IRISH MUSIC

Gemma, Marzena and Daniel

English Matters 2008

Irish Music is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the entire island of Ireland, North and South of the border.

DEFINITION

HISTORY

•Oral tradition•Goes back to the 18th century and possibly earlier•1792 first festival in Belfast•Edward Bunting wrote the tunes•First instrument used: the Harp•More popular today than a century ago•Revival thanks to the Gaelic League•“Ceilis”•Given added vitality in the 1960s•Inspired by the American folk music movement

Irish music has kept many of its traditional aspects and has itself influenced many forms of music.

In recent decades Irish music in many different genres has been very successful internationally. However, the most successful genres have been rock, popular and traditional fusion, with groups such as The Corrs, The Chieftains, Enya, Riverdance, Van Morrison and U2 achieving success nationally and internationally.

THE INSTRUMENTS OF IRISH FOLK MUSIC

BODHRÁN

FIDDLE AND BOW

TIN WHISTLE

UILLEANN PIPES

GUITAR

CHEATING SPOONS

ACCORDION

CONCERTINA

BOUZOUKI

HARP

IRISH GROUPS AND SINGERS

THE CHIEFTAINS

THE CHIEFTAINS

•Formed in 1962 by Paddy Moloney•Performed with many symphony and folk orchestras worldwide•6 Grammy awards•Named Ireland music Ambassadors•Still very popular today

CLANNAD

CLANNAD

• Formed in the 1970s•Grammy award winning group•Put Irish traditional music and the Irish language on the world stage•Perform in English, Welsh, Latin, Scottish, Gaelic, and in their native tongue, Irish.

THE DUBLINERS

THE DUBLINERS

• Formed in 1962•Pioneers in Irish folk music in Europe and the States•Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd's drummer Nick Mason were all self proclaimed Dubliners fans•After 45 years, the band still tours Europe every year

ENYA

ENYA

•Irish singer, instrumentalist and composer•Ireland's best-selling solo artist•Four Grammy Awards and an Academy Award nomination•Famous for performing in 10 different languages during her career•Worked with Clannad

VAN MORRISON

VAN MORRISSON

•Grammy Award-winning Ulster Scot Northern Irish singer•Songwriter, author, poet and multi-instrumentalist since the late 1950s•Lead singer of the Northern Irish band Them (“Gloria”)•Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Van Morrison 42nd on their list of The Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time

THE CORRS

THE CORRS

•Formed in 1990•Consists of the Corr siblings•Celtic folk rock group from Dundalk•Have been actively involved in philanthropic activities

U2

U2

•Formed in 1976•Rock band from Dublin•Most popular member Bono•U2 have sold more than 170 million albums worldwide•Campaigned for human rights and social justice causes, including Amnesty International

SINÉAD O’CONNOR

•Born in Dublin•After encouragement of her Irish language teacher, she recorded a four-song demo.•Singer for Ton Ton Macoute•Has recordered 12 Albums•Been nominated in the Best Irish Female category for Ireland's celebrated Meteor Awards 2008

Sinead O’Connor

Special thanks to Allyson Prizeman

And Aideen O’Brien

Go raibh maith agaibh as bhur

aird

Thank you for your attention