Calliope House?

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Will Fly
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 07:28 AM

Indeed!

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Manitas_at_home
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 07:23 AM

or, more likely, (c) they would have had to pay royalties.

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Will Fly
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 06:03 AM

This is another of those tunes which seems to have morphed into an 'Irish' tune - paired with other Irish tunes in albums such as "West of Ireland", "The Road to Lisdoonvarna", "Irish Jam", etc.

Interesting that it was originally included in the Michael Flatley dance show and then dropped when it was discovered it wasn't (a) traditional and (b) Irish!

Great tune - whatever.

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Jack Campin
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 05:26 AM

Could somebody correct the spelling of Edinburgh in the link at the top?

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Little Robyn
Date: 11 Jul 11 - 11:40 PM

Just read Wikipedia - link above.
Ancient Greek for 'Beautiful voiced'. But she was supposedly the mother of Orpheus, by Apollo.
The mother of a musician! And she taught him the verses to sing.
What a woman!
Robyn

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 11 Jul 11 - 11:20 PM

I believe cally-ope was the carny pronunciation of the word.

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Effsee
Date: 11 Jul 11 - 11:08 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calliope

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Jul 11 - 08:21 PM

Isn't it something to do with "beautiful?" I seem to remember looking up "callipygian" in the dictionary and finding out it had something to do with well-formed and comely buttocks... :-)

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 11 Jul 11 - 08:15 PM

Mike Harding introduced it as Cally-ope House. Do you think he was joking?

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Jul 11 - 08:00 PM

It's a great harmonica tune, but here's the rub. If the chaps are playing it in D, then a G harmonica works best (in other words, you are playing it cross-harp). Likewise, if it's being played in E, an A harp is best. In the latter scenario, all the notes of the tune are present in the diatonic scale of A, which, I'm led to understand, is hunkydory on the fiddle. Talk of the key of E may be better considered in this context...

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 11:11 PM

It wasn't named after a pub. Dave named it after an organization in Pittsburgh, PA. that had shown him (and the rest of the Boys) hospitality.

See http://www.calliopehouse.org/ for info on Calliope House.

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: GUEST,The Input
Date: 26 Apr 08 - 08:22 AM

You're forgiven Mooh. It's all so confusing! :-)

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Mooh
Date: 26 Apr 08 - 08:06 AM

Correction...That should of course have been Calliope and Caliope. Sorry to confuse matters.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: skarpi
Date: 26 Apr 08 - 06:51 AM

wild dismay tunes , google that and you get your tune .

in sheet

ATB Skarpi

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Mooh
Date: 26 Apr 08 - 06:43 AM

Malcolm...In my copy of The Waterboys the best of the Waterboys '81 to '90, they spell it Colliope on the disc and Coliope in the booklet. Maybe they just couldn't make up their minds! LOL!

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 26 Apr 08 - 06:23 AM

It isn't pedantic to correct an error when it's a point of information: it was indeed Room to Roam, not Fisherman's Blues as I mistakenly said seven years ago. The Waterboys spelled the tune name rather eccentrically as 'Kaliope House'.

I see that 'Mudcat Midis' still has Sam's duff info. After all these years it might also be worth mentioning (perhaps redundantly) that the Calliope that George Balderose had in mind may well have been the muse of epic poetry rather than the steam organ.

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Little Robyn
Date: 25 Apr 08 - 05:55 PM

Pauline Cato plays a lovely version on Northumbrian pipes and if Dave Richardson originally came from Wallsend-On-Tyne, then that seems very fitting to me. I can't manage it on mine tho'!
Robyn

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: GUEST,The Input
Date: 25 Apr 08 - 09:31 AM

Ho Mooh and yes, it's the same tune that links with A Man Is In Love by The Waterboys. A great song. Sorry to be pedantic Malcolm but this was on Room To Roam and not Fisherman's Blues.

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Mooh
Date: 25 Apr 08 - 09:21 AM

Is this the same as the Caliope House with "A Man Is In Love" by The Waterboys? If so, it's a nice tune.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 11 Nov 06 - 02:44 AM

Why do Irish musicians play it back to front, ie. they start with the B part ? Four Men And A Dog and Patrick Street did it like this.

eric

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Melani
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 08:24 PM

Absolutely my favorite tune! It works with "Garry Owen" as well.

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 07:52 PM

Read the thread and you'll find that I've already provided full details; there's no need to repeat them. Unfortunately, whoever added the note to the "mudcat midi" chose to use Sam Pirt's misinformation rather than the accurate details in the post immediately preceding his.

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Scrump
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 11:24 AM

Thoroughly agreed, GUEST,thurg. I liked it instantly when I heard it on the (2nd?) Boys of the Lough LP years ago and I've never got tired of playing it.

We also play it with Out on the Ocean, Nick! Hmm, maybe we use the same tune book? I don't think so though, because I'm sure we got them from different sources. Can't remember now whose idea it was originally to link those two, I think it was someone else in the band though.

(IIRC Calliope House was written in honour of the folk organisation in Pittsburgh rather than a pub as suggested above. I think it says on the LP cover but I'd have to dig it out to confirm.)

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: GUEST,thurg
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 11:08 AM

To my mind, Calliope House is one of the great, as opposed to the really good, tunes - the distinction being the degree of originality. While conforming to the conventions of the genre, Calliope House doesn't repeat any familiar phrases, nor does it become awkward in avoiding them (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!). Is there anyone who didn't like this tune the first time they heard it? Speak up!

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Nick
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 10:40 AM

It is a fine tune - first heard it on a Celtic Dance album coupled with 'The Cowboy'

Play it with 'Out on the Ocean' too which is another favourite.

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: Scrump
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 08:49 AM

Calliope House is probably my favourite "non-trad." jig of all - we play it in D too FWIW.

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 01:21 PM

"Miss MacLeod" is played one way round in Scotland, the other way round in America and Ireland...

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: The Shambles
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 01:00 PM

Thanks Jon.

There is a lot of ill health around, what with the bad case of the 'dots' going round and you being inconsistent?

It must make it difficult to play all those long sets?

Oh inconsistent!

I can't think of any other tunes where there is doubt about what is the A and B part. Can anyone?

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 11:56 AM

Shambles, I don't know the answer to that and I am inconsistent. I normally play the tune after Going To The Well To Get Water in which case I start with the part you mentioned (but probably only play it once before going to the other part) but if I was to open with Caliope House, I would start with the other part.

It is a great tune and it is quite remarkable how quickly it seemed to get into most traditional player's repertoires (at least it seems to be known by everyone I know).

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: The Shambles
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 11:48 AM

Please keep your dots to yourself.

That 'lurgy' has already cleared most of the local schools of pupils. *Smiles*

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: The Shambles
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 11:45 AM

Now that seems to be cleared up, there also seems to be a despute over which is the A part of the tune.

I suppose you can 'pay your money and take your choice', but I prefer to hear the nice descending part first.

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: vindelis
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 10:28 AM

I can give you a set of the dots if you need them.

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 10:16 AM

BTW, I am going mad (in case you didn't know already)! I was in A on the Melodeon before not E. I do not have the notes to play it in E on my box.

Jon

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 09:46 AM

Ah, Jon made the same point about melodeons while I was writing mine.  I suspect that Dave wrote it in E just for a change; as I mentioned, it isn't a much-used key in tradition.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 09:43 AM

Fiddlers are unlikely to have trouble with it, though E is one of the more uncommon keys in traditional dance music in Britain and Ireland.  I suspect that the move to D began with whistle players who found the fingering uncomfortable, or who didn't know how to play in E; certainly some melodeon players would find it a problem as, if I remember correctly, many do not have all the notes required on their instruments.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 09:40 AM

I take your point Jon. I must admit, I have always wondered why on earth Dave Richardson chose the key of E for this tune. Want to know how we play it? I sing the Rocky Road to Dublin (in E minor) with the A part of the Swallowtail Jig in between each verse, then we play the whole of the Swallowtail Jig at the end, and then straight into Calliope House. The modulation from E minor to E major works wonderfully, the audience loves it.

Murray

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 09:33 AM

Murray a lot depends on the instrument. I find the stretches a little bit harder in E on the tenor banjo but it is still quite playable.

It will take players into unusual keys - I was about to suggest that it would be impossible on some of the normal session instruents but I have just managed to scratch my way through it using the D row of a G/D melodeon so the tune can not use the G# and D# that some instruments may not have.

Whatever, I think D is a much more sociable key in a session.

Jon

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 09:16 AM

Why is it difficult the play the tune in E? I have played this with several different fiddlers and none of them ever had a problem. If you want to hear an unbelievably tasty guitar solo version of the tune, Tony McManus plays it on his instructional video.

Murray

Subject: RE: Calliope House?
From: GUEST,Sam Pirt
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 08:58 AM

THE BEST TUNE IN THE WORLD!!!

We play this tune 422 (the band I am in) in E, its original key. It was written by Dave Richardson of Boys of the Lough in Edinbrough, 1983 and named after a pub called Calliope House

Calliope is also the name of a type of steam organ!

Cheers, Sam

The tune can be heard on many albums including 422's debut album 'One' (Sorry I couldn't resist the quick plug!)

Cheers, Sam

www.the-422.co.uk

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 07:53 AM

It was written in E, but is often played in D by people who find the original key difficult.  Dave Richardson (from Wallsend-On-Tyne originally) wrote it on mandolin, and on that instrument the two keys have quite a different character.  "Calliope House" was the house of piper and arts administrator George Balderose in Pittsburgh.  The tune turned up as part of the Waterboys "Fisherman's Blues", and was in the original production of Michael Flatley's "Lord of the Dance"; when they realised that it wasn't traditional (or Irish, come to that), it was removed, presumably so that they didn't have to pay any more royalties.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 07:49 AM

Shambles, I have not got my Boy's Of The Lough LP which gives some notes on this song to hand (its abou 260 miles from me at the moment) but I am pretty sure that it was written in E although I like most people I know play it in D.

Jon

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: The Shambles
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 04:28 AM

Thanks

Seems to be some controversy on what the original key was? As if it really matters......

Subject: RE: Caliope House?
From: selby
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 04:19 AM

Written by Dave Richardson from I think Boys of the Lough A real cracking tune with many variations. Keith

Subject: Caliope House?
From: The Shambles
Date: 10 Feb 01 - 04:01 AM

Can anyone tell me more about this tune.