Klarinet Archive - Posting 000630.txt from 2002/07

From: w8wright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: Re: [kl] Scholarly Research in English Clarinet Music
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 12:25:34 -0400

<><> Irish history is a touchy subject for some

Without meaning any offense to anyone, here's an anecdote:

When I attended the all-Ireland traditional music competition, the
printed program (a small book) included many Gaelic words. When the
program said "Comhra Gaeilge", I guessed that it was a Gaelic event, but
what is "Comhra"? Another mystery was "Amhrain Mna".

Should I walk 3-4 miles (no car) in order to attend the "Amhrain"?

I decided to attend without knowing what such events would turn out to
be. After all, that was my reason for attending. But in the evening,
I went to a concert..... and it turned out to be the equivalent of an
Irish square dance, not a performance. I lost track of how many times
I had to say, while sitting in a chair along the wall, "No, thank you,
I'm not being rude, I just don't have the faintest idea how this works."
Lots of fun to watch, and nobody snickered at me, but I was out of
place.

So the next morning, I went through the entire program and circled every
Gaelic word that seemed likely to be useful. I went to the competition
headquarters and asked to speak with someone who could translate them
for me. After 15 minutes of worried conversations between various
officials in the hall, not a single person was willing to try it. The
most common reply was, "I learned Gaelic in school, but that was 30
years ago. See the fellow in the dark shirt on the other side of the
hall? He may know."

It really surprised me that, despite the many speeches that I heard
during the week about preserving culture and defending traditions, none
of the officials (the one who interfaced with the public, at least - all
volunteers, and I recognized several as performers in local pubs on the
following nights)..... none actually knew the words of the old language.
The tradition and culture needed defending, and they were quite
dedicated about playing the music, but that was where it seemed to end.

One of the special moments was when I saw a sign that said: "We have
arranged a unplanned program. Please come in." There were only 20-30
people in the audience, and so the rest of the crowd (total attendance
estimated at 200,000 persons, but of course many of them were there for
partying and such) missed what I think was the week's most memorable
moment.

The officials had convinced four local citizens to play and dance and
explain the traditions. All of them were in their 40's or 50's or
60's. One of them was a local farmer, another was a bookkeeper, and so
forth. Their music and dancing had an Irish feel to it, but it was as
different from other performances on stage as day is different from
night. They spoke only Gaelic, and they politely but firmly refused
(in English) several requests to speak their program in English or
French.

I had already been totally brainwashed by the famous Irish step-dancing
show (the name escapes me at the moment - Riverside? River's Edge?).
Towards the end of the obviously impromptu performance, a fellow in his
50's stood up from the audience and asked to dance. He was 40 pounds
overweight, and at least at this stage of his life, he was not a
professional dancer. But how he danced!!! Not the stiff-backed
clickety-click jig that you normally see. Full of grace and line, but
the lines flowed in diagonals --- always in smooth motion --- that
forced your eye to travel up to the sky or down to the earth or aside to
the walls as though the walls needed to be destroyed immediately. Lots
of foot tapping, but big sweeping glides that covered the entire stage.

The fellow had to rest and to regain his breath for 60 seconds before he
made a closing speech in Gaelic. Fortunately for me, the lady sitting
next to me gave me a running translation because I had already asked her
a few questions and she knew I was both interested and unable to
understand. In fact, her children, in the 5-yr to 10-yr range, added
their own comments when they felt that their mother had omitted
something important.

What I remember most was when someone in the audience asked the dancer
(in English) "Was that style of dancing _really_ traditional Irish?"

His reply, spoken with a gentle snort: "An Irish dancer writes his name
with his feet!"

So what is the point of all this? I don't know, except that
subscribing to history and actually living by it are two different
things.

Cheers,
Bill

[ "comhra" means "conversation", and "amhrain mna" means --- but the
translator wasn't happy with this translation --- "singing in Irish
language" ]

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