jimtrue.com : school : MUH1110 : Assignment Two: Celtic Music
Posted by Jim True on September 11, 2004 7:30 AM. Last Updated October 22, 2006 9:23 PM
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Mention the term Celtic music in modern society these days and usually people will think of two almost entirely different things: either the 'deedle- deedle' fiddle-playing music of Irish jigs and drinking songs, or the new-age, ethereal musical stylings of contemporary Irish & Scottish artists like Enya and Loreena McKeenit. Which is correct? In reality, both are. The former are preserving a traditional style of folk music and ballads handed down from generation to generation, and the latter are inspired by the rich history and tradition of a people stretching back to 1000 BC and are infusing their modern interpretative music with traditional instrumentation, ancient texts and ballads.
As represented in "The Encyclopedia of Traditional Celtic Music" (Robinson), to understand what "Celtic" music is, you must first know what a Celt is. The word origins are traced back to the Ancient Greeks, where "keltoi" was meant to represent certain barbarian tribes; they were a tribe of people occupying a large part of Europe, including France, Switzerland, Austria and parts of Spain. (As a point of trivia, Gaelic, which is the name of the traditional Scottish & Irish tongue, bears quite a resemblance to the word Gaul, which was the original term for France in history, as well as Galicia, a region of Spain). As the Greeks and Romans spread throughout Europe conquering these "barbarian" tribes, the Celtic population dwindled until they only inhabited primarily the British isles and the Western part of France. Remainders of their culture, music and language survived in the areas the Celts had inhabited prior to being conquered themselves and was incorporated into the culture of many of these different regions. As such, when we speak of Celtic today, it represents the Irish & Scots, the Welsh, the Galicians of Spain and other modern day people in different regions who still speak an ancient Celtic tongue and hang onto the music, culture and language of an ancient people.
Obviously, as a people are conquered by invading armies throughout history, or forced to immigrate due to disease and famine decimating their homeland, they strive to retain a sense of history, tradition and self for their children and their children's children; this is often carried within their music. Traditional Celtic music resounds with ballads, historical tales of romance, poetry, war and death. Traditional music is played with instruments like the Irish fiddle, wire-strung Gaelic harp, baritone violin, cello, lutes, guitars, Irish bagpipes (called uilleann pipes), and the tinwhistle (Robinson). The acoustical musical style and lyrics range from dancing tunes and romantic laments, to songs honoring pagan festivals and war ballads (Robinson).
Many of these ballads crossed the ocean during the Irish & Scottish immigrations to America and their stories and melodies were incorporated into the folk music of the Ozark mountain people. A tremendous resource for some of these folk songs, including full lyrics and recordings of performances, as well as the Child ballads, a collection of early British & Scottish folk ballads, were compiled under the Max Hunter Folk Song Collection. In listening to many of the ballads of the mountain folk, familiar Irish & Scottish tunes and melodies are quite evident in the more recent music of these people. It is obvious the Celtic tradition of using music to pass an oral (and an aural) history to later generations in the absence of written history has been maintained. The more current revival of traditional Celtic musicians are also working to maintain their rich Celtic history and culture through electronic recordings of their musical performances that can be passed onto later generations.
Robinson, Michael. The Standing Stones: Encyclopedia of Traditional Celtic Music (http://www.standingstones.com/musencyc.html). Accessed 9/11/2004.
Murray, Dr. Michael F, Editor. The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection, Southwest Missouri State University (http://www.smsu.edu/folksong/maxhunter/). Accessed 9/11/2004.
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