Irish music in the baroque era

A concert/talk featuring fiddler Randal Bays,
with Susan Waters, fiddle, and Clint Dye, guitar

And from Co. Mayo, Ireland, harper Gráinne Hambly.

https://grainnehambly.com/

ABOUT THE CONCERT

The Baroque era in European music is usually thought of as roughly 1620 - 1750 beginning in Italy with the music of Monteverdi and culminating in the music of J.S. Bach. In Ireland during that time there were two distinct musical cultures, that of the ancient Gaelic tradition - the jigs, reels and airs we still play today - and the music of the "big houses" occupied by the English gentry - what we generally think of as "baroque" music. Prior to 1600, the harp occupied a unique place in Irish society. Harpers were part of the Bardic Order, along with poets and reciters, and were highly skilled, highly trained professional musicians performing and composing a form of Irish art music, now sadly lost. They occupied a position of status in Irish society. In the early 17th century, the old Gaelic order collapsed after centuries of efforts on the part of the English and the harpers suddenly found themselves in a very different position. From c1600-1800 the harpers became wandering musicians, travelling the country performing and composing music for the wealthy landlords in return for their patronage. As such, they were perfectly positioned to absorb influences from the folk music of the Irish peasants as well as the European Baroque music which was popular among the middle and upper class Anglo-Irish settlers. This influence can be heard in particular in the music of Turlough Carolan (1670-1732), whose compositions were already widely played and collected during his own lifetime and at the Belfast Harp Festival of 1792.

These concerts will include music of O'Carolan and his contemporaries as well as dance music and airs from the traditional repertoire handed down over hundreds of years; a repertoire that has been kept alive in aural tradition and is still played all over the world.