Irish harp6/19/2023 ![]() For almost a millennium the harp had changed only organically, but in the 1800s, harp-maker John Egan brought about radical changes and innovations. The instrument itself has evolved, in build, size and make-up, over the years. Sign up to IrishCentral's newsletter to stay up-to-date with everything Irish! Subscribe to IrishCentral The harp today The Féile Patrick Byrne festival is normally held the week before Easter in Carrickmacross. His death in 1863 marked the passing of the old style of playing. He was also the first Irish traditional musician to be photographed, while in Edinburgh in 1845. After attending the harp school, he went on to become one of the most feted musicians of his age, appointed Irish Harper to HRH Prince Albert in 1841, and was dubbed ‘the last of the great Irish harpers’. In 1794, Padraig Dall O’Beirn (Patrick Byrne) was born in Monaghan, to a poor, Catholic and Irish-speaking family he went blind from smallpox aged just two. In another effort to keep the harp tradition alive, an Irish Harp Society was established and a harp school for blind boys was set up. The Chieftains 1993 album “The Celtic Harp”, which won a Grammy Award for 'Best Traditional Folk Album’, is a tribute to Bunting’s work. He continued this endeavor throughout his life and the Bunting Collection is now infamous, as a document of the traditional tunes. Edward Bunting, a young organist, had been hired to transcribe all the music played, as Irish harp is traditionally learned by ear, rather than played from sheet music. ![]() The Belfast Harpers’ Meeting of 1792 attempted to keep the flagging tradition alive. O’Carolan is considered by many to be the national composer of Ireland the annual O’Carolan Harp Festival in Co Roscommon commemorates his life and work.īlind harpist and bard, Turlough O’Carolan. Like many harpers of the day, O’Carolan was blind it was thought to be due to diseases such as smallpox and measles being rife. Most of his compositions were not written down or published in his lifetime-they survived in the repertoire of other musicians. ![]() A harper named Turlough O’Carolan, who lived from 1670-1738, was one of the last of the era to compose any new music for harp. In 1603 Queen Elizabeth I decreed that all Irish harpers should be hung and harps burned. Over the years the harp became a symbol of resistance to the Crown and was eventually outlawed. With the courts of the Irish High Kings and chieftains overturned, harpers lost their special status in society and had to become wandering musicians. Although he recognised the central role of the harp in Irish life and culture, and appointed it the official emblem of the realm, the harping tradition began to decline steadily after colonization. In 1531, King Henry VIII of England declared himself King of Ireland and colonized the country. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |