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Song Lore of Ireland, The, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 69

Song Lore of Ireland, The, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 69
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periodical Publisher
The Baker & Taylor Co., New York, 1911
periodical Editor
[none]
periodical Title
Song Lore of Ireland, The
volume Number
1
issue Content
1QG THE SONG LORE OF IRELANDOf all the men thats breathing, the rover is mydelight, and the song tells how he travels fromtown to town, changing his means of livelihood ineach.In Lisburn hes a weaver,A glazier in Lurgan town;In Armagh hes a joiner,A smith in Portadown.In Dungarvan hes a fishermanAnd often plows the brine,In Youghal a wool comberAnd makes his wool to shine.Let us turn now from work to play. In spite ofher sorrows, Erin has the gayest fancy of all thesingers of the nations. Tier dance tunes are pro-vocative; they arouse all a mans gladness; they arecharacteristic pictures of the Gael in his lighter mo-ments These dances, we must remember, are Ire-lands Gauntrees, her music of laughter, the musicwhich, long, long ago, made the Fomorians forgetcarnage in mirth. Yet, because, forsooth! the oldjigs and reels bring a smile to the lips, many per-sons assume that they must be artistically insignif-icant. Since when has dullness been accounted anattribute of genius? De we enjoy Virgils picture ofthe rival shepherds the less, or Ovids depiction ofSilenus and the satyrs, because they are humorous?Surely our attitude towards these wonderful dancesis spoiled by cant, or we should recognize, withoutcavil or reservation, that they are not merely merryand quaint, but good music, music worthy of theSONGS OF WORK AND PLAY1 27great composers? Beethoven thought so highly ofSt. Patricks Day that he left us a setting of itand Moscheles made a canon of Garryowen.Perhaps people would be less condescending towardsthese folk dances of the Gael, if it were more gen-erally known how striking is the resemblance theybear to the themes of the lighter movements of theBeethoven symphonies. Let the reader compare thetheme of the Scherzo of the Eroica with thespecimens here given of Irelands jigs and reels.He will see that they belong to the same genus.Here is the theme of the Scherzo:Ex. 27. Scherzo Theme from Erolca Symphony.-F - HrE -E HiiiEr-LLJIIreland has two dances which surpass all othersin interest. They are the jig and the reel. Someauthors seek to trace the jig to an Italian source.They base it on the gigas of Corelli and his suc-
issue Number
1
page Number
69
periodical Author
Mason, Redfern
issue Publication Date
1911-01-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

The Song Lore of Ireland

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