge in my garden full of sparrows. I didn't mange to get a photo then, but this is a photo I took of sparrows, and blackbirds, in a bush on Bangor seafront.

A Hedge Full of Sparrows

A Hedge Full of Sparrows / Gwyrch Llawn Adar y To

I wrote this tune in March 2017, and recorded it on the guitar, with each part recorded separately.

You can see the dots at: https://musescore.com/user/16918231/scores/5607271

The Scampering Squirrels / Y Gwiwerod sy'n Prancio

This is a new recording of a tune I wrote in January 2016, played on the harp, with each part recorded separately. I used a pūrerehua (a kind of bull roarer from New Zealand) to makes the wind noises.

The photo comes from: https://flic.kr/p/cJP3Z5

My Tunes / Fy Alawon

The Whirlwind / Y Troellwynt

I wrote this tune in 2015. It came to me while noddling around on the cavaquinho, and as it had a bell-like quality to it, I decided to use bells in the title. Hirael is the area of Bangor where I live. The photo is one I took of Hirael Bay and Porth Penrhyn.

This version is played on the cavaquinho, with multiple parts recorded separately.

You can see the score of an arrangement of this tune for recorders at: https://musescore.com/user/16918231/scores/5558691

The Bells of Hirael / Clychau Hirael

This a tune I wrote in September 2017 while playing around on the piano. This version is played on the piano, high and low whistles, cavaquinho, guitar and percusion.

You can find the dots for an arrangement of this for flute and harp at: https://musescore.com/user/16918231/scores/5731274

The photo comes from: https://flic.kr/p/SowLHE

My Tunes /  Fy Alawon

Dancing on Air / Dawnsio ar Awyr

This is a tune I wrote in 2016 on the cavaquinho. The name was suggested to me by a friend when I played it at a folk session in Bangor. He found that to play it on the concertina, a lot of pushing and pulling was involved. This version is played on the cavaquinho, piano, guitar, high whistle, melodica and percusion.

Push and Pull / Gwthio a Thynnu

This is a tune I wrote in 2016. It was inspired by seeing a cuddly moose head on a friend's wall. This version is played on the harp, with the different parts recorded separately.

The photo comes from: https://flic.kr/p/8VKaiU

The Loose Moose / Yr Elc Rhydd

This is a tune I wrote in 2016, played on the harp. I recorded the different parts separately - they are not quite together in places, which gives an unsteady feeling you might have if you were dancing on custard.

Dancing on Custard / Dawnsio ar Gwstard

I wrote this tune in October 2017 on the mandolin. I decided to write something in D and in one octave, and this is what emerged. This recording features the mandolin, guitar, cavaquinho, piano and whistle.

The day I recorded it was very wet, and just as I finished recording, the sun came out, briefly - that's where the name comes from. I took the photo the same day from my back garden, looking towards Bangor mountain.

You can see the dots at: https://musescore.com/user/16918231/scores/5638068

After The Rain / Ar Ôl Y Glaw

This is a tune I wrote on the piano in October 2017 to go with the other river-themed tunes in the river set. Unlike the previous tunes in the set, this one is in D major.

The photo comes from: https://flic.kr/p/zsVAW

Meanders / Ymdoleniadau

This is the last tune in the river set, written in October 2017 on the harp and piano. This recording features the piano, cavaquinho and guitar. After I composed it, I realised that it was quite similar to the Spider's Adventures.

The photo is on I took of the Kent estuary at Arnside.

The Estuary / Yr Aber

This a tune I wrote in November 2017 on the cavaquinho, and all tracks in this recording are played on the cavaquinho. 

The photo is one I took in Reykjavik old harbour, and the red boats are used for whale watching, and seeing the Northern Lights.

Little Red Boats / Cychod bach coch

I wrote and recorded this tune on the harp in November 2017.

The Dragon's Fancy / Mwmpwy y Ddraig

This is a tune I composed on the piano in December 2017. This recording is played on the guitar, mandolin, cavaquinho and bodhrán.

The photo is one I took in Stoke Gabriel in Devon, where my brother lives. It's the name of a house there.

Folk: Simon Ager

Michael Ramsay