The instruments

No on really knows what ancient Irish music was like, but its importance to the gods and consequent magical properties are colourfully described in mythology. In an account of a magic battle between the Tuatha De Danann and the Formorians, the God Dagda of the Tuatha overcomes his fleeing enemies by means of the harp’s three musical feats: the goltraí which causes the host to weep, the geantraí which causes them to burst into laughter and the suantraí which sends them all to sleep. Though these attributes of the harp are but literary conventions, that a type of harp existed in Ireland at a very early age and occupied a privileged position in the culture seems certain. According t evidence left by stone carvings made before any type documented in Western Europe, it is speculated to have originated in middle east (possibly Egypt). Certainly the Celts as a people were established in Central Europe by 500 B.C. providing a flow of civilisations from the East through which an instrument such as the C-shaped cithara might have found its way. In any event, the Irish harp in its present triangular form had emerged by the twelfth century, A.D. as an instrument peculiar to the country and officially recognised as conferring upon its players a special status in society. The ancient harp was quite solidly constructed, with a large, hollow sound box and a deep heavy neck.

Its stings were of thick brass and were played with the fingernails. The oldest existing model is preserved in Trinity College, Dublin and dates from the fourteenth century - one of the few instruments which has survived intact from medieval Europe. Harpers of the period used no system of musical notation and thus the exact style of music in vogue at the time has been lost, but evidence left by scholar Giraldus Cambrensis at the end of the twelfth century indicate that through refined, the music played was not substantially different to that popular in the courts of Europe. Distinctive to Ireland, however, was the inclusion of harpers at bardic recitations.

Sadly, by the end of the eighteenth century, harpers had lost much of their ancients status and the few survivors of the tradition were mostly blind itinerant musicians. Even the respected Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738) who has left a legacy of tunes still played today gained a great deal of his credibility through his departure from the pure Iris tradition ans his incorporation of Italian and German styles favoured by the gentry. By 1781 the Irish harping tradition was near extinction and following a belated stirring of patriotism, an Irish gentleman resident in Copenhagen instituted the idea of annual meetings or competitions for harpers which were subsidised by the gentry.

The first of these meetings took place in Granard, Co. Longford and the idea was later taken up by liberal citizens of Belfast who wished to outdo their Southern neighbours. At the first Belfast Festival of 1792 few entrants submitted themselves for the competition, an indication of the declining state of the art. Of these ten, only one, a 97 years old Derry man named Denis Hempson, played in the true traditional style, with long crooked fingernails upon brass strings.

There were other instruments played in medieval Ireland besides the harp, notably the bone whistle, a two-drone bagpipe and the tympan (a stringed instrument played with a bow), but these instruments were associated with the lower orders and were thus ignored in ancient annals. As early as 1160 an account of the Carman Fair from the Book of Leinster describes the chief entertainments as "bagpipes, fiddles, men of no valour, bone players and whistle blowers". through the word fiddle was coming into common use, it was not the violin known today, but rather the above described tympan. Nonetheless, a type of fiddle music was evolving concurrently with that of the war pipe.

The violin was introduced from Italy around the mid 16th century and what we know today as the native Irish or Union pipes developed nearly a century later. As an instrument easily adapted to dance tunes, the fiddle vied with the pipes for popularity and was enjoying a healthy place in cultural esteem by the end of the 17th century. The fiddle was perhaps cheaper and more easily come by than the pipes, but more importantly, the fingering was flexible and allowed the accommodation of all forms of ornamentation. Though the pipes had a dominating influence on popular dance music, the body of dance music played today was undoubtedly written by fiddlers, such as the great wealth of slow reels or strathspeys which originated in Scotland. By the mid 18th century the fiddle was outpacing the pipes in popularity, and though the pipes are enjoying a renewed status today, they were in such decline in the early 1900's that disgruntled piper John Smithwick from Cork was moved to pen the verse :

Said the fiddle to the warpipes, "You're made up of drones "
You can boast of but one octave, and you have no semitones',
Said the warpipes to the fiddle, as his eyes now flashed with fire,
'For untruthfulness and impudence you come second to the LYRE -
You mentioned just a while ago about my arms and legs.
But you boast of none at all, for you have only pegs;
And what is more, I say, sir, that your head is only glued,
And anyone can see, sir, that you're very often screwed',
Said the fiddle, 'I've a belly and a back and sides, moreover,
And a shift or two at intervals, my nakedness to cover;
I've a head-piece and a tail-piece, and though I'm often tight;
I've a bridge to rest my bones upon when I retire at night;
My audience I can move to tears, with feelings of emotion,
Without using golden syrup or any other lotion...

The Warpipes versus the Fiddle by John Smithwick Wayland (from O'Neill's Irish Minstrels and Musicians)

In any event, the fiddle, harp and pipes are not at war today and are frequently found in sweet harmony amongst contemporary players. Unlike the Union pipes, the fiddle has no distinctively Irish characteristics to its make-up but it has developed styles of playing uniquely suited to Irish music, especially dance music. To an extent, the instruments used for composing will dictate elements of the structure of the tune, and the notes on which ornamentations occur may indicate the origin of the tune.

Style of fiddle playing is a combination of tradition, selection and improvisation. The fiddle is a common instrument in folk music the world around ans is capable of many types of tonal variation. In the Irish tradition, however, the fiddle does not seek the sharp qualities of the classical player, but rather aims for a softer tone by bowing the instrument closer to the fingerboard.

However, there is no absolute standard, and regional variations are endless. Additionally, since the Irish style of fiddling is played in the first position there is no need to hold the instrument tucked firmly under the chin as classical player do. As long as there is no limit to the mobility of the finger finding the notes, a variety of holds are available to the traditional player, ranging from chin to waist.

En guise d'introduction au répertoire traditionnel irlandais, je reproduis un texte de Molly McAnailly Burke (tiré de la méthode : A complete guide to learning The Irish Fiddle by Paul McNevin) : The instruments - The styles of Playing - Documentation.