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O'Neill - Music of Ireland, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 5

O'Neill - Music of Ireland, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 5
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periodical Publisher
Lyon & Healy, Chicago, 1905
periodical Editor
[none]
periodical Title
O'Neill - Music of Ireland
volume Number
1
issue Content
(_11Uf?(1bi1cfl( )UThere is perhaps nothing of winch an iri hnian ninyt el iiiore justly proud than the meb alies and music ofhis native land. Whatever tone of feeling they assume,whether of cheerfulness or ol teli(lerness; oh wild 1i ernment or of deep s rro\v, there is in theni a grace anddelicacy of feeling and f ;rce and earnestness of passionsuch as we in vain look for in the music ol any othercour.trv, and which as au unerring index of nationalcharacter is most honorable to our one time land ( iis nig.(onipetent authorities have pu Iclainled that 110country possesses a richer melody luau Ireland. Itsliquid sweetness is almost as boundless as the waterswhich bathe her shores. lit produces the tll)fllOst CUthusiasun in the hearers and will either melt tile heartwith pity or love, or nlspire it with the IlobleSt emotions.On this subject I may be perimtted to quote certainremarks from the poetic i ct 01 Thomas i\loore v1mjustly observes that It has olten he n remarked andstill oftener felt, that in our music is found tile truest ofall comments upon our history. The tone ol defiancesucceeded by the languor of despouldencva burst ofturbulence dying away into s )ltllessthe sorrows f onemoment lost in the levity of the next, and all thatri ImantiC fllixture f mirth nd sadness wh ichi is naturallyP1 )duced by the effi u-ts of the lively temperanlent toshake off or forget the wrongs which lie upon it.Such are the features of our history and characterwhich we find strongly and faithfully reflected in ourmUSiC, and there are even nian airs which recall someperiod or event to winch their expression seemsapplicable.True melody, tile II1US iC of the soul, has 110 iiiortalartist for its invent r. it has been implanted in mansIlature as a pure and ileaveflly gilt by tile (reat 1, an(lthe greatest masters of the musical art in modern claysin Vain attenipt to rival the souipossessmg and uiiafi ctedmelodies of the minstrels of ancient days.Those who imagine that our Iiiiest lilelodies Illust beof modern origin, are not justified by an unbiased studyif the subject. \\hile rfianv ancient airs have beeiielab rated - and improved acc )rding to in ( )re Ill ( dertitastes, the fact Vet remains that tile 01(1 straills haveheeui preserved, and that 0111 111 ist beani ifui Ill eb idlesare tilose whi ch are the most simple. Their origin is\\ ith few- exceptions, invoh ed in the dun obscuritythe past.On the subject of Melody it iiiav llot be il]apPrOIJflate to c uote johm Wesley who wrote Uie Power ofMusic in 1779.Modern musiC has beeii sometjllles observed to havep erful an eu1 ct as the ancient: so tnat frequeniisingle pei souis, aiid souiietimes llUlllC 0fl5 iissenihihies.hav , been seen iii a flood of tears. But w hen was this?( enerahly, if not always. wiuen a fine solo was sung:when the sound has been an echo to tile sense: whenthe music has been e\trenlelv simple and inartifi.ciai, thec i unposer having attended to nelodv, in it harmony.Ihen, and then only, tile natural power (if music toll lO\ e thue passions has appeared. Ihe music was calculated for that end, aild ehi ctuallv answered it.ipon thus ground it is that so mans persons are soniuch a1k ctecl by tlue Scotch or Inshi airs. They arec impi sed, ill t acci irdmg to art, but nature ; theyaresimple Ill the highest degree. There is no ilarmony,according to the l)resetlt sense of the word, therein; butthere is in IIC 11 mehi dv, and tilis is i1( it only heard, butfelt, by all those who retain their native sense.Ireland has l]urture(l composers of note within tilepast Ie\v centuries, w hose strains, whihe they betray anacquaintallce with the refinements of modern musical artstill retain a great deal I Ui e simple and ton chmgbeauty that characterizes the earlier melodies of theircountry.\\hen Giraldus Cambrensis, the Welsh writer, visitedIreland. ill A. 1). 1186, lie found nothing which wonhus adiiiiratioii but its music, which lie speaks of in thefiuh wiug mannerThe attento iii of thus people to milsical instrumentsI bnd ortiiy ol commendation, in which their skill ishevond all conuparisoui superior to thiat of any nation Ihave seen, fur in these the modulation is not slow andsolemn as in the instiuunents ol Britain, to which weare accustuuuied, I)ut tue sounds are ral)id and precipitate,vet at the same tulle s\Veet and pleasing. It is won-derful how in such precipitate rapidity of the fingers.tile musical pmportiolls are preserved by their art,faultless throughout in the midst ol their complicatedmodulations nOd 111(1st iiltricate arrangemefit of notes, ar:tpiditv so sweet, a regularity so irregular, a collcor(lso discordant, tile melody is rendered liarmomous andoerfect. \Vilethler the chior(Is of the diatesseron or diapente are struck together, vet they always begin iii asoft 11100(1 and end in thie same, flint all may be Perfectedin the s cetness (if delicious sounds, they enter on andagain leave their modulations with so much subtletyand the tinglings of the slllall strings sport with soflInch freedom under thie deep notes of the base, delightwith si> iiluc!1 delicacy and sooth so softly that the cxcehlence of their art seems to be in Coiicealiuig it.I unting in his great work The Ancient Music ofIreland pnnted in 184(1, learnedly wrote of Irish Musicand lrisbi i\lusical instruments and describ)ed the wond erftil execution of the harpers of a century ago.\\ilat irelan(l has irretrievabh\ lust (if her musicaltreasures can ii ever l)e estimated \vhlen it is reilleinberedthi at hut little in me than one 111 uth of tine ci )unpositi nisof ( ) Car> dan, the last of tile bards, are now in existence. \cci iuiiing to tra(litioil, O (Ollu lehlaui his famouspredece s ir, C >uiiposed Ul)\vards ul SC en hundred airsi f Inch are now preserved.
issue Number
1
page Number
5
periodical Author
O'Neill, Capt. Francis
issue Publication Date
1903-01-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

O'Neill - Music of Ireland

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