Chapter 9‘Not the Same, but Just as Nice’:Traditions and Transformations in Irish Music

A Preliminary Listening Experience

Online Musical Illustration #24 features three different performances of a characteristic Irish dance tune melodic figure.

Listen to all three performances and note similarities and differences.

Irish Music in Context

Since 1920, Ireland has been divided into:

The Republic of Ireland (Ireland): An independent nation with Dublin as its capital. Population of 3.6 million people, 93% of which is Catholic. English and Irish (Irish Gaelic) are spoken.

Northern Ireland: a province of the United Kingdom with its capital in Belfast. It has a history of struggle between the Irish Protestant majority and the Irish Catholic minority.

1949 = full independence for the Republic of Ireland, which was previously a self-governing dominion within the British Commonwealth.

The Irish potato famine began in the 1840s and led to the deaths of 1.5 million Irish people. It was also the main impetus for the Irish diaspora, in which millions of people left Ireland to settle in other places.

Irish nationalism increased in the 1920s, leading to developments like Radio Éireann, the national radio station. It became a symbol of national identity.

Post-1949, urbanization, reliance on manufacturing, and industrialization occurred. The Irish music revival of the 1960s was a reaction to the fear of culture loss accompanying this urbanization.

Interactions between Irish music performers worldwide increased, and even had a great impact on the music “back home” in Ireland.

The session, an informal musical gathering of Irish tunes and socialization, had great influence.

An Introduction to Irish Traditional Music

The core identity of Irish traditional music is found in a well established musical repertoire, consisting of five categories of music.

Sean nós, or “old way,” songs.

Slow instrumental melodies called airs.

Songs sung in English.

The musical tradition of the Irish harp, the national symbol of Ireland.

Instrumental dance tunes and medleys.

Sean nós songs are sung in Irish Gaelic. Connoisseurs consider it the heart of Irish traditional music and it has influenced most other genres of Irish music.

CD ex. #3-4 features “Ag an Phobal Dé Domhnaigh,” a dark sean nós love song in the Irish Gaelic language.

CD ex. #3-5 features Noel McLoughlin’s performance on “Song for Ireland,” which is not a sean nós song but displays aspects of sean nós influence. Note the ornamentation of the melody, the rhythmic phrasing, the understated delivery, and the melodic variations.

Musical Guided Tour

Irish Traditional Dance TunesFollow along with the transcript on page 165 of the text as you

listen to the Tour for this chapter.

Audio Musical Guided Tour

Traditional Irish Dance Tunes and Medleys: Two Examples

Irish traditional dance tunes and medleys are often performed by ensembles in contexts such as the ceílí, an informal social dance gathering held at a pub or dance hall, or the much more common session, in which musicians perform traditional and newer tunes in settings not usually featuring dancing.

Gatherings like these function not only as music-making events, but enforce friendships and community.

Instruments employed include the fiddle, the tinwhistle (an end-blown flute with six fingerholes), and the uilleann pipes (a type of Irish bagpipe—see below).

Insights and PerspectivesIrish Music and Celtic Music and Cultures

Irish musical and cultural identity has traditionally been framed in terms of a Celtic cultural lineage. During ancient times through the early era of Christianity, the Celtic people ranged across much of Europe. Today, their cultural legacy survives mainly in Ireland, the U.K., westernmost France, and some regions of Canada.

Characteristics shared among Celtic musics include:

Prevalence of melodies in certain modes.

Identifiable melodic ornamentation.

Use of certain instruments, forms, and dance rhythms.

Close integration between music and dance.

Seamus Ennis

Seamus Ennis was one of the greatest uilleann pipers and a very important figure in the preservation, cultivation, and dissemination of Irish traditional music.

He learned the uilleann pipes as a child and was performing on Radio Éireann broadcasts by the age of 21.

He worked for several organizations: the Irish Folklore Commission, Radio Éireann, and the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Neo-Traditional Irish Music and the Irish Music Revival

Socioeconomic changes throughout the 1950s included industrialization, urbanization, and increased manufacturing. This resulted in fears of cultural loss and a growing interest on the part of younger Irish people in traditional Irish culture.

The Irish music revival began in the 1960s and led to new recordings of traditional music, an increase in Irish traditional music competitions, and ongoing transformations of the music on multiple levels.

Sean Ó’Riada and the Transformation of Irish Traditional Music

Sean Ó’Riada (1931-1971) is a seminal figure in Irish music transformation. In 1960, he formed the ensemble Ceoltóirí Cualann. These musicians invented a neo-traditional Irish music that was absorbed into the mainstream traditional music scene.

He restored the status of the uilleann pipes, which had fallen out of favor, and introduced the hand-held frame drum known as the bodhrán as a newly important rhythmic instrument.

The Chieftains

The Chieftains, led by the uilleann piper Paddy Moloney, is arguably the most influential of modern Irish traditional music groups.

Their influences are heard in the music of virtually all subsequent leading Irish groups, and they have collaborated with musicians such as Mick Jagger and Ziggy Marley.

CD ex. #3-8 features “The Dingle Set,” a medley of three reels: “Far From Home,” “Gladstone,” and “The Scartaglen.”

The 1970s: Second Generation of the Irish Music Revival

The second wave of the Irish music revival featured musicians with a more cosmopolitan and commercial vantage point. It included Planxty, Clannad, the Bothy Band, and De Danaan. One one level, they created a fusion of Irish music with rock, jazz, and other styles. On another level, they continued the song, dance tune, and performance traditions that came before them.

CD ex. #3-9 features “Bean Pháidín” by Planxty. It is a darkly funny song that showcases the innovatively traditional technique of the second generation of the Irish music revival.

The Modern Ensemble Sound of Irish Traditional Dance Music

The following list summarizes some of the main features of the modern ensemble style of Irish dance music.

Performances typically feature groups of performers rather than soloists.

Chordal accompaniment from instruments like the guitar and bouzouki, once not used, now figure prominently.

Drums (e.g., drum set, congas) and other percussion instruments are often used for rhythmic accompaniment.

Traditional Irish dance rhythms are often enhanced or transformed through the influences of jazz, rock, funk, and other music styles.

Musical textures vary considerably, even within the course of a single performance. Melodies may be simultaneously played on different instruments, phrases divided among soloists, or there may be changes in instrumentation from one section to another.

Rather than functioning largely as dance music, it is now mainly considered music to be listened to but not danced to.

Insights and PerspectivesThe Irish Bouzouki

The Irish bouzouki is a flat-backed hybrid of the original Greek bouzouki and the mandolin. It came into Irish music through Johnny Moynihan in the late 1960s.

It is now one of the standard instruments of Irish music, used as a chordal instrument along with the mandolin and guitar.

Its introduction aligned with other influences, like the use of Greek and other Balkan rhythms in Irish dance music styles.

The Post-Traditional World of Irish Music: Crossing Bridges with Eileen Ivers

The Irish diaspora resulted in the establishment of many Irish communities internationally, and their members tenaciously preserved and creatively developed Irish music. New musical styles cultivated by Irish diaspora musicians began to influence musicians in the Irish “homeland,” and a new wave of cross-pollination and transnational musical culture began.

Eileen Ivers is representative of that transnational culture. She is an Irish-American fiddler and her work spans an eclectic range of musical styles: neo-traditional Irish, Irish-rock, Irish-Latin, and Irish-African fusion.

Ivers was born to Irish immigrants in the Bronx, New York City, and was raised surrounded by Irish music and dance. Her multicultural upbringing influenced her musical tastes, and she ultimately applied aspects of rock, jazz, Broadway, and classical music to her own music.

She began playing fiddle at eight years old and won the All-Ireland Fiddle Championships nine times.

CD ex. #3-11 features Ivers’s band performing “Gravelwalk,” an innovative arrangement of a medley of three old-style Irish reels served up with hard-driving rock-Irish grooves.

Comparing Ivers’ “Gravelwalk” to the music that preceded it brings to mind the old Irish saying: “It’s not the same, but it’s just as nice.”