Irish Music World Music

Traditional Pub setting

The traditional community setting for the weekly or regular playing of the traditional Irish music.
-weekly pub performances include instrumental music, singing, and dancing
-elder musicians in community lead weekly pub performances .
-Observers/listeners: a community of locals and transplants from the Dublin, london, the US and some expariated Irish who have returned home from major citioes in the northeast, us, London or Manchester.

Contrived settings

occasions that promoter the performance and preservation of traditional Irish music: festivals , schools,competitions,concert halls.

Typical instrumentation

Fiddles,flute,tin whistle, concetina,bagpipes, accordian

Jig

dance genre and dance tune in compound meter
single jig or double jig 6/8
slip jig 9/8
slide12/8

Reel

Solo or group step dance done to music by the same name: popular tune type in duple meter 4/4

Set Dancing

Genre of social dance forms performed in a square motion; originally brought to Ireland by French dancing masters in the mid to late 19th century. Originally called a set of Quadrilles. These are the same dance forms that werre exported form france to England, the US and former British territories in the carribean.
– Thes foreign dance forms were indegenized in Ire land, in part by the composition and use of new choreography and the use of new Irish tunes to accompany music

Sean Nos

old style repertoire in Gaelic

Step dancing vs. Set dancing

Step dancing- virtuostic solo dnaces based on the hornpipe, reel, and jig. During performances the dancers foot movements created percussive patterns on the floor.
Set dancing- group figure dances in square formation

Ocassions for dance

-country dances in homes
-weddings
-holidays
-American wake
-death of cattle
-holidays
-America

Dance hall License Act

1935 prohibited country dance. This act was enforced by parish pirest who made countrt dances
illegal along with traditional music.
Resulted in modern music being performed: waltzes , quicksteps etc.
-Secondary effect-lapse in traditional music for 20 to 25 years
– resulting in modern music being performed:waltes quicksteps etc.

Hornpipes

an Irish dance genre and tune type in duple meter, characterized by the use of dotted ryhthms

Traditional music

Term used to describe various categories of music and dance:
Song in Irish Gaelic
Song in english
Instrumental Slow airs (usually based on melodie of songs)
Dance music
Solo step dances
Group set dancea

Folk Music

a body of orally transmitted, usually rural based, non professional, non commercial reperotory created by and for the local folk, and not the elit or aristocracy; music that usually has a performance in rituals of shared cultural history and values

Three themes concerning continuities of Irish music

1.) The importance of people and places in performance style and context a balance of individual celebrity and sociability of the community
2) The flexibility of the tradition which has allowed for incorporation of techniques , instruments and style from other parts of the world.
3) Relationships between contemporary performances of traditional arts and irish history.

Significance of the harp

– Appeared on Irish coinage since 12th century
– Musical use of harp: accompany poems and songs of praise,
– Harping tradition and Gaelic Chieftains died out under British rule

Gaelic Chieftains

– Gaelic chieftains – the descendents of the Celts, who entered Ireland between 500 and 300 BC
– Irelands already had a civilization by 2500 BC, though records indicate the civilization had been handed down by the Celts.
– Celts were originally from Eastern Europe & were well established in Ireland by 100 BC. They controlled the country for over 1000 years.
– Celts – legacy: left behind the language (Irish Gaelic) and culture.
– Celtic legends of high kings and chieftains – individuals who ruled independent kingdoms in four provinces: Ulster, Leinster, Munster & Connaught.

St. Patrick and Christianity

– Christainity introduced in 5th century.
– St. Patrick – the most famous leader among the earliest Christians. Originally imported there as a slave in early 5th c. He escaped slavery and returned to spread the Christian gospel throughout the island.
– Irish Monasteries – one of the great places for learning (including music).
– Professional schools of music in the monasteries and the harp was the official instrument for accompanying singing.

Harp and accompanying the voice

unnoficial instrument for accompanying voices

Punishing harpers in the 1500s

Earl kildare could punish by death harpers,ryhmers bards.

Turlough Carolan

-1670-1783
-celebrated harpist
-Blind age 22, composer,poet
-traveled patron to patron
-most music written in honors
-influenced by italian possibly baroque heard at home patrons

Turlough Carolan

-1670-1783
-celebrated harpist
-Blind age 22, composer,poet
-traveled patron to patron
-most music written in honors
-influenced by italian possibly baroque heard at home patrons

Edward Bunting and research

-1773-1843
-Hired to notate music @ notate Belfast Festival in 1792
-Lead to subsequent fieldwork with harpers and trad. musicians in Ireland from 1792-1809
-First Irish collector to obtain music directly in the field
-Gathered large collection of notated musical repertoire: harp, instr tines songs(in irish & English) stories about Gaelic harp
-Volumes were very influential: largest source of extant old harp repertoire
-Helped revive harp as symbol of Irish indenity

Thomas Moors and volumes of songs

-Irish poet
-set tunes collected by Bunting in standard
repertoire in 10 volumes of songs
-Irish Melodies (1803-1832)
-Lyrics of song from Bunting Collection
-Song themes :
Glories of acient Celtic Ireland
.beauty of Irish countryside

Dance accompaniment and tune style

-19th century many references to dancing
-dance masters teach througout Ireland set and social dance
-dance masters teach through Ireland set and social dance
. Dance masters teach throughout Irealnd set and social dance
. Dance accompaniment: Pipers and Fiddlers
-Jigs-compound meter 6/8 9/8 12/8
-Reels- duple meters, 4/4
-later additions in the centur: waltes, polkas and sets and dancing repertory

Many of same tunes in North America

most tunes learned through oral tradition and others compiled and published by tuen collectors
-Tune collections compiled in Ireland , England Scot, and Amer.preserve the legacy
-Tunes brought by emigrants to North Amer.
-Tunes passed into No. Amer. fiddling tradition, esp. Cape Breton, Quebec, New England , and Southern Appalachian mountains

British rule linked to repression

-British in the region was linked to suppression to Catholicism
-1532-Catholic and Protestant division begins
-18thc. 75 percent of pop. Is Catholic but own 14 percent of land Ireland
-Ballad associated with banishment to Connaught

1st and 2nd wave of emigration

-Early 18th century, 1st large wave of emigrants to North America

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200,000 to US between 1717 and 1775

-Many rural south and appalachian region

-19c second wave of emigration

-Ballad the Green fields of Canada-catalogue of difficulties during that time

-song dates from 1810-1820

-1million migrate to north America between 1815-1844

Fare to canada was cheaper than to boston or New york

1st and 2nd wave of emigration

-1st wave, 200,00 to US between 1717 and 1776

-many in rural/south appalachian area

-2nd wave in 19thc. 1million between 1815-44

-Green fields of Canada catalogue difficulties of life

-fare to canada was cheaper than fare to New York or boston

Edward Connars- ballad warning Irish

– A ballad warning others not to leave Ireland for America
-passage to America was difficulty
-many die at sea before reacing america
-Great Famine causes many to leave
-met with begging Irish men upon arriving in quebec
– cant find work, money scarce friends abandon him
-Regrets making the voyage
-wishes he were backi in Ireland

Edward Connars- ballad warning Irish

The Great Famine

-Also referred to as An Gorta Mor. (The Great Hunger)
-Original cause: failure of potato crop, central to Iriah diet
-1.6 mil forced to emigrate

3 million migrate between 1855 and WWI

Reduction in population form 1845-1914
8.5 million to less than half.
-19th century formation of nation states in Europe
-While creating independent countries- these nations promote distinctly what is there own
-Promotion of the indeginous- language, religion, music,art
-Rise in nationalist movement in late 1800’s

Home Rule movement

use of Irish language and Gaelic past to promote nationalis agenda

Gaelic Leaugue

league to promote vaulues of Irish culture through language
-traditional music and dance imp. in promotion of language

Feis Keol festival

First Feis Ceoil ( based on welch model)
held in dubland in 1897-to promote genres of Irish music including Euro-classical music.

New Irish dances created from Scottish and Irish models

social dance brings in more people than debates
-New dances created from Gaeilc, scottish and Irish models called celli dances
-celli dance becomes very popular

1919 and 1921- Anglo-Irish War – division of country

-Irish independence finally achieved
-Ireland divided into two parts North and South
-1922 founding of Irish free state
-1948 the state becomes Irish republic

The Irish Dancing Commission

-Gave traditional dance government support
-Formed in 1929

Processes of enculturation

1) personal and oral transmission
2) aural transmission through the use of recordings,
3) organization of more formal learning institutions.
Aim of chapter: discuss three contexts of transmission: informal learning from family members, neighbors and friends, music competitions, and music schools.

Tradition of Orality

in which most music is learned by ear where older musicians are treated with great respect and affection; elder musicians are links to the past.
– Older musicians – role models, teachers of repertory, style, technique, and transmitters of social behavior and history.
– Value of elder musicians: repositories of stories of local folklore and imp musicians of previous generations the preceded their own time. ]
– The teaching /learning environment is informal
– House parties the context for most music making before the advent of pubs.

Older musicians and value of elders

Older musicians – role models, teachers of repertory, style, technique, and transmitters of social behavior and history.
– Value of elder musicians: repositories of stories of local folklore and imp musicians of previous generations the preceded their own time. ]
– The teaching /learning environment is informal
– House parties the context for most music making before the advent of pubs.

Learning through absorption

The memories of the people and place cement into understanding of what it means to play Irish music

Early Feis Ceoil

The early Feis Ceoil became the festival model
– Fleadh Cheoil (pronounced “flah keol”) “feast of music” – festival that began in 1950s when traditional music was at a low point;
This is a competition for instrumentalist, singers, and set dancers,
Purpose to boost status of traditional music, instill pride in players, provide new context for performance, create appreciative audience.
Eary festivals were held in different towns and community throughout Ireland.

Fleadh Cheoil

Founders Fleadh Cheoil organized themselves into a Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann (pronounced “Koltas Koltori Eran”) CCE – in 1951; administration center is in Dublin; currently more than 400 chapters in Ireland, and 10 other countries, including 25 in US. Purpose – to promote Irish traditional music and dance and Irish language.

Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann – national and international chapters, purpose

Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann (pronounced “Koltas Koltori Eran”) CCE – in 1951; administration center is in Dublin; currently more than 400 chapters in Ireland, and 10 other countries, including 25 in US. Purpose – to promote Irish traditional music and dance and Irish language.

Tiered system of competition in music, singing, and dancing at the county, regional, and provincial and All-Ireland levels. All-Ireland, highest level – competition on fourth weekend in August in different Irish towns, attracting musicians world wide.

Tiered system of competition

iered system of competition in music, singing, and dancing at the county, regional, and provincial and All-Ireland levels. All-Ireland, highest level – competition on fourth weekend in August in different Irish towns, attracting musicians world wide.

All Ireland Competition, solo competitions on major instruments

– 4 age levels: under 12, 12 -15, 15-18, over 18
– Solo competitions on major instruments: fiddle, two-row button accordion, flute, tin whistle, concertina, piano accordion, uilleann pipes, harp, mouth organ, banjo, bodhran, whistling, lilting (using vocables to sing dance tunes) and traditional singing in both Irish and English.

Goals of All Ireland Competition

to get youth involved in learning to keep the tradition

Association of non-competitive aspects of fleadh with pub sessions

– The noncompetitive aspects of fleadh helped popularize pub sessions. When musicians gathered in places away from their houses, the context of music making changed from house parties to pubs, and the playing entered the more public sector, where larger numbers of people were introduced to traditional Irish music.

Willie Clancy Summer School

– a 1 week summer school for music and set dancing.
Once classes begins musicians are heard in all corners on the town in impromptu session from age 6 to 60
– There are daily classes Monday morning through Friday with the final concert on Saturday night.
– began in 1973 by well-known musician in honor of Willie Clancy, a well-known Uilleann piper form Miltown Malbay.
– a noncompetitive model
– First year; fiddle, whistle, and flute, – attracting 80 students.
– Later adding Uilleann pipes
– Daily classes, afternoon lectures, evening concerts,
– in 2000 there were 32 classes in fiddle, 16 each in flute, tin whistle, and uilleann pipes, 6 in concertina, 7 in accordion, a traditional singing workshop and 19 set dance workshops.
– Teachers/tutors with international reputations.
– Students learn from one musician during the week
– Evening concerts on each instruments, featuring one instrument.
– Main attraction- informal music making
– Informal interaction with performers
– Some pubs are associated with players
– Finding the right pub to play at during the week is important for the musicians.
– Willie Clancy School – important to the transmission of Irish Traditional music and dance
– Now there are many week-long or weekend schools in Ireland during the summer.

Pub sessions and regionalism

Because the pubs are small in Miltown the intamacy and intensity makes the sessions magical both for players and listeners
-regionalsim because musicians are from the same area they may want to play together becasue they share a common style

Instruments in the Pub session

Fiddles, tin whistles, flutes, concertinas, banjos, and uillean pipes, with additional accompaniment provided by the guitar and bodhran.

Standard dance types

Reels, jigs, hornpipes, marches, polkas, and waltzes.

Characteristics on the tune structure: phrasing, repetition, form, performing

Monophonic (single melodic line whether played by one musician or a group)
Binary form with 8 measure A section and an 8 measure B section.
Repetition of each section resulting in an entire melody of 32 bars:
Form: AABB
Performance practice: Play the tune once, then repeat it once or 2x then go a new tune and perform it using the same form and rhythm. The results is a medley of tunes.

The difference between jig and reel

Jig – a part of Irish music since 17th c
Four variations of Jig exist: single jig, double jig, slip jig, and slide jig.
All are in compound meter – with the principle beat subdivided by three.
Double jig – 2 groups of 3 eighth notes per measure
Unless specified otherwise the double jig is the type implied when a jig is requested.
Reels – the most popular of the Irish traditional tune types
– The “reel” as a dance type refers to solo step and group dances that use this tune type for accompaniment.
– Originally of Scottish origin in late 16th century; brought to Ireland in late 18th c.
– Characteristics: duple time, usually written in common time (4/4) but felt in duple or two or cut time; accents on beats one and three.
– Usually in binary form with same overall structure as a the jig.

Purpose and Types of Irish ornaments

Freshness is maintained in performance when performers embellish the basic melody with ornaments and small melodic of rhythmic variations.
– Therefore each repetition of the tune is slightly different.
– An Aesthetic – never play the same tune the same way twice: the melodic identity remains in tact but there are subtle variations with each playing of the tune.

Irish ornaments that are used to embellish the skeletal tune; grace note are used to “decorate” the tune.
Cut, short roll, long roll, triplet, cran

Additional method of varying the tune: octave transposition
Pipers, flute players, and tin whistle players perform the melody an octave higher to vary the tune in performance.

Things the tunes names are based on or invoke

Things that tune names invoke:
Places: Dublin Reel
Linking types of people to names of places: “The Galway Lasses”
Individuals (the largest category) – “Garrett Barry’s Jig”
Irish common places or situations – “A Rainy Day”, “A Cup of Tea”

Jig: and variations/types of jig

Reels

the most popular of the Irish traditional tune types
– The “reel” as a dance type refers to solo step and group dances that use this tune type for accompaniment.
– Originally of Scottish origin in late 16th century; brought to Ireland in late 18th c.
– Characteristics: duple time, usually written in common time (4/4) but felt in duple or two or cut time; accents on beats one and three.
– Usually in binary form with same overall structure as a the jig.

Hornpipe

– duple meter but slower in tempo and with dotted rhythms.
– Thought to be of relation to sailors.
– Brought to Irelan from England in late 18th c.
– In binary form with 32 measures per tune; like the reel and jig.

Polka and Waltz

Polka coupld dance genre from early 1800s, the spread quickly throughout Europe and colonized world.
– Introduced to Ireland in late 1800s.
– In dupl. meter, 2/4, and binary form.

Major traditional instruments

p. 74
Uilleann Pipes: Irish bagpipe

Adopted instruments

everal instruments adopted from others traditions: guitar (Spanish), bouzouki (Greece), synthesizer.

Bagpipe: chanter, drones

Bagpipe – reed instrument, reservoir of airbag made from animal hide.
Bag inflated by mouthpiece or bellows, chanter, and drone pipes.
Chanter – fingered melody pipe made of wood, cane, or bone with a single or double reed at the upper end.
Drones – unfingered pipes that sound only one note.

Difference between Scottish and Irish Pipe

Difference between Scottish and Uilleann Pipes:
Scottish Highland Pipe – lound breathy-tone, an out-doors, played standing up,
Uilleann Pipes – softer timbre, bellows-blown, indoor instruments, played sitting down.
Uilleann – “elbows” in Irish – referring to the which are held under the right arm; the bellows are pumped by the elbow.

Harp: early vs contemporary pipes

Effort to Restore the Uilleann pipe tradition:
1) Gaelic League in early 20th. C.
2) Revival of traditional music in 1960s
3) Willie Clancy Summer School in second year with members of The Society of Uilleann Pipers became active as teachers and organizers.
The school increased the visibility to the instrument.

Harp:
– A part of Irish culture for over 1000 years.
– Earliest existing harp dates back to 14th c.; currently housed in Dublin.
– Early Instruments range in size from small knee harps to 5 foot harps; 45 brass and wire strings; high density wood that was highly decorated.
– Harping tradition inspired by works of Grainne Yeats in 50s 60s and Maire Ni Chathasaigh in 70s. This inspired others interested in the tradition: researchers, instrument makers, and players.
– Harps today – lighter than older wire-strung haprs;
p. 76
– Harps today: strung with nylon or gut, wire in the bass, average of 34 strings; made of cherry, walnut, or maple and a sounding board of spurce. Levers allow for the playing semitones.

Role of ornamentation of melody in fiddling and in regional differences

– The contemporary fiddle is identical to the standard European violin.
– Probably introduced to Ireland from Scotland in 17th c.
– Fiddle becomes the preferred instrument with the decline of the harp and uilleann pipe. Still the preferred instrument today in many locations.
– Fiddling styles differ by region
– It is the ornamentation of the melody that distinguishes one player from another.
– There are also many variants within a given region.

Concertina: description, origin, and association with women

– A member of the free-reed family of instruments along with the accordions and melodeons; all still popular today.
– Description of concertina – Hexagonal in shape, button operated; bellows that are essentially a “squeeze box”; played with fingers from both hands.
– Developed by Charles Wheatstone in England. (which produced the same note on the push and pull).

p. 78
– German maker develops a concertina with different notes on the push and pull
– English makers work on German model and create the “Anglo” concertinas.
– By late 1800s concertinas in Ireland
– Concertinas popular all over Ireland but soon supplanted by the accordion which was even louder.
– Because women were able to purchase them in hardware stores they became known as a woman’s instrument.

Tin whistle

– Tin Whistle – the emblem of Irish traditional music for many players
– Also called the penny whistle or feadog stain in Irish.
– Often the first musical instrument of a child.
– Dates fro 19th c in Ireland, though whistle-types instruments date to antiquity.
– 1825 – earliest whistles made tin and found in Ireland, made in England.
– After 1950 common construction – cylindrical brass tube with plastic top.
– Best whistles – brass or nickel finishes, in different keys, with the most common key of D.
– Construction – 6 finger holes, similar to chanter of Uilleann pipes, but an octave higher.
– Overblowing produces the octave above.
– Low whistle – more recent addition; playing an octave below the standard whistle in D; a popular concert instrument.

Flutes

Wooden, transverse flute similar to the European Baroque flute
– First found in Irish traitional music in mid – 19th c. with mass production in England and Germany made it affordable.
– Rise in popularity in 1950s with the rise of many excellent players.

Types of plucked instruments

Guitar, banjo mandolin, bouzouki – recent additions in addition to electric instruments

Banjo: origin in Ireland, American vs standard Irish tuning

– The Banjo introduced in Ireland by white American performers in “blackface” minstrel shows.
– American innovations adopted: addition of frets, and four-string tenor banjo (1915).
– American tenor banjo tuning (C-G-D-A) – many recordings made in 1920s & 30s.
– 1960s virtuoso playing by Dubliners’ Barney Mckenna’s popularized.
– McKenna’s lowers banjo tuning (G-D-A-E), one octave below the fiddle. This became the standard for Irish banjo pla

Bodhran

(bough-rawn) – single-headed membranophone, frame drum constructing of shallow hoop of wood, with stretched animal skin and reinforced with cross pieces of wood, cord, or wire.
– – Played with bare fingers or wooden beater.
– Other Uses: until 20th c. used for separating chaff, baking serving food, storing food and tools.

p. 82
– Musical uses: Ireland – ritual occasions like seasonal mummer’s plays.
– Bodhran popularized in concerts and recordings by Chieftains (formed in 1963) percussionist.

Solo playing shifts to ensemble playing & instrumentation of ceili ban

– Most musi originally for solo/unison palying
– Gradual shift to ensemble style.
– Before 1920 – Group playing for louder sound for dance accompaniment.
– Instruments of Ceili Bands typically feature – fiddles, flutes, button accordions, and uilleann pipes on melody, and piano, bass, and snare drum as accompaniment.
– Touring bands peak in 50s an 60s.
– Decline in the 70s & 80s.
– Set dance revival in late 80s helped to bring the ceili bands back.
– Many touring groups in last 10 yrs.

Connemara

The regions that is considered the heartland of the of sean-ns (literally “old style”) singing, the fundamental style of Irish traditional singing.
– Features of connemara sean-nos singing: Gaelic lyrics, highly ornamented, modal melodies, solo a cappella,

Features of Connemara sean-nos singing

In Irish tradition both – Gaelic sean-nos song and English language songs are imp parts of the tradition.

Macaronic songs

– Macaronic songs – alternation between English and Irish verses in the same song – (hybrid songs)
– Common events of an evening of singing – Macaronic song, recitation, poetry, storytelling, songs in Gaelic.

Repertoire as a product of community

Repetoire must be understood not as product of professional lyricist but of actual people (workers/laborers) in the community. (farmers & fishermen).

Awareness of connection between Irish and American folk music

– Many singers are aware of the connections between Irish and American folk music.

Goilin Singers Club – purpose

– A club created by local singers for the purpose of singing.

Role of traditional music in creation of the post-colonial culture

– Ireland a country in which the rediscovery and promotion of indigenous music has played an important role in the creation of a postcolonial culture.
– The birth of nationalism – coincides with kindling of interest in cultural features (language, music, dance).

Current musicians choosing between old/traditional and new/contemporar

Each generation of Irish musicians since independence have had to choose between many different styles of the music: urgan, upbeat, high-volume of swing, rock and roll, country and western, heavy metal, rap, and the more rural, slower, quieter, intimate appeal of Irish traditional music.

Models for Irish singers clubs from London – MacColl, Lomax, Seeger – motive

Models for Irish Singing clubs were singing clubs in England – especially the “The Singers Club” – founded 1950s by Ewan MacColl, the celebrated playwright, songwriter, and traditional singer, in collaboration with folklorist and musicians Alan Lomax, Seamus Ennis, and Peggy Seeger.

Sean-nos – meaning and significance of the term

“old style” – Irish traditional singing in Gaelic and English, and step dancing.
Commonly, sean-nos is a term used to distinguish traditional Gaelic singing from its English language counterpart.

Sean-nos repertoire: when was it composed

– Most of sean-nos singing today was most likely composed between 1600-1850 and was maintained by amateur singers in the rural areas but new songs by modern composer continued to be added.

Two aspects of Gaelic poetry that affect sean-nos singing

– length of the poetic line
– prevalence of assonance and internal rhyming.

Solo singing, characteristics

1) has given rise to slow, long melodic lines with a much ornamentation.
2) includes fast songs in strict meter, with a syllabic rather than melismatic treatment of text.
Timbre – nasal

Conducting research on traditional singing and overall process

1) Example of a singer discovering early performance practices thru instrumental renditions of a song.
2) Seeking out original recording to study the source of the instrumentalist’s inspiration.

Overall research process: research, reconstructing, singing, recording, publishing.

Padragin learned reseach process from her father.

Context for singing

Correct traditional context for singing: most singing in pubs during the early morning hours
Other context for singing: concerts and stage are uncomfortable for Padragin.
– Expression of the feelin and emotion transcends language.

Categories of Irish traditional Song in English

1) Gaelic songs translatedinto English.
2) English and Scottis ballads brought to Ireland by soldiers, English and Scottish colonists and migrant Irish laborers traveling between England, Scotland, and Ireland.
3) English language songs composed by Irish authors.

More exchange of songs between England and Ireland in 17th century.

Themes of ballads: love, emigration, forced conscription into the British army, murders, shipwrecks, and the execution and banishment of Irish heroes.

Statute of Kilkenny 1310

fter Statute of Kilkenny in 1310, the education of native Irish was discouraged or banned by British laws

Hedge Schools

18th c. the ban stimulate the creation of secret “hedge schools” – where Irish students received instruction in many subjects. Hedge school masters were often poets and singers and created a large body of song (in English and Gaelic assonance and meter, classical and Biblical allusions, and flowery poetry.

Themes of ballads

Themes of ballads: love, emigration, forced conscription into the British army, murders, shipwrecks, and the execution and banishment of Irish heroes.

Lilting: meaning and purpose

the singing of Irish dance tunes to vocables, syllables that have no literal meaning.
– Origin of lilting is associated with the scarcity of affordable instruments in rural areas in Ireland or to the difficulty in getting instruments repaired.
– “Lilters” were called into service when to provide music for dancing when no instruments or players were available.

English and Gaelic song repertoire – lyrical rather than narrative

Much of the English and Gaelic song repertoire is lyrical rather than narrative.
The audience is assumed to be in possession of any story line essential to the understanding of the song (by common knowledge or because the singer presented it in spoken language).

Floating verses and melodies

-melodies and verses tend to float from song to song, reassembled from singer to singer sand performance to performance.

Comparing simple, standard form of a song to the melismatic, drawn out form

Ex. 1 – ornamentation is a single grace note/- sliding up or down into the main melody note. (see page 113 for transcription). – Form: ABCD
Ex. 2 – drawn-out fashion, melismatic, modal feeling, highly ornamented
Form: ABAB
– These renditions represent two distinct kinds of Irish traditional tunes:
– 1) the major/minor tradition of modern European melody,
– 2) distinct maybe older, modal, melismatic tradition.
Compulsive everyday singing.

Sean-nos and survival in 21 century: traditional singing in new context

the old style of Irish unaccompanied singing in both Irish and English.

The Chieftains

-expirimented with harmony and texture in their renditions of traditional dance tunes and songs
-Group grew out of an earlier ensemble led by Sean Oriada(1931-1971), a prolofic composer, muisc director at Abbey theatre, radio broadcaster, and professor of music at University College Cork

Planxty

Iriah group thta had big effect on US.
-music inspired lots of traditional irish devotees
– caused innovative arrangements and the introduction of new instruments

Riverdance – origin and impact (national and international)

-grew out of aseven minute interlude in the 1994 Eurovision Song contest broadcasy from dublin to over 3 million viewers
-show reversed the ingrained concept of an insular nationalist identity by embracing the perception that Ireland is an Important cultural contributor to the world stage
-growing trend since late 1980s to transform elements of Irish tradition into marketable,modern,syncretic forms.
-The largest scale phenomena in the internationalizing of Irish music was megashows riverdance and Lord of the dance
-River dance helps to create a cultural glue to enact new global syntheses

Black 47

Irish-american band that incorporates irish elements into rock,rap and jazz, Reggae

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