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Ceol na hÉireann / Irish Music, Volume 1, Issue 3, Page 65

Ceol na hÉireann / Irish Music, Volume 1, Issue 3, Page 65
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periodical Publisher
Na Píobairí Uilleann
periodical Editor
Chairman, NPU
periodical Title
Ceol na hÉireann / Irish Music
volume Number
1
issue Content
122Ceol na hEireann_______- Irish Music123LirmheasannaReviewsAN POTA STOIRCEOL SEITE CHORCA DHUIBHNESET DANCE MUSIC OF WEST KERRYFeargal Mac Amhlaoibh le Con Durham. Pub. Inn, An Daingean, Co. Chiarraf1994. 53pp.For a good while, during the 50s, 60s and 70s, the primary function of Irishdance music seemed to be generally forgotten, as the music went through aperiod when most of its adherents (most of these newly won) were content tosit and listen as great music was played by great players. This was the era whichgave rise to the Cdiii Band competitions in which (professedly) dance bandswould play to an audience of listeners whose only physical reaction might be totap their feet. At least the bands which already existed at the time could and didplay for dancers on occasion. More recent times have seen the foundation ofcdiii bands, successful in competition, who do not, because they can not, playfor dancers.The foundation of The Chieftains, and later Planxty, the Bothy Band and all theothers that followed was also the natural outcome of such a climate. But it wasinevitable that the musics original purpose would at last re-assert itself, and thisit did in the late 70s and early 80s when the massive revival in set-dancing gotunder way, a revival which is not yet exhausted and whose full effect can yethardly be guessed at. Some of the effects are of course already visible. One isthe proliferation of dance bands around the country. Just as a listening publicmade The Chieftains and Planxty likely propositions, so now a dancing publicis providing a market for dozens of newly formed dance bands. It has to be saidthat this is both good and bad news. Many of the new bands provide music thatI would regard as being as good for the ears as it is for the feet. Others, alas,dont. But they survive because many (most?) of those recently attracted toset-dancing, having little or no previous contact with the music, cannotdiscriminate between good and bad, and will support any band that provides agood bang on the dance floor.During the listening period the reel, jig, hornpipe, air and perhaps slip jigreigned supreme. All the other measures were given fairly short shrift, as far asofficial recognition went anyway. The polkas, slides, highlands, flings and allthe others seemed to be regarded as not quite kosher. They rarely made it intothe collections or onto the records. Part of the reason for this is probablybecause they are such resolutely dance tunes, rather than listening tunes. InKerry and Cork certainly, the local repertoire of sets was almost totally boundup with the local repertoire of polkas and slides. This, of course, provided themain reason that they were under suspicion. As set-dancing was still held bysome to be foreign it was natural to regard the set-dance music in the samelight. A beneficial outcome of the dance revival has been the increased exposurefor our repertoire of polkas and slides. As the dozens of Munster sets havespread and become popular bands have had to learn more and more polkas andslides to play for them. And, surprise, surprise, there are plenty of them there.My own estimate is that there must be between 300 and 400 polkas incirculation, and between 200 and 300 slides. This is perhaps five times what Iwould have guessed ten years ago. Up till recently very few of these had beenpublished. The collection of Johnny OLearys music which I edited, and thepublication under review, appeared almost simultaneously and between themcontain over 200 individual polkas and slides. There is overlap, as one wouldexpect from collections made at different ends of the same county, but thefascinating thing is the extent of the material that seems to be particular toCorca Dhuibhne. About fifty percent of the tunes in this collection do not seemto feature in the Sliabh Luachra repertoire. Many of them have become familiarto a wider audience through the playing of Breanndn 0 Beaglaoich and that ofhis brother Samus. The publication of them in this volume is most timely andWelcome. There are some blemishes, such as duplicated items (eg 23/31, 29/41,43/54) and barring and beaming errors (19, 53, 59), which are a minorannoyance but do not really detract from the value of the book although theyshould be corrected in any future edition. The tunes here have been collected bylocal musicians from local musicians, including the renowned Dlaigh. Themusic here is the real thing. The book should be bought by every musician andenthusiast.Terry Moylan
issue Number
3
page Number
65
periodical Author
[Various]
issue Publication Date
2001-01-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

Ceol na hÉireann / Irish Music, Volume 1, Issue 3

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