Symphony in F minor (The Irish) played by the BBC Scottish Orchestra : conductor, Ian Whyte
Stanford's ' Irish ' Symphony is practically unknown to the present generation. It should be more popular, because it is full of good tunes. The chief tune in the slow movement is rather like the one that opens the stow movement of Brahms's Fourth Symphony, but although the two symphonies were composed about the same time, it is not a case of plagiarism. Stanford actually based his tune on an old Irish folk song, ' The Lament of the Sons of Usnach '.
The last movement is based on two
Irish tunes, Remember the glories of Bryan the Brave and ' Let Erin remember the days of old'.