Celtic Music
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Celtic Music
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"The original homeland of the Celts (if that is indeed a valid historical concept) is un-established." - Donald MacAulay, The Celtic Languages, 1992, p. 1.
I use the Celtic label to identify modal music from isles of the western part of western Europe (Ireland, Britain) and peninsulae (Iberia, Brittany), played on drone-bearing instruments such as bagpipes and hurdy gurdy. I love the linguistic fact that the French term for drone, bourdon, was used in Scotland right up to the 19th century. As far as the 'traditional' moniker goes, what we call traditional music had to be invented by someone sometime, and it is a fascinating hobby to find out who when. Great exercises for a rainy weekend include analysis of MacPherson's "Poems of Ossian" and the Piltdown Man hoax. Though the musicology of Celtic traditions is not an exact science, there seem to be enough clues to satisfy the curious. The Bagpipes page below contains articles from my musicological research on the pastoral and union pipes, as well as links to sites pertaining to different aspects of Scottish and Irish piping. The Performances page below contains information about and links to past performances, recordings, and projects with which I have been happily associated. Aubrey doesn't like all this droning (burdening) and wishes I'd play elsewhere, and I have tried to oblige:
From left: hurdy gurdy on the bayou near Lafayette, LA; bad hair bouzouki moment; Applebutter Festival 2000 at the Beehive, Fair Hill, MD; Aubrey in the sun. |
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