25 Irish Songs (WoO 152) were composed by

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

. The folk song collector George Thomson commissioned Beethoven to arrange a series of folk melodies that he had collected. The songs were composed between the years 1810 and 1813. After Beethoven arranged the melodies Thomson added the lyrics. His original choice to write the lyrics, the Irish poet

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

turned him down however. They were published in 1814 in ''A Select Collection of Original Irish Airs'' and later reissued in Thomson's ''Select Melodies of Scotland, Ireland and Wales''. Barry Cooper said of Beethoven's Irish folk song arrangements that they have ‘a kind of sophisticated artlessness that no ordinary composer could achieve’. The songs in order are: # The Return to Ulster, by

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

(F minor) # Sweet power of song, by

Joanna Baillie Joanna Baillie (11 September 1762 – 23 February 1851) was a Scottish poet and dramatist, known for such works as ''Plays on the Passions'' (three volumes, 1798–1812) and ''Fugitive Verses'' (1840). Her work shows an interest in moral philoso ...

(D major) # Once more I hail thee,

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

(F major) # The morning air plays on my face, by

(G minor) #

Massacre of Glencoe The Massacre of Glencoe ( gd, Murt Ghlinne Comhann) took place in Glen Coe in the Highlands of Scotland The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Cultur ...

, by

(A minor) # What shall I do to shew how much I love her?, by anon. (B minor) # His boat comes on the sunny tide, by

(D major) # Come draw we round a cheerful ring, by

(D minor) # The Soldier's Dream, by Thomas Campbell (E♭ major) # The Deserter, by

John Philpot Curran John Philpot Curran (24 July 1750 – 14 October 1817) was an Irish orator, politician, wit, lawyer and judge, who held the office of Master of the Rolls in Ireland. He was renowned for his representation in 1780 of Father Neale, a Catholic pri ...

(F major) # Thou emblem of faith, by

(C minor) # English Bulls, by anon. (D major) # Musing on the roaring ocean, by

(C major) # Dermot and Shelah, by T. Toms (G major) # Let brain-spinning swain, by Alexander Boswell (A major) # Hide not thy anguish, by

William Smyth William Smyth (or Smith) ( – 2 January 1514) was Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield from 1493 to 1496 and then Bishop of Lincoln until his death. He held political offices, the most important being Lord President of the Council of Wales and ...

(D major) # In vain to this desert, by Anne Grant and

(D major) # They bid me slight my Dermot dear, by

(F major) # Wife, Children and Friends (A minor) # Farewell bliss and farewell Nancy, by Anne Grant (D minor) # Morning a cruel turmoiler is, by Alexander Boswell, by Samuel Friedrich Sauter (D major) # From Garyone, my happy home, by T. Toms (D major) # A wand'ring gypsy, Sirs, am I (F major) # The Traugh Welcome (F major) # Oh harp of Erin, by David Thomson (E♭ major)

References

External links

Beethoven folksongs arrangements, sung texts

IMSLP description
{{Authority control Compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven Irish music