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Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 8

Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 8
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periodical Publisher
Irish Folk Song Society
periodical Editor
[Periodical]
periodical Title
Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society
volume Number
1
issue Content
7aIiiI 1.-rH5Iiili*1].1. 1 iH11 . [ c(iirtij:! II J, 1i t- j_1 1j IJ IJ.FnoM the singing of ALICE KENNY, the same interesting old woman from whom I tookdown the (co i)rw,ichte. See my Ancient Irish Music, p. 42. P. W. JI . I J) I I ) P I- I i .fl .1. I fl Ir c r Thj I 1 . I Jrfl i , ..I-7 . . ,.. --, III tu.FROM memory, as I learned it in boyhood from my father. A good setting of thisis given in Chappells Music of the Olden Time, p. 784, where it is called, TheManchester An el, and is set down as an English air. But I believe it is Irish.p w. .Wanted, $on Craftsmen.IRISH FOLK SONGS are at one great disadvantage. They were originally inspired bywords in another language than the one we now commonly usea language with adifferent genius from that of our Anglo-Saxon speech, and much mare vocal thO nEnglish. If the musical student would look at any collection of Irish music, he wouldnotice that what is common time in England now-a-days was not common time inIreland when the great proportion of her folk airs were composed. Simple triple timeis much more frequent than common time, is a very usual one, and such raremeasures as , , , and are occasionally encountered. These measures are anoutcome of the later Irish. In the earliest times it would appear that Iambic andTrochaic metres predominated, but some three or four hundred years ago theyquickened into Dactylls and Anapm ts metres, with the result that freer and briskermusical movements came into vogue. It is a fact, and a remarkable one, that somemetres of this kind, which Swinburne has by many been supposed to have introduced,are to be found in the writings of the Munster bards. Thomas Moore wasnot an Irish scholar, but he had an intense love for and sympathy with Irishmusic; and his fine ear enabled him, without knowing the originals, to reproducetheir lost measures in English. Where, however, they struck him as not suitingthe modern ear, he made the mistake of mutilating them. For instance,he leaves out half a bar in his Go where Glory awaits thae, written to the air ofThe Black-haired Tilaid of the Valley. He also expanded, or induced Sir JohnStevenson to expand, the air of The Groves of Blarneyone of the mostcharacteristic of Irish measures, of which numerous instances will be found in thePetrie Collectioninto the more modern, and certainly more flowing, form, to which hewrote the words of The Last Rose of Summer. Ignorance of the niceties of Irishmetrical effect prevented his noticing that certain of the Irish metres contained internalor inlaid rhymes, which had their reflections in the music of the old airs, and whichhe did not replace in his English versions. The neglect of this internal rhyme makeshis otherwise most beautiful At the Mid-hour of Night a very difficult poem to scan.Other instances of lrisli airs the better for an internal rhyme are The RoamingPedlar and The Red-haired Mans Wife.Song -air; name Unknown. p w. JoYcE.Qthe Prefl Girls of . Ibbeyfeale, P. W. JoxcE.V
issue Number
1
page Number
8
periodical Author
[Periodical]
issue Publication Date
1967-01-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society, Volume 1, Issue 1

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