Modern Music

     As it is said in the 'Encyclopedia of Irish History and Culture', “Irish traditional music, at the beginning of the twentieth century, was generally played, sung and danced in the domestic setting.” Singing was an important occupation while working or simply as entertainment. Although most musicians and dancers were not professionally dedicated to music, they spend their free time singing, dancing and playing instruments in groups. Usually, those groups were make up by the members of the same family, and so the songs were orally transmitted from one generation to the next.

     But by the end of the century, this background suffers a complete change. On the one hand, instead of the performances in rural areas, there were music festivals, and radio/television studios; and instrumental music was most commonly played for listening to rather than for dancing. The intention of becoming widely known and being understandable for more people is the cause, little by little, of the decrease of spoken Irish.

     On the other hand, instruments were more easily purchased and the foundation of organizations for the promotion of Irish music (as Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in 1951; or Cáirde na Cruite in 1960; Na Píobairí Uilleann in 1968), made possible the increase of listeners and also new musicians who were taught in this kind of music. Also the growth of three different varieties of dancing: set dancing, céilí dancing and step dancing. The Set dance derives from the French dance 'quadrille'; Céilí dancing and céilí bands, were groups which used Irish dances composed for its promotion; and Step dancing, was taught by dancing masters and controlled by the Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha (Irish Dancing Commission), which organized dancing competitions known as feiseanna throughout Ireland and overseas.

     In the U. S. these bands started using drums and pianos, and soon after, the same happened in Ireland thanks to the development of the means of communication. In the 1920s and 1930s some famous musicians from the U. S. were for example Michael Coleman¹ and James Morrison. Another significant change in the 1960s: the voice (and not only the instruments) was given importance, as it is shown in New York with the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem², and both in the U. S. and Ireland, The Dubliners³ and The Wolfe Tones⁴ were significant.

     I powerfully recommend you to see these videos so that you can have an idea of what am I talking about:

     Unfortunately, after this decade Irish traditional music became a minority because of the diversity in the music available. But musicians like Seán Ó Riada introduced a fussion of Irish traditional music with many other genres and innovations (like the bodhrán). He was particularly known for being the first person to introduce Irish music to the concert stage; some of his compositions like Mise Éire⁵ became really popular, so much so that nowadays it is possible to find multiple versions of the song; (I chose this video because it also shows some beautiful irish landscapes).

The Chieftains^{I; 6-7} and Ceoltóirí Laighean developed from Ceoltóirí Cualann. And Míchéal Ó Súilleabháin, combined plenty of genres.

^II already posted some of their videos in my previous entries, but as it is one of my favourite bands of Irish music, I will post two more of them just in case you want to listen to them, but they have lots of really good songs and collaborations with another musicians and bands:

     As you may see, nowadays it is performed professionally and not only in Ireland or with Irish emigrants abroad but also among non-Irish people. By the 1970s there were groups as Planxty⁸, Horslips⁹, De Danann¹⁰, The Bothy Band, and Moving Hearts, who played fussions of genres and instruments. Stage shows of step dancing as “Riverdance¹¹,” “Lord of the Dance,” began in the 1990s but there is still versions of them this years.

Relevant Studies and Organizations:

-Captain Francis O'Neill published his volumes on Irish music in the United States.

-The Irish Folk Song Society (1904 – 1920s in London) collection, publication, and study of Irish traditional music.

-In 1935 the Irish Folklore Commission collection and preservation of traditional culture.

-The Folk Music Society of Ireland (1971).

-Breandán Breathnach's collections Folk Music and Dances of Ireland (1971).

-Irish Traditional Music Archive in 1987.

Source:

Encyclopedia of Irish History and Culture, vol. 1./ James S. Donnelly, Jr. (editor in chief) Macmillan Reference USA. Thomson Gale.