Irish traditional music
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.
[3][4] While uilleann pipes may use their drones and regulators to provide harmonic backup, and fiddlers often use double stops in their playing, due to the importance placed on the melody in Irish music, harmony is typically kept simple or absent.
[citation needed] In the late 1900s Frank Harte composed more ribald songs for the urban pub scene; the genre moved effortlessly from the countryside to the town.
[citation needed] The most common instruments used in Irish traditional dance music, whose history goes back several hundred years, are the fiddle, tin whistle, flute and Uilleann pipes.
Reference to the Irish fiddle can also be found in John Dunton's Teague Land: or A Merry Ramble to the Wild Irish (1698) he says "on Sundays and Holydays, all the people resorted with the piper and fiddler to the village green" Thomas Dineley visited Ireland in 1680 he says in regards to music "with piper, harper, or fidler, revell and dance the night throughout"[10] There's a 17th-century reference to children in Cork being taught the Irish fiddle[11] When the fiddle was being mass-produced in Ireland, as opposed to more local makers, starting in Dublin, with the likes of Thomas Perry (luthier), Thomas Molineux (luthier) and John Neal they heavily based their craft on the English violin makers and most were imported into Dublin from England[12] An instrument was excavated during the 18th century in Dublin that was dated from the 11th century, it was made of dogwood with an animal carved on its tip, it was believed to have been the oldest bow in the world, however it's unclear what instrument the bow belonged too.
The fiddling tradition of Sligo is perhaps most recognisable to outsiders, due to the popularity of American-based performers like Michael Coleman, James Morrison and Paddy Killoran.
[citation needed] Sliabh Luachra, a small area between Counties Kerry and Cork, is known for Julia Clifford, her brother Denis Murphy, Sean McGuire, Paddy Cronin and Padraig O'Keeffe.
[citation needed] Modern performers include Kevin Burke, Máire Breatnach, Matt Cranitch, Paddy Cronin, Frankie Gavin, Paddy Glackin, Cathal Hayden, Martin Hayes, Peter Horan, Sean Keane, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Máiréad Nesbitt, Gerry O'Connor, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Dónal O'Connor and Paul O'Shaughnessy.
Notable present-day flute-players (sometimes called 'flautists' or 'fluters') include Matt Molloy, Kevin Crawford, Peter Horan, Michael McGoldrick, Desi Wilkinson, Conal O'Grada, James Carty, Emer Mayock, Joanie Madden, Michael Tubridy and Catherine McEvoy, while whistlers include Paddy Moloney, Carmel Gunning, Paddy Keenan, Seán Ryan, Andrea Corr, Mary Bergin, Packie Byrne and Cormac Breatnach.
The uilleann pipes play a prominent part in a form of instrumental music called Fonn Mall, closely related to unaccompanied singing an sean nós ("in the old style").
Willie Clancy, Leo Rowsome, and Garret Barry were among the many pipers famous in their day; Paddy Keenan and Davy Spillane play these traditional airs today, among many others.
In ancient times, the harpers were greatly respected and, along with poets and scribes, assigned a high place amongst the most significant retainers of the old Gaelic order of lords and chieftains.
Some of the late exponents of the harping tradition, such as O'Carolan, were influenced by the Italian Baroque art music of such composers as Vivaldi, which could be heard in the theatres and concert halls of Dublin.
[citation needed] Notable players of the modern harp include Derek Bell (of the Chieftains), Laoise Kelly (of the Bumblebees), Gráinne Hambly, Máire Ní Chathasaigh, Mary O'Hara, Antoinette McKenna, Áine Minogue, and Patrick Ball.
[citation needed] However, the harp continues to occupy a niche in Irish traditional music, mainly for solo instrumental performance, or as the only accompaniment for an individual singer.
Other famous B/C players include Paddy O'Brien of County Offaly, Bobby Gardiner, Finbarr Dwyer, John Nolan, James Keane, and Billy McComiskey.
Notable players include Tony MacMahon, Máirtín O'Connor, Sharon Shannon, Charlie Piggott, Jackie Daly, Joe Cooley and Johnny O'Leary.
Their greater range, ease of changing key, more fluent action, along with their strong musette tuning blended seamlessly with the other instruments and were highly valued during this period.
[citation needed] Dermot O'Brien, Malachy Doris, Sean Quinn and Mick Foster are well known Irish solo masters of this instrument and were well recorded.
concertina players include Mohsen Amini, Niall Vallely, Kitty Hayes, Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin, Noel Hill and Padraig Rynne.
[citation needed] The four-string tenor banjo is played as a melody instrument by Irish traditional players, and is commonly tuned GDAE, an octave below the fiddle.
[24] Barney McKenna of the Dubliners is often credited with paving the way for the banjo's current popularity, and was still actively playing until his death in 2012, aged 72. Notable players include Kieran Hanrahan, Charlie Piggott, John Carty, Angelina Carberry, Gerry O'Connor, Enda Scahill, Kevin Griffin and All Ireland Fleadh champion, Brian Scannell.
The former are often too soft-toned to hold their own in a session (as well as having a tendency to not stay in place on the player's lap), whilst the latter tend to sound harsh and overbearing to the traditional ear.
[citation needed] Noteworthy Irish mandolinists include Andy Irvine (who, like Johnny Moynihan, almost always tunes the E down to D),[26]: 38 Mick Moloney, Paul Kelly, Declan Corey and Claudine Langille.
The Greek bouzouki was introduced to Irish traditional music in the late 1960s by Johnny Moynihan and then popularised by Dónal Lunny, Andy Irvine, and Alec Finn.
[citation needed] A frame drum, usually of bent wood and goatskin, the bodhrán is considered a relatively modern addition to traditional dance music.
[30] In the 1920s and 1930s the records of emigrant musicians such as Ed Reavy, Michael Coleman, James Morrison and John McKenna breathed new life into music being played back in Ireland.
Combined with continued emigration, and the priesthood's inevitable zeal in closing down un-licensed events, the upshot was to drive traditional music and dancing back into the cottage where it remained until returning migrants persuaded pub owners to host sessions in the early 1960s.
The Clancys broke open the field in the US in the early part of the decade, which inspired vocal groups like the Dubliners, while Ceoltóirí Chualann's instrumental music spawned perhaps the best-known Irish traditional band, the Chieftains, which formed in 1963.
[33] New groups that appeared in their wake included Moving Hearts formed by Dónal Lunny and Christy Moore and featuring Davy Spillane on uilleann pipes – the first time this had effectively happened in a rock setting.
