Carpe Diem #1500 Where the rivers flow, Irish folkmusic

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you have had a wonderful weekend and that our new weekend-meditation has awakened your muses. I had a good weekend, for the biggest part by the way in my bed, because I am on the nightshift.
I have tried to catch up with commenting, but didn't catch up with the Summer Retreat, maybe that I will do this night or this week.

Before the weekend started we visited Afghanistan and now we are traveling back to Europe, to be precise ... we are traveling to Ireland. In my salutation I use "travelers" every day and it happens to be that travelers, a kind of gypsies, are original from Ireland, so maybe they influenced the traditional folkmusic of Ireland too. This is by the way our 1500th regular episode here at CDHK. Another nice milestone I would say.

Irish Music Group

Let me tell you a little bit more about traditional Irish folkmusic. Of course I have used the online source of knowledge at Wikipedia, partially re-written or shortend.

Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland.

In A History of Irish Music (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there were at least ten instruments in general use. These were the cruit (a small harp) and clairseach (a bigger harp with typically 30 strings), the timpan (a small string instrument played with a bow or plectrum), the feadan (a fife), the buinne (an oboe or flute), the guthbuinne (a bassoon-type horn), the bennbuabhal and corn (hornpipes), the cuislenna (bagpipes), the stoc and sturgan (clarions or trumpets), and the cnamha (castanets). There is also evidence of the fiddle being used in the 8th century.

There are several collections of Irish folk music from the 18th century, but it was not until the 19th century that ballad printers became established in Dublin. Though solo performance is preferred in the folk tradition, bands or at least small ensembles have probably been a part of Irish music since at least the mid-19th century, although this is a point of much contention among ethnomusicologists.

Irish traditional music has endured more strongly against the forces of cinema, radio and the mass media than the indigenous folk music of most European countries. This was possibly because the country was not a geographical battleground in either of the two world wars. Another potential factor was that the economy was largely agricultural, where oral tradition usually thrives. From the end of the second world war until the late fifties folk music was held in low regard. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (an Irish traditional music association) and the popularity of the Fleadh Cheoil (music festival) helped lead the revival of the music. The English Folk music scene also encouraged and gave self-confidence to many Irish musicians. Following the success of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem in the USA in 1959, Irish folk music became fashionable again. The lush sentimental style of singers such as Delia Murphy was replaced by guitar-driven male groups such as The Dubliners. Irish showbands presented a mixture of pop music and folk dance tunes, though these died out during the seventies. The international success of The Chieftains and subsequent musicians and groups has made Irish folk music a global brand.

 

Historically much old-time music of the USA grew out of the music of Ireland, England and Scotland, as a result of cultural diffusion.

 

I love this kind of music it makes me happy.

pot of gold
not at the end of the Rainbow
lucky music

(C) Chèvrefeuille

Well ... I am late with publishing, but I hadn't enough time to create an episode. So this episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until August 26th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on.