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Píobaire, An, Volume 1, Issue 10, Page 17

Píobaire, An, Volume 1, Issue 10, Page 17
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periodical Publisher
Na Píobairí Uilleann
periodical Editor
Chairman, NPU
periodical Title
Píobaire, An
volume Number
1
issue Content
(91)1lWILLIE CLANCY AND THE STUDENT PIPERIn the piping world the cruel loss of Willis Clancy has meant much to all of us, most ofcourse to those who had a long association with him over the years, to those who haveknown and admired the lifelong devotion to music which made him one of the reveredfigures in traditional circles in recent years. To us younger people who come to NPUfor lessons on the pipes Willie occupied a special place of regard as one who was aunique source of encouragement to us- in several ways.It was to him that we looked firstly for the crucial reassurance that a high level ofachievement is not impossible for those who begin to learn the pipes in their late teensor twenties. He was a late starter himself and in fact the learning process which beganmuch before he began to play the pipes was something which never finished for him: itbecame the creative evolution of his style throughout his life which in itself is fascinat-ing to retrace in the various recordings we have of his playing. The most diverseinfluences were absorbed into his piping, the vigorous- - and freeflowing style of JohnnyDoran, Seamus Ennis clarity and purity, the wonderful recordings by Touhey, Carneyand many others. His feelings were reverential for the old pipers, for Garret Barry andCumba OSullivan and he had unshaken devotion to Seamus Ennis as the completepiper, the one who had fused in his music the idiom of the pipes with that of the languageand the songs.For me the typical Clancy tune is a jig of strongly modal character, played slowly andwith something of a craggy martial rhythm to its triplets and crans. If we listen longenough to his playing, especially of this kind of jig, we can begin to hear an intenseinner language in which he seems to bend and stretch and compress his phrases in anatural and spontaneous way that is totally his own. He had a quirkish and enquiringmind that sought out and valued the uncommon tunes or the uncommon way of playingwell known tunes and it is this, coupled with an acute instinct for the language of thechanter and the tunes to suit it, which forms the Clancy style whose influence can beseen everywhere, among pipers, fiddlers, fluteplayers, accordeonists.Somehow through his openness and receptivity he seemed to us to be the piper who bestmanaged to keep intact the freshness of approach and interest which cuts acrossgeneration gaps instantly. He never allowed either his personality or his music to setinto the fixed mould of the smiling public man he could so easily have become.Cruel death has put an end to Willie Clancys piping : but he is still alive to us in themany recordings we have of his music which speak to us invariably in that uniquelypersonal and satisfying way and finally, as in the Bold Trainer 0 or Fraher s; Jig, withthe authentic voice of the great music of the pipes.(((((((0)))))))A dhuine Uasail,I write to you because we are both pipers (if I can presume to call myselfthat) and thus share a common loss in poor Willies death. As Sean Reed so aptly putit on the day of the funeral, we were all consoling each other.Apart from the permanent sense of loss which is overwhelming, we sufferthe loss of more than just an artist. For me Willie represented the old way of life (athing I value beyond words) and this bealach an tseannois came through so stronglynot only in his piping, whistling or singing but in conversation with him, in hishospitality even, and in this day and age when what he stood for tends to becomeso watered down and artificalised through bright lights, his loss is so much greater.con td
issue Number
10
page Number
17
periodical Author
[Periodical]
issue Publication Date
1973-04-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

Píobaire, An, Volume 1, Issue 10

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