Ireland: Irish Traditions and Revivals

# Irish Traditions and Revivals

![BGSU](/assets/bgsu.png)

### Christopher Witulski, Ph.D.

### College of Musical Arts

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# Outline

* Irish traditional music
* Instruments and style
* A revival
* Another revival
* Traditions now

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## Ireland

### What do we know?

### What do we think of?

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## Ireland

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# Some (brief) Irish history

* Small island, part of EU (size of Indiana)
	* Home to 6 million people, 70+ million in diaspora
* Northern Ireland (“The Troubles”)
	* Violent struggle between Protestant majority (two thirds) and Catholic minority (one third)
	* Terrorism, conflicts about British control, with Britain
	* British martial law, at its worst in the 70s and 80s
* Bloody Sunday: Jan 30, 1972
	* British soldiers shot 26 unarmed protesters
	* Increased Catholic and nationalist support for IRA

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# Irish nationalism

* Unlike Northern Ireland…
	* Largely Catholic (93%)
	* Independent since 1949, previously “Irish Free State”
	* Rapid emigration, especially during different periods
	* Led to substantial (and important) diaspora
* Authenticity questions…
	* Imagined Ireland, tourism, “Irish Eyes are Smiling”

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# Irish traditional music

* Range of styles
	* Traditional
	* Neo-traditional
	* Post-traditional styles
* Backdrop
	* Formation of Irish nation and nationalism
	* History of oppression (Irish potato famine) and strife (“The Troubles”)
	* Irish diaspora and transnational flows

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### Sinead O’Connor: "War" (1992)

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### U2: "Bloody Sunday"

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# Irish traditional music

* World famous artists…
	* Are they examples of traditional music?
	* How so? Why not?
* What is their image of Irish-ness?
	* How does that align with what you think of?

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# Irish traditional music

* Five main categories
	* Sean nós, or “old way” songs (Irish Gaelic)
	* Irish harp music (harp is a national symbol)
	* Instrumental airs (often in free rhythm)
	* Songs sung in English
	* Instrumental dance tunes and medleys (our focus)

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### Brid Ní Mhaoilchiaráin: Sean nós example

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### Séamus Ó Flatharta: "Anach Cuain"/"Martin Wynne's No. 2"

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# Other "traditional" instruments

* Violin
* Uilleann pipes
	* Uilleann: “elbow”
	* Chanter
	* Three drone pipes
	* Three regulators
	* Bellows
	* Bag
* Tinwhistle and wooden flute

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### James Kelly: Irish fiddling example

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### Catherine Ashcroft and Maurice Dickson: "Táimse im' Chodladh"/"King of the Pipers"

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### Clip from an Irish “session”

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# What is tradition?

### What does “traditional” mean?

### Who decides?

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# Traditional styles

* Seamus Ennis
	* Great uilleann piper (also tinwhistle)
	* Son of renowned piper James Ennis
	* Important Irish folklorist at Radio Éireann, later BBC

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# Traditional styles

* “Cuckoo’s Hornpipe”
	* AABB form
	* Hornpipe rhythm
	* Varied repetitions
	* Ornamentation
* Style primer!
	* Reel: duple subdivision
	* Jig: triple subdivision
	* Hornpipe: “CO-ca CO-la”

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# Let's play a game! Hornpipe, reel, or jig?

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Margaret McNiff: “Brown’s [?]”

Yo Yo Ma, Natalie McMaster: "A Christmas [?]" and "Mouth Of The Tobique [?]" (at 1:20ish)

Yo Yo Ma, Mark O’Connor, and Edgar Meyer: "Fair Dancer [?]"

L.P. Baxter and Henry Ford’s Old Fashioned Dance Orchestra: "Medley of [?]s"
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### Seamus Ennis: "The Morning Thrush" (reel)

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# Neo-Traditional revival

* Traditional music decline through 1950s
	* 1960s brought musical revival (along with economic upturn), as well as musical transformations
	* More formal, structured
	* Guitar and other chordal instruments added to traditional insts. (fiddle, flute, tinwhistle, uillean pipes)
* Professionalism
	* Competitions (*fleadhs*)
	* Move away from dancing to dance tunes
	* Increasing commodification overall: from domestic gatherings to pubs, concert halls, festivals, etc

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# Seán Ó Riada and Ceoltóirí Chualann

* Cool-Tory Cool-Ann
	* More progressive counterpart to Ennis
* Ceoltóirí Chualann
	* All-star band with piano, bodhrán, even harpsichord
	* Helped revive popularity of the uilleann pipes
	* Uilleann piper: Paddy Moloney, 1963 formed and lead the Chieftains with other members of Ceoltóirí

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### Bodhran solo by Josselin Fournel

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# The Chieftains

* Best-known Irish traditional music group
	* “The Dingle Set”
	* Medley of three reels: “Far From Home” (AABB), “Gladstone” (AB) “The Scartaglen” (AB)
* Instruments
	* Tinwhistle and uilleann pipes (Moloney)
	* Fiddles (incl. guest Ashley MacIsaac)
	* Irish wooden flute
	* Irish harp, accordion, concertina, banjo, bodhrán
* International ambassadors of Irish music
	* Many, many collaborations... for example: Mick Jagger, Ziggy Marley, Ricky Scaggs, Luciano Pavarotti

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### The Chieftains: “The Dingle Set”

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###  Ricky Skaggs & The Chieftains: "Get Along Home Cindy"

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### Ziggy Marley & The Chieftains: "Redemption Song"

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# 1970s, another revival...

* Second generation of Irish music revival
* New generation of Irish musicians who
	* Grew up with other music: rock, jazz, classical
	* Fused these with Irish traditional music
	* Carried on songs, dance tunes, and performance traditions of Irish forebears
	* Often had close relationships with the older musicians (e.g., Seamus Ennis and Planxty piper Liam O’Flynn)
* Iconic bands
	* Planxty, Clannad, Bothy Band, De Danaan, Horslips

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# 1970s, another revival...

* "Modern" sound through instrumentation...
	* Combining traditional and chordal accompaniments
	* Chordal instruments include guitar, Irish bouzouki and others—stylistic elements from jazz, rock, flamenco
	* Drums, other percussion instruments (e.g., conga)
* ...and other influences
	* Traditional rhythms (like the reel) enhanced by jazz, rock, Latin, African, Balkan rhythms
* But, increasing separation of dance tunes from dancing…
	* Though dance revivals also appeared in theatrical productions like Riverdance

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### Planxty: "The Blacksmith"
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# Range of sounds

* A fairly traditional aesthetic
	* Atlan’s medley: “The Emyvale/Ril Gan Ainm/The Three Merry Sisters Of Fate”

* A rock side of this fusion
	* Horslips: “King of the Fairies” (1973)

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# Another revival? Post-traditional?

* Eileen Ivers
	* Not from Ireland, but NYC (diaspora)
	* Won multiple major fiddling competitions
	* Original fiddler in Riverdance
* Innovations
	* Approach as electric violinist, composer, and bandleader
	* Yet fully anchored in Irish tradition
	* Played with everyone from Chieftains to London Symphony

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### Scene from *Riverdance* (1996)
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###  Eileen Ivers & Seumas Egan Band with John Doyle
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# Irish Traditions and Revivals

![BGSU](/assets/bgsu.png)

### Christopher Witulski, Ph.D.

### College of Musical Arts