paralleloscope
The Living Force
I've been looking for this music without knowing it, a style for me to break that throat (chakra) block I've been carrying. It brings emotional cleansing. A style or tonality which revolves around the root tone, a sort of droning. It can convey both joy,hope and lament. Since I don't know Gaelic I just chant gibberish, maybe I will develop some lyrics over time.
Some of the cadence and feel reminds me of other traditions like American Indian chanting and certain gypsy styles, maybe there is a glimpse of antediluvean music culture underneath?
Here are some I enjoyed
Róisín El Safety
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8paj2hQHIo&NR=1
Iarla Ó Lionáird
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFUVn7884a4&feature=related
Jimmy Canavan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3ZDLuguJ0g&feature=related
Nell Ní Chróinín
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBmWqxUF7LI&feature=related
Máire Níc Liam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgG7hT_gxgY
Liam Ó'Maonlaí
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Tt9HgPXDo&NR=1
(with instruments)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFlHO3r9UBk&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goJ6vYJQU9w&feature=related
Some of the cadence and feel reminds me of other traditions like American Indian chanting and certain gypsy styles, maybe there is a glimpse of antediluvean music culture underneath?
Julie Henigan said:The word sean-nós to denote traditional singing is actually of fairly recent origin. It was apparently created in 1940 or '41 at the Gaelic League Oireachtas, the annual festival of traditional song and storytelling which initiated the competitions that have since become an Irish institution. 1. Tape recorded interview with Aodh Ó Duibheannaigh, Rann na Feirste, Co Donegal, Ireland, 2 July 1979.1 Sean-nós literally means 'old way' or 'custom', and in the context of the competitions it has come to indicate the traditional performance style of folksongs in the Gaelic language. This style is comprised of such technical aspects of performance as intonation, ornamentation, and tempo.
...
Sean-nós, in conclusion, cannot be reduced to a single definition; rather, it has many different levels of meaning, depending upon the context in which the term is used. It may be used to describe distinct performance styles - or to refer to the singing tradition as a whole. In this larger sense, sean-nós embodies the many interrelated aspects of the tradition, including performance style, performance context, social function, and repertoire. On a personal level, sean-nós has as many meanings as there are members of the tradition - and as many functions. It can serve at once as a form of entertainment, as an emotional release, and as a means of communication, expressing life as it enriches it, creating connections with the community and with the world at large.
All my informants in Donegal sang as they breathed: unselfconsciously and spontaneously. Describing the prevalence of singing in her daily life, Sailí Gallagher exclaimed:
I always sing when I'm working - I never stop singing! I never stop - and somebody'll see us the other day, and I was makin' tea and I was singin' away, and they said, "Well, you're happy, anyway." But I never stop singing - I always keep on! 35. Gallagher, Sailí.35
Aine Ní Ghallachóir, recalling her girlhood, remarked, "Oh, I sang everywhere - across the fields and jumping over the ditches - I sang everywhere, to myself!" 36. Ní Ghallachóir, Aine.36
To the traditional singer, sean-nós is no mere matter of technique or style. It cannot be bounded by concepts of time and space - or even by the folkloristic concepts I have discussed here (function, performance context, repertoire, etc.). Such concepts imply that human behavior and creativity can be separated into discrete units and analyzed accordingly. But to the traditional singer, there can be no such tidy demarcations. To him, sean-nós cannot be detached from the process of living, for it is the stuff of life itself.
Here are some I enjoyed
Róisín El Safety
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8paj2hQHIo&NR=1
Iarla Ó Lionáird
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFUVn7884a4&feature=related
Jimmy Canavan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3ZDLuguJ0g&feature=related
Nell Ní Chróinín
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBmWqxUF7LI&feature=related
Máire Níc Liam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgG7hT_gxgY
Liam Ó'Maonlaí
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Tt9HgPXDo&NR=1
(with instruments)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFlHO3r9UBk&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goJ6vYJQU9w&feature=related