Companion to Irish Traditional Music

The Companion to Irish Traditional Music is a landmark, easy to use A-Z format for studying, exploring and researching one of Ireland’s most universally recognisable cultural expressions.

Among the existing publications on Irish traditional music there are works of monumental initiative and deservedly enduring status. But the radical development in this music scene since the 1960s mark it now as an established part of Irish cultural life and demand new kinds of information. The commercial side of the music has evolved and consolidated, generating a new set of standards, popular music dynamics and significant music tourism. The music’s expanding profile within the academic system too has created fresh approaches to playing and study, with a growth of academic research interest, and many major studies published or presently under way. In relevant and accessible ways The Companion uniquely draws together the oldness and newness in all of this: the practice and the study, the aesthetics and the analysis, the competing interests and diverse ideals.

The editor Fintan Vallely is himself an accomplished musician and music writer. He has harnessed the expertise of some 200 specialists from all aspects of traditional music, who in more than half a million words and 300 images present the most comprehensive image of Irish traditional music ever assembled. This detailed mosaic is coloured by history, ideology, scholarship, virtuosity, romance, satisfaction, pride and internationalism, all appropriately flagged by the cover’s use of Maclise’s fabulously energetic Snap Apple Night.

This second edition is not only revised but also greatly expanded, and has much new information, including material never before printed and unavailable elsewhere. In 1,750 individual articles and as many more sub-sections The Companion gives A-Z coverage of song, dance, instruments, bands, storytelling, technology, tunes and style, composition, organisations and promotion, education and transmission, collectors and archives, revival, broadcasting and recording, English, Scottish and Welsh music and song, and music in all Irish counties, Europe and the USA. This commentary and analysis is linked to an historical timeline which spans three millennia, and a publications listing that covers three centuries. Six hundred biographies detail the human endeavour of the field, documenting significant musicians, commentators, historians, promoters and composers, and extended entries cover major themes such as song, dance, education and the elements of style.

The Companion to Irish Traditional Music is a key reference for the interested enthusiast, session player and professional performer. It is also a profoundly comprehensive, one-stop resource for every library, school and home with an interest in the distinctive rituals, qualities and history of Irish culture. And it is a vital resource for all levels in education, particularly valuable at third level as both textbook and research resource. The book is uniquely backed by the provision of a parallel website – www.companion.ie - which guides structured exploration of the text and fully integrates it with the existing vast and magnificent range of traditional music internet resources.

1101387101
Companion to Irish Traditional Music

The Companion to Irish Traditional Music is a landmark, easy to use A-Z format for studying, exploring and researching one of Ireland’s most universally recognisable cultural expressions.

Among the existing publications on Irish traditional music there are works of monumental initiative and deservedly enduring status. But the radical development in this music scene since the 1960s mark it now as an established part of Irish cultural life and demand new kinds of information. The commercial side of the music has evolved and consolidated, generating a new set of standards, popular music dynamics and significant music tourism. The music’s expanding profile within the academic system too has created fresh approaches to playing and study, with a growth of academic research interest, and many major studies published or presently under way. In relevant and accessible ways The Companion uniquely draws together the oldness and newness in all of this: the practice and the study, the aesthetics and the analysis, the competing interests and diverse ideals.

The editor Fintan Vallely is himself an accomplished musician and music writer. He has harnessed the expertise of some 200 specialists from all aspects of traditional music, who in more than half a million words and 300 images present the most comprehensive image of Irish traditional music ever assembled. This detailed mosaic is coloured by history, ideology, scholarship, virtuosity, romance, satisfaction, pride and internationalism, all appropriately flagged by the cover’s use of Maclise’s fabulously energetic Snap Apple Night.

This second edition is not only revised but also greatly expanded, and has much new information, including material never before printed and unavailable elsewhere. In 1,750 individual articles and as many more sub-sections The Companion gives A-Z coverage of song, dance, instruments, bands, storytelling, technology, tunes and style, composition, organisations and promotion, education and transmission, collectors and archives, revival, broadcasting and recording, English, Scottish and Welsh music and song, and music in all Irish counties, Europe and the USA. This commentary and analysis is linked to an historical timeline which spans three millennia, and a publications listing that covers three centuries. Six hundred biographies detail the human endeavour of the field, documenting significant musicians, commentators, historians, promoters and composers, and extended entries cover major themes such as song, dance, education and the elements of style.

The Companion to Irish Traditional Music is a key reference for the interested enthusiast, session player and professional performer. It is also a profoundly comprehensive, one-stop resource for every library, school and home with an interest in the distinctive rituals, qualities and history of Irish culture. And it is a vital resource for all levels in education, particularly valuable at third level as both textbook and research resource. The book is uniquely backed by the provision of a parallel website – www.companion.ie - which guides structured exploration of the text and fully integrates it with the existing vast and magnificent range of traditional music internet resources.

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Companion to Irish Traditional Music

Companion to Irish Traditional Music

Companion to Irish Traditional Music

Companion to Irish Traditional Music

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Overview

The Companion to Irish Traditional Music is a landmark, easy to use A-Z format for studying, exploring and researching one of Ireland’s most universally recognisable cultural expressions.

Among the existing publications on Irish traditional music there are works of monumental initiative and deservedly enduring status. But the radical development in this music scene since the 1960s mark it now as an established part of Irish cultural life and demand new kinds of information. The commercial side of the music has evolved and consolidated, generating a new set of standards, popular music dynamics and significant music tourism. The music’s expanding profile within the academic system too has created fresh approaches to playing and study, with a growth of academic research interest, and many major studies published or presently under way. In relevant and accessible ways The Companion uniquely draws together the oldness and newness in all of this: the practice and the study, the aesthetics and the analysis, the competing interests and diverse ideals.

The editor Fintan Vallely is himself an accomplished musician and music writer. He has harnessed the expertise of some 200 specialists from all aspects of traditional music, who in more than half a million words and 300 images present the most comprehensive image of Irish traditional music ever assembled. This detailed mosaic is coloured by history, ideology, scholarship, virtuosity, romance, satisfaction, pride and internationalism, all appropriately flagged by the cover’s use of Maclise’s fabulously energetic Snap Apple Night.

This second edition is not only revised but also greatly expanded, and has much new information, including material never before printed and unavailable elsewhere. In 1,750 individual articles and as many more sub-sections The Companion gives A-Z coverage of song, dance, instruments, bands, storytelling, technology, tunes and style, composition, organisations and promotion, education and transmission, collectors and archives, revival, broadcasting and recording, English, Scottish and Welsh music and song, and music in all Irish counties, Europe and the USA. This commentary and analysis is linked to an historical timeline which spans three millennia, and a publications listing that covers three centuries. Six hundred biographies detail the human endeavour of the field, documenting significant musicians, commentators, historians, promoters and composers, and extended entries cover major themes such as song, dance, education and the elements of style.

The Companion to Irish Traditional Music is a key reference for the interested enthusiast, session player and professional performer. It is also a profoundly comprehensive, one-stop resource for every library, school and home with an interest in the distinctive rituals, qualities and history of Irish culture. And it is a vital resource for all levels in education, particularly valuable at third level as both textbook and research resource. The book is uniquely backed by the provision of a parallel website – www.companion.ie - which guides structured exploration of the text and fully integrates it with the existing vast and magnificent range of traditional music internet resources.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781782050148
Publisher: Cork University Press
Publication date: 11/16/2011
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 856
File size: 11 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Dr Fintan Vallely is a musician and writer on Traditional music. He was a critic with The Irish Times and The Sunday Tribune, and has been a university lecturer on Traditional music in Ireland and abroad. He compiled the first-ever tutor for the Irish flute in 1986 (new edition in 2013—The Complete Guide to Playing the Irish flute), and in 2008 published Tuned Out—Traditional Music and Identity in Northern Ireland. Among his numerous edited books is the 1999, 2011 and (t.b.p. 2024) encyclopedia Companion to Irish Traditional Music—which has a related touring show and CD, Compánach, and a DVD, Turas. Just completed is Beating time—the story of the Irish bodhrán, a unique, substantial history of the Irish drum. He is an Adjunct Professor with University College Dublin, and in 2023 was awarded the TG4 lifetime achievement award, Gradam Saol. [www.imusic.ie, www.comitm.com]

Read an Excerpt

Clannad. Comprised of Máire Brennan (harp,

song), Pól Brennan (guitar, song, percussion,

fl ute), Ciarán Brennan (guitar, bass, song), Pádraig

Duggan (guitar, song, mandolin) and Noel Duggan

(guitar, song); ‘Enya’ Brennan, Máire’s sister, joined

in 1979. Formed in 1970 through playing at the

Brennans’ father’s bar, Leo’s, at Gweedore, Co.

Donegal, they began with local festivals, then

moved to playing in Germany in 1975. Already very

well known, respected and successful in Ireland and

Europe, they gained a yet larger audience through

their performing of the signature tune for the 1982

TV series Harry’s Game, this reaching number five

in the British record charts and gaining them an

Ivor Novello award. Their 1984 Robin of Sherwood

track gained a British Academy Award for best

soundtrack. Enya went solo in 1982 but the group

continued to play on a quieter schedule. Clannad

created a particular ‘Celtic-hush’ style of popular

music that made great use of electronic enhancement,

this adding a hallmark mystical quality to

the band’s interpretations and arrangements of

original and traditional Irish-language Donegal

song. The influence of this is heard in other performers’

styles, notably that of Aoife Ní Fhearaigh

and in many ‘Celtic’-style recordings today.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Acknowledgements
Using the Volume
Contributors
The Companion to Irish Traditional Music
Chronology: A Timeline of Irish Music in History
Published Material Relating to Traditional Music
Index
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