Sheet Music: The Parting Glass

TitleThe Parting Glass
Alternate titlesGoodnight and Joy Be With You All
ComposerTraditional Irish
Also attributed toTraditional Scottish
InstrumentationFlute solo
KeyG major
RangeD4–E5
Time signature4/4
Tempo112 BPM
Performance time0:35
Difficulty leveleasy
Download printable scorePDF Sheet Music (45 kB) (preview)
Download audio tracksMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (290 kB)
Date added2009-08-19
Last updated2009-08-19
Download popularity index☆☆☆☆☆ 1.0 (average)
Categories
Celtic Music, Traditional/Folk

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Wednesday 19 August 2009

Tune of the Day: The Parting Glass

Traditional Irish/Scottish song

This Irish or Scottish traditional song is often sung at the end of a gathering of friends. It was allegedly the most popular song sung in both Scotland and Ireland before Robert Burns wrote “Auld Lang Syne”.

The song was printed as a broadside in the 1770s, and first appeared in book form in Scots Songs by Herd. An early version of the song is sometimes attributed to Sir Alex Boswell. The song is doubtlessly older than its 1770 appearance in broadside, as it was recorded in the Skene Manuscript, a collection of Scottish airs written at various dates between 1615 and 1635. It was known at least as early as 1605, when a portion of the first stanza was written in a farewell letter, as a poem now known as “Armstrong's Goodnight”, by one of the raiders executed that year for the murder of the Warden of the Scottish West March.

The song is also known as “Goodnight and Joy Be With You All”.