The Harping Tradition - Sample Essay

Question 1

what is different to the mainstream tradition?

Answer 1

the harp and its music

Question 2

what was the old Irish harping tradition?

Answer 2

aristocratic art tradition

Question 3

what was the Irish harping tradition like?

Answer 3

highly skilled and trained

Question 4

who was the Irish harping tradition unlike?

Answer 4

music of peasant classes

Question 5

what is peasant-class music referred to as today?

Answer 5

mainstream tradition

Question 6

Who were the old Irish and old English aristocracies until the 16th century?

Answer 6

the patrons of the old Irish harp

Question 7

the latter group consists of families who have been to Ireland

Answer 7

catholic and Irish speaking

Question 8

what did the old Irish speak?

Answer 8

catholic and Irish speaking

Question 9

what did any member of the aristocracy normally have?

Answer 9

own harper
poet
storyteller

Question 10

what was the storyteller

Answer 10

someone who recited poetry

Question 11

harper

Answer 11

cruit

Question 12

poet

Answer 12

file

Question 13

storyteller

Answer 13

reacaire

Question 14

what was the occupation of a harper like?

Answer 14

prestigious and stable

Question 15

who was handed in from

Answer 15

father to son

Question 16

how did the families act to the harpers

Answer 16

patrons

Question 17

what would the families have in honor of their harper

Answer 17

solo piece called planxtie

Question 18

famous planxty

Answer 18

planxty kelly

Question 19

who did I listen to for planxty?

Answer 19

Amy Hayman playing o’carolans planxty cruit on a wire-strung harp

Question 20

what was the wire-strung harp called?

Answer 20

the bardic harp
old irish harp

Question 21

the bardic harp had how many strings?

Answer 21

29 to 31 strings made of wire played with nails

Question 22

how tall was the bardic harp?

Answer 22

70 cm in height with curved pillar and a hollow sound box

Question 23

where was the hollow sound box played?

Answer 23

on the knee of the harper

Question 24

how was the bardic harp different from the neo-Irish harp

Answer 24

more resonant

Question 25

when was the neo-Irish harp developed?

Answer 25

early 20th century

Question 26

timbre

Answer 26

the tone produced is quite sharp on wire-strung harp

Question 27

how did Irish society change

Answer 27

effects of English rule and influence on the social and economic structure of this country became more pronounced in 1601

Question 28

how did this affect Harper?

Answer 28

members of old Irish and English classes lost power and influence and of course land and money

Question 29

what were harpers forced to become?

Answer 29

itinerant
travelling musicians

Question 30

what did the harpers do when they became traveling musicians?

Answer 30

traveled roads of Ireland
spending time in one big house before moving onto the next

Question 31

when did the tradition begin to decline

Answer 31

from 16th century onwards

Question 32

what happened to Harper

Answer 32

almost blind

Question 33

what was harping considered for?

Answer 33

blind boys as they would have otherwise found it very difficult to make a living at that time

Question 34

how did the harpers travel?

Answer 34

on horseback and accompanied by young boys who acted as their guides

Question 35

how was there style of playing to ireland

Answer 35

peculiar

Question 36

why was it peculiar?

Answer 36

they played on wire strings plucked with their fingernails which create a bell-like sound

Question 37

what happened when the harper plucked their fingernails on the wire-strung harp

Answer 37

it would make a more resonant sound and lasted a long time

Question 38

what did the harper do to stop the strings from sounding muddied?

Answer 38

difficult system of ‘stopping’ (damping) the strings

Question 39

what was the bardic harp in total contrast to?

Answer 39

the sound of the neo-Irish harp

Question 40

what did i listen to (2)

Answer 40

paul Dooley on wire strung harp paying captain o’kane

Question 41

who wrote Captain O’Kane

Answer 41

Turlough O’Carolan

Question 42

what did I hear in Captain O’Kane

Answer 42

feature of the baroque period
sequences and long flowing melodies

Question 43

what other piece did I listen to on the neo-Irish harp?

Answer 43

Laoise kelly playing Tyrell’s pass (jig)

Question 44

What did I hear on Tyrell’s pass?

Answer 44

resonance to the strings but not as much as the old Irish harp

Question 45

what does laoise use?

Answer 45

system of ‘damping’ in the left hand

Question 46

what were the patrons of the harp at this stage?

Answer 46

still the old Irish and old English aristocracy

Question 47

who were the new English aristocracies?

Answer 47

families who had only settled in Ireland for a generation or two and who were English-speaking and protestant

Question 48

what happened as a result to the harping tradition?

Answer 48

changed drastically
harpers now had to appeal to much more diverse audience with probably very different tastes much of it for foreign music

Question 49

what was popular in the 17th and 18th centuries in Ireland?

Answer 49

italian baroque music (vivaldi and handel)

Question 50

what did the Irish harpers do with the baroque music?

Answer 50

influenced by this style and incorporated it in to their music

Question 51

who was the most famous harper that incorporated baroque into their music?

Answer 51

Turlough O’Carolan who lived in the late 17th to early 18th centuries