21
Cbv."a nn Cb.01 TIr. hreann N• .,l.thr of tbe Folk 1Iv.e1c Soc!..t, of Ireland Beal taine ,.,
, o , T , , T
Rs c.nt ".etingtl' 1I01i nahed' e Chronicles pl\ge 2 'Pi pe r s 1n London' , "hlk e r' . Hi bernian )fagaloine' ) '.s1:l11 folk .. v.~lc ' ) 'Fa ulkner' " Jov.rne l' 6 '1Iv..10 on t .. o flutes ' 6 'Dubltn Cour"nt' 1 'C~ercial recordine of B wehh Folk-Song Society lO Irisb trad itional ..uaic' Diecoer'"phy 10 Selllinar, 'Rel1g10v.. f olk song' : 'Tbe r ilel tn.di tion'. concert 17 '}!v.sic of reUgious son gs 11 i n lr18h' ' C.ol ' Y, 2 18 'Scotthb Ceel1 c pe .. 1.,,, ' 12 lilUe Clancy SlmVll e r School 19 Eaeter ph, 14 ' B:reton Nativity song' Id Na Ploba!.r! Ullleann 19 ' Bar dic religlov.s bymn e.nd 15 ' War acmga of tba O'By:rn ea ' 19 Ita ,"uetc ' Art, Council 20 Discussion 16 Bro.de.!.de ' b.llads' 17 'Tba long note' :Xl Sonea by Psddy Tunney 11 A. C. 11. 1982 :Xl
Tbe nut .... ting will b. a Double B I. 1 1 ,
~lNl'RODUCl' I OJl TH E
FOR D E COL L E C T 1 0 II ~
C , , , , h • 1 l " " l i , 8 art,,1 "T , , FE , S C 'Cl , , , , S , , OS I Coo " I' , , e .. n d i " " 8 1\ t b n "' , SaturdeJ' 22 lI.ay 19B2 lit Bp . ... , 15 Henri ll tb St DUBLlIf 1
For l h .. l ..s t mee ting of the seaaon eee las t page , "Pi rerr< , " Lo n do n"
f' I l' FR S I , I,O NDON
Th ~ 1";; )- :(' "e~ " on ... a t. he(,.. m in tt,e Arts Building , 1'r1n1 t )'
Colle ::~ , Dublin, on 3 Octobe r 1981 with " sboldng of the 001- Our v; rle otll"e Pipers in Lonao'l given in associat ion with tI,e
Denn rtm .. nt of Irish in the college. The tal'
l eann 1'1 pers, took OveT the Batters"'a Arts Ce n t re, mOUllting !! T'iping exhibi ti on "nd reci t als "nd ettr!lcting piPin g enthusi
!lsts of every denomination from ell over Bri t "in , ae ~ell ae
lOcal ~chool ohildren and residents .
Tho e~hibltion oond"ted of h'el ve s e ts of pipes , sh old ones on loen from t he National Museum !lnd sir modern I ear ly iconoe r aphic and modern photographi c displays ; and demonstra tions of p1Pe-mnJcing and r ee d-ma king. There w", .. casu"l un schfldu1ed piping during t he day , recitals at 1unch- ti."1 e an d at nig ht , "nd a concert t o finish.
AS 1I'ell es evokin/,\' t his varied activity, the taPe contains an introduction t o the inst ru"'ent by Breandan Breathnach , de monstrations of the skills 01 pipe and reed-making by Dan O'Dowd , snd p1ayin/,\' by Jimmy O' Brien-Moran, Paddy Keen an, Li.am 6 Ploinn . IInd Seamus Enn!s. (See also no 16)
In the IInme moneth [May 15~~11l1so pa!lsed through the <:it io of London in warlike manner, to thbagpipes before them: and 1n St Jllmes Park
b
- Holin5hecl.'s Chronicles (in Ceol V i , 1981 , 22) C e 0 I T { r e 21 1
Courten"y tho celebrntod performer on tbe Irish pipos died lately in London of a droPey whicb. be wae uupposed to have contractod by hard dri.nk i ng. 'I'he body was interred in tbe churchyard of St blncras. 'I'he procoosion that attended tbe body wao exceedingly numerous. The number of those in mourning could not be lesa than 80 or 90 couples , who were preceded by two Iri oh piPers, one of whom played on the Union Pi Pee uBed fo""erly with such wonderful effect by Lbe deceased. All the expenses of the funeral were defrayed by CaPtain Leeson, into wbose corps be had some time since en listed a nd been appointed a ser geant. - Walker' s Ulbernian magazine Dublin 1794, P. 287
W E L S U F 0 L K LI U SIC
Tbo folk music of en other country io alwaYs of in t erest, bOLb for its own Bak e and f'or the lig bt thrown on our muaic. When the country io our close Celtic neighbour thie intereot ia especially keen. D. Ray Saor, flond of tbe Folkloro Dept in the Welsh Folk Museum, Cardiff, presented an illuminating sur vey of Welsh f olk music at a meeting on 14 November in Bus well'e Hotel, Dublin . Mr Saer joined the Museum in the early 1960s and since tben be hae collected ex t ensively from Welab l anguage eingere . He is ed! tor of the Welsh Folk Song fuc1ety Journal and has publiahed a collection of songs from oral tra dition snd articles on Carol singing .
Ch the evidence of twentieth-century recordings tbe Irish and Welsb ethnic vocal traditions a re s trikingly dissimilar.
The styl e of WelR~16n guaee singers recorded in the field does not greatly alter that impression . Whether male or fema-Ie tbey have large resonant voices, pitched low, with forceful projection, often e lot of vibrato , and a leisurely tempo. "'11' e 1 " h f 0 1 k lII u s i c" lJynsml<: va riation end ftn c, nim.'\htd emoHon,,} deHve ry li r e comm On . IIhytlat e Pa U ernB a r e Bimple end melodJ' 11ne" undecor at ed. There 111 litt le rubato.
Th ere i " , howeve r, eom e evidence thftt before 1650 t he t wo
t rftditlcma we r e IOo re alike . .e16h alnging la'Iderwent !I dr..... '"""
tic ch ~nf: e In the Vlctorlftn Period . This W(1.8 brought about by ths promotion of con6Tegll tlona l a ingi ng In the eervice" and f en tivah of t he Hon-Con fol1lli et Chapel, the church o f !no"t l 'e18h spe/l.kers. The Ideal W/l.II dow, firmly projected , uniform s ing ing direc ted by a pr ecentor. Variation wc,,, f or b idden. Slurring "nd nll$a llty were to be eradicated . The i n
troduction of tonic eolf" In the ch"pel-based char,.} eoo i~ ties f rom 1661 brought sbout wl deepr ead mU ll lcal I lterlloy. The oral w~a deprecieted , and by th't end of the century the bulk of the nati on wall wlIII vllreed i n the traditl0ll9 of er t lIuslc. The Elnteddfod movement , beSlnnlng In 1615 ftnd oPerating from vilh,r,c to notlon,, 1 level , fo~t o red a ge l f-consciou9 and for.,.. 81 at t itude t o lIulIlc-m"klng throue:h the anll1.J'aee And pro nounce .. entn of 1 te adjudicator s. Seculsr singing even In the or ll l t radition wss e ffected.
Tbe r e is plentJ' of eighteenth and nlneteentb-centurJ' evi dence of ethnically dietlnc tlve , or llll,1 tr"nsmiUed IIO nga which l'I\o s ed from region to reGion and deve l oped 10clll veri
IIntll. Such nre o Ull ~o be found in lIIanuacrl pt, In t he .ehb Polk Rong Socte tJ' Journal , and In the BBC and WPM " rehivee .
Love eong" predo.. l n"te, ... 1 th som" humorous longs IInd quite (I
few rltu~ 1 sel\90nsl e0ll8a. "ela~l",ngu"e:e 00llg
Homo formo of tradltl on{l. l olnglng "ere pr ee erved by Church ,,"d oh"pel. The tr(ldltton of cnrol Ring ing wna verJ' vlgofou" in th". ch ... peh of North "nleo , wh i ch h"d unique enrlJ' 1I0 rnlng (5 o 'c.) enrol services . The r eol htton of blhlicel texta to C e 0 1 T { l' e ,
orally received 'tunes' in t~e Sunday schools may be medievel
in o r igin . Hwyl , the me lodic chanting of t he ~ore emotional Pa rts of a sermon. is a t leaet aB old as the eighteenth cen tury.
The eiateddfodllu preeerved p eni l1~ singing , the d nging of traditional utaJIzas t o harp accompaniment. Originally the si nge r .se re ~u ired to match his vers es spontaneously to any tWle the ha r per might play . but no'. tile proCtlss is formali sed and complex har moni sed a rrangemen t s ar e tbe rule.
Tbe ins tru~ental tradition withered with the sln~ng and in so:!!e places disappeared . The medieval beI'dic tradit i on r e coS"" ni eed tile hlyn and the c"th - the lIat'P and the crowd _ but botb declined with t he end ing of arietocratic patronaa' in the eigh t een th century , and the ha rp, having changed trom a Gotllic to the l a r ge triple harp form do~lnant in North Wales, only eurvived because of the elsteddfodau . The re wss a strong fiddle traditi on in the eifhteenth and nineteenth c enturies, eepecially in the South- lfellt . The bagpipes we re etill played in .eddine proceseions in the late nineteenth century. The eingle- reed pibgorn or bor npipe W/l1I played into the nineteent!l century. Recauee of its aseociation with dancing, instrument. al music wall suppress&d by tbe churches and bad ~lmos\ disaP Peared by 1900.
~r Saer plsyed 9 wide rang& of recorded &X9mples: an early humorQUS song cf proteFt in tbe concert style. a narrative ' $ tllble-loft s ong ', " Cbri ot mas c"rol 1n thret'- P"rt lI11rmo ny, 8 cbl\nted biblical te:rt, a !!..!.t!.. an enrly "nil a late penl11ion. so",e triple-barD pieces. revival lIinMn£:. and tbe crowd at Cardiff Arms r"rk 8in&1n6 n hJ= in 'll'ell' I(ordecai Ployd hath hken the Red Lion Inn at Con_a,y 1n Cs rns T'van shtra, between Chaster and no llyhe~d, which 1, v&r y well furn i s hed wi th all Naoeollsriell for Man end Horse, a nd 18 a ve ry good ~t!l8ter of tbe Welch Harp, on 'O'bleh I~ IItrump.nt he P},a,yll very well, and 111$ Wife l s a most excell ent Cook, 88 lIIany Ge ntlemen in tlll8 Country can 1.8'U(y • .• - Paulkner' , Dublin journal, :n July-l! Augus t 1750 At the V.USI CK-HALL 1n Fishamble Street For t he Benefit of Mr . Evans, a Pe rformer on the WELCH HARP On Mond ay the ll!th of ~8 rc h wl11 be performed several favou rite Pi ecee of Musick on tht In 8 tr~~ent , of Coreli, Vlvaldi , and Han del " Works , and Iri s h, Scotch and WelCh Airs, with Vari ations, after wbi ch a SALL . To begin a t 1 0' clock Pre ciae1y. Tick.ete at 5e . 5d . t o be had a t the ".usiek.-Hall, a nd of Mr . Evens a t Mr . Do wl a n'~, raper Stain er, Temple bar , where any co~ands left will be punctually obeyed on timely Notice . N .B. Mr. Evans hae had the Honou r of per for ~ ing be f ore the Royel f amily , end ",oet of the prinCiPal Nobl 11 ty in Great Eri t a in , a nd waa educated under the di rection of Lord Le Deipencer. Tickets of t he 7 th will he hken the Illth. - Faulkner ' " Dub lin journ .. l, 20-23 Februa ry 1768 14 U S I C o. TO 0 F L U TES Whe n the itineran t h~rPflr Artn.ur O'N e ill visited IIr Irwin'e houae in St re ams~own, co. Sligo, in the 1780e , the forty-oix mUlli ciBns preeent inCluded 'lix 'ge'ltlemen flute,,'. A gen eta tion Ot so later, after s century o f popu1ari ty, the flute ba- 8"an to 1011110 favour in euch well-to-do circles and to find Ita _aY increas ingl , into the hande of poorer country mueiclnn" • • hile flu t es deecr ibed e e 'coarRe ' were being imported into C e 0 1 T f r e 7 Ireland in the mid-seventeenth century, the i nstrument s of the Strssmstown gentlemen would heve been of the traneverse, coni cal, keyed type developed by the court musicjans of Louis XIV at the end of the 16008, a tyPe known variously in Ireland as the Ger~an, timber or concert Clute. The dispersel oC the in s trument am ong traditional players took place a l l over the country, hut, for reeeons no one seems able to explain, t r ad i tional flute-playing is no.. e t its strongest in the counties of Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon . Prank Jordan, a flut e- player (lnd e farmer from near Castle rea , Roscommon , gave a recital at a meeting on 5 December in 15 Henrietta St , Dub lin, and in conversation with Breand~n Breathnach spoke of his life and music. In many ways Frank is typical of traditional mueicians who grew up in the 1930s and 40s. Havin& learned first from his father and older local mUsicians , he emigrated to Birmingham and played there with musicians from a ll over Ireland . For some t ime he was a mem ber of the Birmingham Ceili Band. Since returning to Ireland he has played regularly at sessions in cC . iioscommon and fur ther afield . He has a strong, confident , rolling style , and his repertory. mostly reel'!, ranges from the set tunes of bis youth througb the stand"rd ceili b;U1d tunes to material learnt from recent records . Frank .,.". s accomp"nied i n much of his recital by Frank Con neoly, ",nother flute-player frcm ne~r C:Hltleren with ~hom he usually plaYs in dUet . L09 t on the 8 th of this Inct . October, t be fore FArt of an r.bony Germen Flute tipt wi th Silver. Whoever has found the s .Jme and brins s it to my Lord Drogheda's. Shall h~ ve three naI f Cro.. ns Reward . - Th e Dublin cnur" n t. 10 October l721 8 "Comlllercial r e cording" THE CO:l J.lEIICIAI. REC O R D llOG IR I SH TR ADITI ONAL MUSIC 1900" - 1980 ~n lJl\l~tl ' llt e d t l\ ll< on the history of t he commerei"l "ound re cardinc of Iri 'lh tradl ttonP.l mueie ,,:as gi ven on 30 Jnnuary l')82 1n 15 Hen r i etta St\ Dublin . by Nicho1n" Carolan , .... ho ie co~ pi ling (l d i~cograPhy o f Irish t r "dlt1on.d Illude under the .!I.U ~ pieu of the Soci ety. Edition' s invention in 1811 of a mecil!ne that both r e corded and reproduced Bound ga ve ri8" in the 1890" to the 1118u1n8 of commercl " l recordings on cyli nder and diac . Al though'lrl oh 80ngs ' .... e re included in " Columbia catalogue of 1891 and Irt8~ ,,"e n w"re a ctive 1n Ame rica from the s tart of 00="r01,,1 recoNT ing. the first figure of traditional in terest waa Patsy Toulley, the o1' n1'''8,,1 ooa1 ul11ellnn piper, who ad vertised a 111/1.11 order "erviee " t the turn of the century by ... hlch a buyer could s e lect t unM from a 11 8 t of 150 for recordlne on cyli nder. From the bet:lnnlng dnnce music .'M ,,'ell :'!e rved by tb, medi mll . ..bile sinE;ine wa e neehcted untU the late 1950s , though 1I0000e com ~ sll- yes ..e re published in Dlgland in 1900. Virtuoso pIa.yeu reproduced the dllsh and 11 f e of t he mus ic pl!!yecl in the city COlll!Tlunltiu of lrloh America as II dequa tely e8 the technoloey ~llowed . but those few tr"dlt1on" l :'!ongs t hat .. ere recordftd - including a few in lr i~, h datina from 19(M . 1916. :\nrl ellflechlly thft 1920s - ... !! re perfoI"'lllld by concert Bolohtfl in e non-traditional manner. Co="rchl recording came of at':e in t he 1920s , the decade of electric recording . wi th speci al Iri nh ",!!ries from the big Americ"n campan! !!s . IIml\ll Irish-American specialist comPaniell . lnerflalled recor d ing of Iri sh pe rformers in l.ondon, r ecording t ours in Ireland . tentative steps t owards an I r isb recording industry, ,.nd "bove all gr aa t virtuoso player s. The r ecordo ------C a 0 1 T f r ----a 21 ------9 of Conlon, Ennis , Cole~n, the Norriaons , and a dozen others, sold in thOusands and helped destroy Iri s h regional styl es . Ireland it1'lelf waa , for ,,]most fifty years , aimpl y 1'1 rr~ vlnciel market of the English and Engli s h-basad American com Panies. A few small and desultory efforts were made to se t UP lrieh cOftlpantes in tha 1920s, hut they were short--lived. Tile i mpor t tariff policies of Se~n Lem us finally forced 00 and De cca to f ound Irish-hlls ed operations in tha late 1 93011 . These t"o cmpanies dominllted the ~ark. e t with Amarioan r e- i ssue!! and incr easi ngly with I r ish instrumentalists , 'ba11ao singera' and cei11 banda until the end of the Irish 18 ara in 1960. The ~t Iris~ olmed r ecord company after the 1920s waa Walton' s , founded In 1952. Tbe recording of the mus i c In Ame !"" iea never prOPerly recovered after the Depression , II nd a lthou!;h the e;reIIt reoor ds of the 1920s are s till re issued and bought II nd great playere have since a risen, the big American Companies eventulllly t"etreated from the shrunken mark.et and 1IIitll the changeover to microgroove rscordinSs in tile eerly 1950s left it to the specialist c~P8nle8 . Thll h.st tIoenty-five yell r s has been the best period for tbe pubHe!l.tion of tbe music in IIOWld . Some .... merican-publillhed field recordln{"fl ,. .. r e the fornrunners of the 1951 Gael-I,inn 1811 e. nd since then, through the aeU,,1 tiell of GMI-Linn, Topic, Cl addlle;h , CCE , Lellder, Fre~R ee d, QIIL ,et. Sb81laehie e tc. , hun dreds of hours of a uthentic mus ic h a v ~ belln made availabla. 10 Di e c 0 e Ta p h y Hardl y a ref!1.o na l tradition re"'aine Wlupreeen ted. Thil! Per iod of re-dhcovery , reviva l and 1 .. 1tation hlls also u,en much tha t i s eTaat?. concepte of record production that are i ni",i cal to the material, and a rate of IIx l'uiment ation and forc ed cllange that devs lues tt . F.lIBt'lplee were given from the pla,ylnB,/lI1nglng of P"hy To~ bey, John Xillltlel, Itioha!!l Coleman , John .11.0081.11£81'1, Leo Ro ...... SomB , Ka thleen Collins , ~lia lIurphy, .th .. !merald Calli Band , J'lanxty and JOB Cooley. NiCholne Car OlsI'! W E L S H F OL X-S ONO SO CIETY CYIIDEITHAS ,I, LA 1II'O lf G 7I'ERIN CYIIRU Following Hoy Sasr' e excellent leetllre 11'1 Nove=ber (see p. } ) 1t was felt very de ai r able to t ry and sUB t ain contact be tween our Society and the "-81311 Folk-Song Society. Any of our member s who want information "bout the 'Welah Society can g~ t it initially from Our Sacret/lry, or Can write dir ect to W. Boy Sae r , Head of t h e De pt of Folklore Amgueddf a Werin Cvmru '!!'alsh Folk ),l usaUIII , St Fagen:; , C:lrdlff CF5 6';B . DISC OGRAPHY We c onrr atulate our Kon . Secretary Nlehol"" Carol!!n nn the n"'"lrd of IIn ... r t~ Council bursary to enable hi!!! to J»Iroue fur ther 3f.eld his 'Work on d i n c o(;ra rh,y (lIee p. 8) . Thi!! !lUlIIIIe r he will vl ~ it institution" In Britain and America. Th e project dosl! wi th lrts h folk music and will eove r the whole period of recor d nubliBhlne from the beglnntn!:: of t he cent ury do"n to the pr e.~ ent . C e 0 1 T , , 11 WRfLIGIOUS r 0 L K SOli G " S~'U'o.l3y 27 hbr~ory 1982, 10 ~ .•. - 6 p .... Na Piobaid UHloann , 15 H"nri~'ta Street, D Ou r first all- day event proved 1I great success . It was lItten~ ed by a varied snd distinguished membership of ahout fifty five, .. ha t ook Part actively 1n discussions throughout the day. The Ser.retary has provided the following , necessarily brief, account of the proceedings. AS Part instigator of these, it gives me great pleasure to prefix to hia account our best thanks to all the contributors, and to Maevl! Csrolan for tak ing carl! of catering Ba ..ell . The Committee plans to hold another all- day seminar in the near future . Hugh Shields 1I01r(n 1/ ( Riainl 'The musio of religious songs in Irish' Noirln Ni Riain is the author of a thee is cn thie subject , ,,'bich first caught her attention on account of the singularity of a traditional Munster ve r sion of Seach'!. ndolas na M~ighd1n e ~\ui r e ( , Seven sorrows of Mary · ). From her o.. -n collecting , from printed sources, priVate and archival tapee , commercial recordin~ and same manuscripts, she oom piled a bnd.;' of mateti,.l com ;:> risins teferencee to ne .. ly eomponed songs , ~onf;S in whioh text and tune ..'e re united only by the editor, :lnd (1 represent ative colleetion of about forty five authentic sones. Th'lse inst fell into three eatel:Ories, songs in I!.mh r ~ .netre. numeric,.l cerals and hall/lds . The IImhr~n songs, co.... p03ed by lmo"n poet s to prll'""exisdng tunes , ..e re tern ~ ry in fol'Tll .. ith four re"ul,.r phrll."es in the verse nnd no r efrain. l? "Re ligious rill k ~ 0 n g" T,,~hl': Oaehch b S~Uleabh;in ' 8 Arei T 18 lilt! sr. ..s ehnal!!h is " t ypi cal "x~"'i>l" . The numeriClll car oI. include only ~ nd ol~8 n il 1:"1glld1",, Muif'lt ,.nd 5".. <;:lIt .,udlcfI n .. loI aigbdlne Hu t:-e ( ' Seven joys ••• ') . Th"ae ha ve " r e!r ,,!n which r epeats t hfl tWO-Phr ase mus ic of the verae . The b" l l"d e , such ae Hym Dhomhnach Callca '- " ver eion ot the Ch err:r: tree carol vs :-y 1n fOI"nl and music but are united 1n having narrative r~ 1181ou8 content. The tunes of relig iClus aon gs b"ve connections "lth thOS8 of other form" of tradi tionll l song. Tbo~e used in narratives eucb. aB An bhllinh posh." hId i eC~n" ( ' Wedding feast.t Cllna ' ) .." re s11l0 used f or the Ossiantc laYSI the elghte ent~ centur.y religiou8 poets ulled such popular IIecul"r tunee "e Se~n 6 Duibhir an ghl n nns; s nd there h II r ue",bh.ncf! i n 8 t yl e a nd s tructure between t he c a 01nte on religious subject . an~ .eeular ca01nte Or l&mf!nts for tile dead . Illus t r a tions SWlg by Nolr!n herself we re' A R{ a n Domn !!A!.!:E, Csoinesdh Wh\l1re and Se acht ndolo.s na liIa i ghdin , lI\li r e . Ter encl/ McC!\u ghey, 'The Sc"ttish GIII/UC pssl m,,' Th i ~ I'.per . illu.1 t uted by rp.cordin /'3 , d""l t with the hi Qtory pnd ch"racter o f t hl/ GaeUc me trica l pll a lmod .v still u3 ed 1n th~ Scottinh Highlnnda ~d i r,l~nj~ . C e 0 1 T { r e 21 1] It _s a principle of Jean Ca\vln , .. ho walJ very mudeal, that since praise had t o be given bacle to the people , the dif fi cult proae PSalma and canticles should b, translated into the vernacular in metrical versions . One note was to be lJ et to one lIy llable, to facllihte even tholle with little musical sleill. In the mid- lIixteenth century. trane lators and mu,i cbnlJ were se t to work in Geneva and PIJ,1 tera were produced . Thelle metriclIl psalmll wllre the only form of lIinging ulled in tha Reformed Church in Scotland after 1560. The translation of the psalm '" into Gllelic In tbe seventeenth century presented difficulti ell , as the combination of lIyllllbic melodies and fixed II trellll met re waa very a trange t o Caelic eara. Eventus lly in 1694 a good metriCal v,rlJion of the 150 PlJalma waa prodUced , employing only twelve different tunes. Since the majority of aaelic apeakers were illiterate they were instructed in t he PSalms by a precentor who intoned a l ine and was t hen Imita ted by the congregation . The chant. ulJed were not the cOlI\II!on-met r e tune" but lee", to have been largely pre-Reformation ones remembered by the precentors. The imported tunelJ were made mod a l and pentatonic. The baatc principle of one note to a ayllable "a" ignored . Nowadays in church, .. ban t he minis ter has rend out the en Hre PSalm , the precentor bep;ins singing the first bo lines. The conereeaticn joins 1n by de greea ae it recogni ses the chll1lt selected. giving a swell ing effect . The third and eub sequent lines are eunC twice, first by the precentor, then by the group. The Ilinginp; 18 not unison but heterophony . ?ople deliberately s1ng elower or faster then their neighbOUr , de corate differently, and enjoy the dieeonances created. The re lIult ie e unique blend of the individual end the communal , with the s himmering eff.ct cre R t e~ followed by a e rea t etill neel. Even among HighlAnd exile" in the citiee the tradition " "R e 1 i g i 0 U B f 0 1 k son g" rema ins s trong . In reply to q ue(ltiona: Inc truction in tbe psa lms is oral. Tbey s re used in all reformed oburches except the EPiscopalian . E a s t e r pIa y The morning ended with a performance of tbe Dublin liturgical Easter d r a~a preserved in manuscript from the fourteenth cen tury. Th i s play ..as associa ted .. ith S.t John's churoh (near Ch r is t Ch urch) an d belongs to the tradition of European reli gious dl'ama. in La tin obent . It represents a subject po pular in folk s ong = the Res urrection, with the three I.!arys a t the tomb , t he An gel a nd the d hciples Peter and John. It would normally have been performed a t an e a rly bour before Matins on Easter DaY . The singers were s tuden t s a nd staff of Trinity Coll ege, Du~ lin, B e ~ trice Aird, Orainne O' Dwyer, Bernie O'Sul11van , Niall Le on" r d , Fr Earn onn J.j cC a rthy , Hugh Shields, a ssi s ted by Tom M\lllnell ~· . Don 3. tien La urent : ' .~ Breton Na tivi ty s ong ' The of t"rn oon s ession was opened by Donatien La uren t , Director of the Centre d 'Rthn o logie de l e: Fr'l1lce , Brest . He pres ented 11 lI "ti vity " OI'lg in Sreton pn p"l n r befor .. t he Sec ond ',I'orld 'A'a r , and GPoke of its antecedents . It oms us ed a s" beeging s ong by y OllJl {' people goin/; r OW1 d hou11 e" on Ch rir,tmnr; Or New Ye n r's Eve, a nd tell s how Ms ry fI n d Joseph , fri endleGs in Bethlehem, were asr< i s t ed hy B,r idget, a s ervant g irl without eyes, nos e or nrn:S . f, cting ss ,",, !'y ' s mid.tife she waa rewa rded b.y becomi ng wh ol e, nnd ... ' a~ a. ~si gn ed " feaat d:!y pr eceding th"t of Ma ry. "he p ~me stor y i s f ound i n :: cot h n ~ ~ n d I r e1on Donatien pleY l'Id t ... o versi on s o f the 8Ong, both in the Vannes dielect of South Bri ttany. One waa aung by tenor end choir, the usual manner of hymn-ainging in church. He r ecor ded the :'I econd one some yaar a ago from a ~/oman born in 1907 ",ho had 1 t from her gr andmother throueh her f Ather. It is very full , has an interesting melotl.y with a pentatonic second Part, and a text in r hythmic prose for the narrative and in sPoKen and sung ver8e f o r the dialogue: a sort of Chantefable. It derives from a play populAr in Vsnnes in the seven teenth century . But the Bridget episode di d not appear in tha play and wa a obvious l y inaerted b.y the people. It muat ba I!fl cient and maY have come from Ireland . The mirRcle of t he midwi fe is at leas t sa e!lrly liS the e econd c en tury and i a IIIso fOWld 1 n medievd French . The eone is 8 fusion of Judaeo- Cb r isttan and Celtic elements of popula r religion . I n reply to questions: The miracle of the midwife occurs in some continental ballad versione o f the ~i r 8cle of \he borlne tre e (' Cherry- \ree enr ol ' ) , but this c ombi nation i s not kno'Olf! 1n Brinany. Tbe !li neer uneri l1~tle variation in recit. ing the prose !I11 T-t. B re ll nd~n 6 M l'Id !l.g~in : 'A bardic reli Gi ous poem and i t s mudc ' Pro!. 6 Ma dagai n presented a recent discovery which bringa to- gether the t e xt and muaic of 8 bar dic religi ous hymn some cen turiee old. I n e previous t a lk to t he Society (Ceo.l Tire 18) be bad concluded that the sa~ in d of ,"us ic - recihtive chant - waa ua ed in I rela.nd for t he verBe p"rt of the ea oineadh or folk l/1ment , the s tres!'ed marbhnll. or learned elegy , the syllabic mltrbhnll. , the li!oithe or Oflsinni c laya , nnd bardic r eligious 16 ~ R e 1 i « i 0 U $ f 0 1 k S 0 1\ g" 3nd other ver ae. Hin evidence f or itn una I n b$rdic religiou$ verse wa s the 1873 statement by Eugene O' Curry that his father Eogb!lJl Mol' niehtly eanB a t hirhenth-century bardic hymn to the B1esaed Vi r gin t o the 'air of these O$s lanic pieces' . O' Curry wbo claimed to know t he air extremely ••11 did not name the hymn hut gAve ite firs t stanza_ Breandan found many copies of the full poem among the R. I . A. manu Bc ripts. It le entitled there SC iethluirsach I.!h uire ' Breastplate of lIary' and 111 essen tially in t he syllabi c r anna{ocbt bhse8 metre. GeaTgs Patria, O' Curry' s clos8 friend end 8880c1ate , has preserved an ai r wi th the 88me t1tle, and bie note that it is the melody of 'en ancient hymn, also the melody of 0881an ' 8 poem of T. l1s ' ~e8 csrtai n that it iB the air for the te~t , Breand;n Bans six verses of the byrm , the -..ordB from 11. II:S of Mi ch eal 6g 6 L o n g~1n. Words and m" lody fitted togethe r without diffieulty, The music fill I 11. i nto four ver ce lines , 1s M1 xolydian and haB a chan~llke c hara cter. The Waterford ain~ er Labhras 6 Cadblalgb ssng s fragment of Caoineadb Airt U{ Laoir e to the Bame a ir, fur ther evidence of the connectionB mentioned above. D1ec u 6e io'n Tbe 3 eminnr ended wi th /'I discussion inl tiated by Se&n Us c nea lIIO) nn (IITr:) and Canon Coelett Quin , Seoin spoke of the place of mUsic in rdieioue Practice and welCOIIIed oppor tuni ty f or bett .. r a cqua.in t.o.nce ",ith old• traditionll. Coslett recalled personal e xperienoea collecting rellc-loua aonga 1n lrioh in DonflP"l from tho 1930a. AS well ,,3 ranging over t he 8 .. bje c~ matter of paPere , diacussi on eugeested thAt versions of r eli noua folk sone- IIho .. ld be lande /'Ivailable in print for those inh·rested 1n rev1vine t heir U8e. C e 0 I '[' ! r e " 17 Brondoide 'balladll' Th.r ee nIneteenth-century broadnideo ",ere reprinted for the 00" cosion by permiesion of the National Library end Trinity Coll IIge, Dublinl ' The new Christmas carol ' 1461'111, Belfallt , ' Chrlotmas carol', n.".d. (1\nother ver{llon of the preceding) , end 'Christma!! carol'. n.p. d. (text in Irhh). A COP1 wa6 given to oach Partic.1P8llt and ..ill be lIen t to membera who "ere n ot I1t the seminar. FUrther copiea will be available to pur ChAIIlI1 more of thie (n the next ne .. eletter. Son g 11 b, Paddy Tunney Dl l1 cuollion merged imperceptibly into 11 IIhort conc ludlna reclt el of reli gious eong8 end 60n8s of r eligious interest in g-,~ Hob, /JiveI' by Paddy TWlney from bia Pereonal eXPerience of Ulnter tradition, llI1d introduced by him in n colllDentery. t:be Real t:R.aDit:ioo A Concert of Irish Tf:1di Cion:11 l\'lusic The e8s6ntial neturalnees that 18 the hallmark of traditional muaic hnll been overl a i d in recent yellr8 by the ar tif1c1slitiea o f lar8e venues, amplification , 811lfconecl ouII ensllmblll playing 81Id the comOlunicationll mlld ia. Aco ulltic functional music, non virtuoso and non-commerclnl , do;nestio In ecale, le nn 10"8er the norm, although of course it eurvivea "'idely. There are no. almost t",o broad types of traditiona l music, one ex1eting in the old ' nntural' a tate and the other in the surroundtnse of the new technology . A rsquest to the Society from the bOard of the ne .. National Con cert bnll to nrg..nille i te flrst promotion of 'relll' tradi tion",l music gl\ve nome 1nnight3 Into what t he music .,,0 3J'd wbnt it hl\s bscome. ThoU8h the hall 18 very large it is tuned to 1\ muaic acouotio and h3s 0 public nddres8 "ystsm. It 10 PlC Q 0 1" 11: 2 expensively decorated , well equipped with rehearsal and dres& ing room'l and hnn a1 r-eady in a fcw months hecome the leading venue for- music ill Ireland. " sub- conoml t t ee 0 f the Soci e ty decided on and engaged the performers and organised the programme. A certain degree of virtuosi ty was l ooked fori a concert audience demanda amaze men t ",i th i ts en tertainmen t, and they ..ere sk ill ed in p1 !lYing to big audiences. Fireside performers could have been Over .. b(!lmed by the venue. To reduce the incong rllity of rnu3ic and setting the hell was darkened, the performers spotlighted and tbe P.A . system not llsed. ~'his worked moderately well. Music and singing were quite audible though sPeech was often loot, especially when Perfol'tllero named their tunes. A det" Ued record of the concert follows. It took place a t 8 p. m. on Friday 12 MarCh 1982. Special admission ~teo a~ plied to stud(!flts and school Parties. The performers were: I.!ary Bergin (Dublin/Oalway, .. histle)j Paddy Burns (Newry , flute)1 Seamas Glackin (Dublin, fiddle); Nan Chrialla1a (Car w (l0 lI['ln(; in Dl~liah r eplacing Ceordie Hanna (Tyrone) recently relelllled from hospital. 700 attended and seemed happy with the entertainment. l1ich0111. 3 Caro1an "Ceoi"VI2 Hot on the heels of VI} comes V:2 with a substantial range of articles: Sean Donnelly .. rites the second of three on the hi8'" t ory of the piPes , and {\ note on musicians in the diocese of Elphin; Maev ut Ghl!.llchoir contributes anotber children's C e 0 1 T 1 r e 19 g ll me; Cathal CoMl gives t.o tnterell ting 1I0nr:s in IriSh frol!! lIe11 11 11 1 Dh<)!II!maill , Rl\na fas t; B re and ~ n Brea thna ch pree ent s SellmU Il Enn!s and a IJ election of hi ll music , and .rites on the nineteent~century piper Johnny Pa tter60n. ' fl et"een Under thia title BrellJld~n als o outlines the ..orKi ngs of the index of dance mu a ic he ha" been engaged on for many yeaTa and IIppeals for help with informa tion or loan of materi a l. There is no causa more deIJerving of our aupport. WILL18 CLANcr S U J.! J.l E R SCH O OL The School will take place during the .eelt 3-10 July, at 11/11- town Malbas aa us ua l, where as ull u"l information may be ob t"ined from "'utri! 6 Roch~in ( phone 1J 1ltown, co. Clare , 68 ) . Contributors "ill include Br eand~n Breathnach , Seoir se So~ ley, Protn!lias 6 Conlualn, Datth{ 6 h6g a, in , Padraig 6 Fian nachta; the usual cl aslles .111 b e held, witb a ne. one on dancing given by JOe Donovan. N A U ILLSANN The headquarterIJ of the PIpers ",t 15 Henrlett a St "ill b e cf flclally opened by the Lord "" ayor of Dublin on 28 1I a,Y . Aa far aa ..e e r e c oncerned , t hey have, o f cours e, been open f or a I ons time . \l'e take t hi s opportuni t y of thanking t he Piper s for their ho!': pltlLlity I'lIld congratula ting them on an a ch I ev~ ment tha t no one c ou l d hev e t hought poa ll t b le a fe" yea r s agO. !dean.hile, 8 n ew number of their news letter An P!oba1re - not s urpri singly - hRs j u !< t IJPpell:red . S 011 G S O F i! E O' S YRllE ". A R T C L A N' II r " ilU !!m G. lIy me wr1 t en f:r om ChicR60 t:ryint to trece a book A nnual General ". eetin g with th\ $ titl e fro~ wh ich 'in 1958 , while vi si ting a aong f e~ tiv/ll /I t 1,11\11£:011 en , 'II'alea , I hea rd a quartet of Iri sh c o nte s ~ Ants 8ing ~ sele ction ' an d of whieb 'one Ame r i can Irish 8cholar does have 1\ vAgue lIIelllory ' , Any infor mation reader s can send will be for war ded to him , A RT S G OU NCIL The variety of our programme over the Paat year i s due in lar ge mel\511 r e to the enoouragement and DUpport of the Arts Council "nd i t s Tradi tional !o\usic officer. We 8cknowlede;e with pleasure and appreciation the gr ant which the Council made available to cover loss in connec tion with tbe runni ng cost 8 of our activitie8. ' T H E 1, 0 N G N OT E' Thin 8e880n it has been pleasant to ~'elcome to our prograllll'le the producer and Preaenter of the 'Long Note' , Harry Brsdshaw and E~m onn F"itzeerald . They recorded for transDliseiOl'l itellla frOll! tbree meetingll l Roscommon flutell , rel1g1ous folic: song, end the concert . The sub8equent broadcasts got wide atten tion ~ nd could be listened to by members unabl e to b s at the meetinPfI. The ' Long Note ' is the main radio pr ograllllle on IT iah folk musi c and goes out on Mondays a t 7 . 03 p.m . on RTE r a dio 1, 529m . med i um wave. We gladly recommend it. MEETI N G A. G, W. I 9 a 2 Don't for'}e t the lact meeting of the sell90n , the A. G, M, on Saturd'lY 26 June lit 8 p.m. in 15 Henrietta St, Dublin I A no tice about 1t 1& enclosed wi th this newslet ter and to IHl ve post sge 11 0 OrHF:iI IIOTICE WILL BE S ~IT.