The High Road to Kilkenny
Kilkenny (Cill Chainnigh) began as an ecclesiastical settlement in the 6th century. Its history as a medieval capital, St. Canice Cathedral, Round Tower, and many other attractions make it today a popular tourist destination. I have never been there, but based on this site, I need to put the road from Dublin to Kilkenny on my bucket list.
When this post hits the web, we will be on the road to Fort Worth, which conjures up very few thoughts of Ireland. Still, St. Patrick’s Day will be celebrated across the U.S. and that’s a good enough reason to feature some Irish music.
Irish folk music tends to fall either into the category of songs (English and Irish) or instrumental dance tunes. The lines between Irish and English, and Scottish and Irish, have been crossed too many times to sort it all out clearly. Most of what we classify as Irish folk music dates from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Irish dance music may take the form of jigs or reels (with an occasional hornpipe). The jig, usually in 6/8 time with a steady eighth-note rhythm, most likely originated in England at the end of the 16th century and spread to Ireland and Italy from there. It made its way to France (gigue) after that and became a common final dance movement in Baroque suites. Reels had rhythmic groupings in fours. They probably originated in Scotland but now make up the most prevalent form of Irish dance tunes.
This particular performance has three distinct variations: first as an air in 3/4, then a jig in 6/8, and finally a reel.
My searches on “The High Road to Kilkenny” led me to a different tune in 9/8, which could be classified as a slip or hop jig. Folk music seems to lead you down multiple paths, sometimes contradictory ones, and that’s not terribly surprising for music that gets passed around in oral tradition. (You can also take a musical high road to many different destinations.)
Some of the instruments in this performance deserve more attention. The Irish harp known as a clàrsach or clàirseach dates back as far as the 12th century. It became a national emblem of Ireland after appearing on coins minted by Henry VIII. The larger 17th-century triple harp (or Welsh harp) has three rows of strings, as opposed to the single row of the clàrsach and modern harps. The outer rows of strings contain notes of the same pitch and allow the player to play note pairs in quick succession. Sharps and flats are on the inside row. I plan to take up the theorbo, a member of the lute family, in a future post.
