Written over a period of 11 days in June 1947 in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, while on a visit to his family home, this Eire Society of
Boston commissioned orchestral suite was originally made up four movements
and called Erie Suite. The 4th and 5th movements
were added in 1949 and the whole piece is dedicated to Arthur Fiedler, the
then conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra.The
music is an arrangement of six traditional songs and the movements are:
(i)The Irish Washerwoman (a double jig)
(ii)The Minstrel Boy (a slow march)
(iii)The Rakes of Mallow (inciting music building up to a crescendo)
(iv)The Wearing of Green (scherzo)
(v)The Last Rose of Summer
(vi)The Girl I Left Behind Me
Leroy Anderson later arranged it for a concert band
and "The Wearing of Green" and "The Last Rose of Summer" were left out.
Boston Pops Orchestra recordings
RCA 60746-2-RG (CD: Irish Night at the Pops)
Conductor - Arthur Fiedler
Eastman-Rochester Pops Orchestra recordings
Mercury 434 376-2 (CD:
Fennell Conducts the Music Of Leroy Anderson and Eric Coates)
