Section A24: Irish Music and Celtic Essence: From Deep in the Bog to Riverdance
The music of Ireland and the public perception of its significance underwent profound transformations during the twentieth century. These transformations were linked to persistent attempts by Irish artists and intellectuals to rehabilitate the Irish language and indigenous expressive culture at the close of centuries of British occupation and colonial rule. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the practice of Irish traditional music, a combination of instrumental dance tunes and vocal 'airs' or songs, was centered in the rural west of the country, the Gaeltacht area where the Irish language also remained strongest. Despite its antiquity, this music was dismissed by the assimilated and middle-class sectors of Irish society based predominantly in the east around Dublin and the Pale, characterized as lowly "bog music."
The composer Sean O'Riada (1930-1971), who in mid-life Gaelicized his birth name from John Reidy, played a key role in the transformation of the practice and perception of Irish music by forming a chamber music ensemble of traditional musicians, rearranging the performance practice--taking inspiration from sources as far-flung as ancient Irish bardic harpers, the Dixieland jazz band and Indian ragas--and bringing this new ensemble to the premier concert halls of Dublin and Belfast. This traditional music dressed up in tuxedos created a huge sense of pride and excitement in Irish listeners of all ages, and led directly to the formation of the Chieftains and a host of other new 'trad' bands by the early 1970s. By the 1990s, Irish music and dance performers had risen to the top of the international touring circuit thanks to the success of extravagant multi media presentations such as "Riverdance" and "Lord of the Dance," which in their programming included choreographic and musical elements from many cultures. Such productions have been key in promoting a celebratory but little-examined sense of Celtic identity, constructing an affinity network of revived, re-discovered and newly self-minted Celts residing across a swath of territory embracing Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Northern Spain and further afield.
The seminar will critically examine the twentieth century revival of Irish music and dance and the construction of an international Celtic identity, through the study of Irish music-historical sources and representative ethnomusicological literature examining identity construction, festivalization and revival.