Sheet Music: Oh It is not While Riches

TitleOh It is not While Riches
ComposerWilliam Eavestaff
InstrumentationFlute duet
KeyG major
RangeD4–G5
Time signature6/8
Tempo48 BPM
Performance time0:50
Difficulty leveleasy
Download printable scorePDF Sheet Music (49 kB) (preview)
Download audio tracksMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (417 kB)
Play-along accompanimentMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (493 kB)
Date added2022-01-18
Last updated2022-01-18
Download popularity index☆☆☆☆☆ 0.3 (not so popular)
Categories
Hymn tunes, Traditional/Folk

Performances

There are no recordings for this tune yet. Submit yours!

Tuesday 18 January 2022

Tune of the Day: Oh It is not While Riches

arranged for two flutes

This “original Irish melody” was composed around 1830 by pianist William Eavestaff, about whom not much is known.

Oh it is not while riches and splendour surround us,
That friendship and friends can be put to the test,
'Tis but when afflictions cold pressure has bound us,
We find which the hearts are, that love us the best;
For friends will fawn at fortune's dawn,
While the breeze and the tide waft us steadily on,
But if sorrow o'ertakes us, Each false one forsakes us
And leaves us to sink or to struggle alone.

The present arrangement for two flutes appeared in Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in Philadelphia in 1833.