D SONORITY
It is interesting that the chord of D can be taken as not explicitly appearing in
notations of this piece because Hampsey's harp, the 'Downhill', can accommodate
it. However, if one removed the 5th (E) from the A dyad in the bass section of bar
12 of the table, then a theoretical D dyad is perfectly valid, in line with the lute
versions. The same may be true in bar 18, if one again takes the E out of the bass
chord and sees the following B in the bass as a melodic passing note. Between the
different versions of the tune, these bars are not melodically unrelated and highlight
an issue of great importance in the study of harp harmony: that of magadising.
It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that the bass dyads in the Féachain Gléis
were originally mere octave doublings or even single bass notes, magadising the
stressed notes of the melody, and that the interval of a 5th has been added through
time, making for a (perhaps) awkward harmony in bar 12.
The D in the harp bass of bar 12 could be a vestigial remnant of an original
theoretical D or G chord. On the other hand it could be a note of shorter harmonic
significance leading up to the bass note E. Unfortunately, because of Bunting's
subsequent notations of Féachain Gléis, the correct metrical positioning of the bass
D note in relation to the treble melody is not clear.
Whereas the likelihood is that bar 12 should in fact display a D sonority, in bar 18
the case is not so simple, as the melody is progressing towards an initial E in bar
19. Fuath nam Fìdhleirean presents long notes in its final bars and so, bar 18
could have originally used minim A and G bass notes to approach following E and D
bass notes in bar 19. Alternatively, if E note in bar 19 is seen as being a kind of
short appoggiatura, then both bars 18 and 19 could be seen as built entirely on a D
sonority. This latter solution would seem to be contradicted by the very clear G
sonority with which the Féachain Gléis ends but it should be noted that the
penultimate E note is missing from the final bar of the harp arrangement and that
Hampsey's G sonority could be a later development.
One important factor in the lack of D dyads in the bass of Féachain Gléis is that the
main bass notes (when not involved in what might be called 'malairt phonc') either
magadise to the melody or harmonise as a tonic to a fifth or third in the melody.
Because the magadising approach usually prefers the stepwise movement of bass,
this is likely to explain the absence of a D dyad at the beginning bars 12 and 18 but
also the possible presence of a D dyad struck between treble and bass at the end
of bar 12.
Féachain Gléis