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Grattan Flood - A History of Irish Music, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 26

Grattan Flood - A History of Irish Music, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 26
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periodical Publisher
Browne and Nolan Ltd, Dublin 1913
periodical Editor
[none]
periodical Title
Grattan Flood - A History of Irish Music
volume Number
1
issue Content
86 HISTORY OF IRISH MUSIC.Gael in Ireland, into the strolling minstrel, and finallyinto the street ballad-singer.Numerous dissertations have been written on thecharacteristics of Irish music, but as a nutshell summingup of the whole question, it may briefly be stated thatnearly all our ancient tunes are of symmetrically shortconstruction, having the emphatic major sixth, and thethrice-repeated final cadence (the thrice-struck tonic atthe close)and with an undercurrent of tenderness, evenin the sprightliest tunes. Apart from an artistic con-struction peculiarly Celtic, there is an undefinable charmabout our ancient melodies that cannot be mathemati-cally expounded. Sir William Stokes, in his Life ofPetrie, thus writesIt was Petries opinion that the music of Irelandstands pre-eminent among that of the other Celticnations in beauty and power of expression, especially inher caoines, her lamentations, and her love-songs; thelatter, by their strange fitfulness, and sudden transitionsfrom gladness to pathos and longing, are marked witha character peculiarly her own. It may well be supposedthat some of these delightful tunes are accompanied bysongs of corresponding simplicity and pathos.Petrie himself thus writes regarding our ancient folk-songs, and his description of their construction isapplicable to numerous old melodiesThese melodies are all in triple or three-four time,and consist of two parts, or strains, of eight bars each,and the same number of phrases, divided into twosections. Of these sections, the second of the first partis, generally, a repetition__sometimes, however, slightlymodified_of the section preceding; and the secondsection of the second part is usually a repetition of thesecond section of the first partsometimes also modifiedin the first, or even the first and second phrasesbutas usual in all Irish melodies, always agreeing with it inits closing cadence.ANCIENT IRISH SCALES.Taken in general, from a technical point ot view, theancient Irish can claim the credit of inventing musicalform in fact the germ which developed into theSonata form. Dr. Pearce, no doubt, wishes us tobelieve that the latter development is due to thethirteenth century Wolfenbuttel melody of the Christmashymn: Corde naii s ex Parentis. However, there is nota shadow of doubt that we have Irish tunes long beforethis periodcertainly before the Anglo-Norman invasionwhich are characterised emphatically by an artisticallyconstructed ternary or three-phrase arrangement, thatis, a phrase of four bars, not unfrequently repeated,followed by an apparent modulation. Sometimes wemeet with phrases of seven bars, namely, of four barsand three bars alternately; whilst a rather unusualrhythm is also to be met with, consisting of four sectionsof five bars each, each section being barred according tomodern ideas into equal or unequal phrases of two barsand three bars. A not unfrequent form of rhythm isnine-eight; and we meet with numerous tunes con-structed on the principle of four sections of two barseach in nine-eight time. The jigs in nine-eight timeare known as Hop Jigs, Slip Jigs, or Slip Time, and,as Hudson remarks, are the most ancient, as well asin general the most effective.But here it may be objected that probably ourancient Irish music was not of a high order, accordingto the canons of modern criticism. To this I shallbriefly answer by quoting five unquestionable authori-ties.(x.) Sir Frederick Gore Ouseley, Mus. Doc., acknow-ledges that long before Norman influence was brought
issue Number
1
page Number
26
periodical Author
Grattan Flood, Wm. H.
issue Publication Date
1913-01-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

Grattan Flood - A History of Irish Music

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