Ed Reavy (1897–1988) was an Irish-American musician and composer of numerous traditional Irish dance tunes. Born in the town of Barnagrove (aka Barnagrow, Barnagrows or Barr na gCnó), Knappagh,
County Cavan
County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the historic Gaelic territory of East Breffny (''Bréifne ...
, he emigrated to
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sin ...
in 1912 where he settled in the Irish-American enclave of Corktown (now part of
Powelton Village). Except for two visits back to Ireland, he remained in the Philadelphia area for the remainder of his life.
Biography
Reavy was a fiddler, and recorded in 1927 for the
Victor record label, including two reels ("The Boys of the Lough" and "Tom Clark's Fancy") and two
hornpipe
The hornpipe is any of several dance forms played and danced in Britain and Ireland and elsewhere from the 16th century until the present day. The earliest references to hornpipes are from England with Hugh Aston's Hornepype of 1522 and others ...
s ("The Donegal" and "The Cliff"). More than one hundred of his compositions have been published, and his sons have estimated that there may be more than five hundred in total.
His most famous tune may be "The Hunter's House".
His compositions and style of fiddling found their way back to Ireland and were very influential in the development of modern
Irish Traditional Music
Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland.
In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there w ...
.
Reavy was president of the
Irish Musicians' Association of America.
In 2000, he was posthumously awarded the title "Composer of the Century" by an Irish-American organization.
References
Further reading
*"The Companion to Irish Traditional Music", Fintan Vallely, NYU Press, 1999,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reavy, Ed
1897 births
1988 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American male musicians
20th-century classical composers
20th-century American violinists
Composers for fiddle
Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923)
Irish fiddlers
Irish songwriters
Musicians from County Cavan