Expand+MUS20610 Music in Ireland
Academic Year 2021/2022

This module provides students with both a thorough introduction and an experiential immersion in the music of Ireland, and aims to encompass all its richness and variety. No previous knowledge of ...

Hide-MUS20610 Music in Ireland
Academic Year 2021/2022

This module provides students with both a thorough introduction and an experiential immersion in the music of Ireland, and aims to encompass all its richness and variety. No previous knowledge of Irish musical history is required and neither is it necessary to be able to read musical notation. The module will engage with the music of Ireland from the medieval period to the present day and will encompass three principal types of music – Traditional, Classical and Popular. The music of Ireland will be examined in its historical context and will be situated within the wider international context. The music's historical, social, cultural and political dimensions will be discussed. In addition to lectures, students will participate in discussions (either in seminar or online discussion forum) and will engage live music over the course of the trimester.

Students taking Music as a major subject should not register to this module without first consulting the module coordinator.

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module students should be able to:

- identify musical examples from across a variety of Irish musical genres.

- describe music in clear language.

- critically evaluate musical works and performances.

- evaluate relationships between music and Irish culture.

Indicative Module Content:

Week 1: Thinking about Music in Ireland
Week 2: Pipes and Fiddle Music in Ireland
Week 3: Music Ensembles from the Folk Music Revival to today
Week 4: Collectors of Irish Music
Week 5: Sean-nós’ song
Week 6: Classical Music in a very small country
Week 7: The Early Irish Harp
Week 8: Music in Sixteenth-Century Ireland
Week 9: The Showband Era
Week 10: ‘Country and Irish’: Country Music in Ireland
Week 11: Rock, Pop and Irish Identity and ‘Song Long Forgotten’: Changing Voices in Popular Traditional Singing
Week 12: Contemporary Voices

Expand+Indicative Module Content:
Week 1: Thinking about Music in Ireland
Week 2.1: The Irish Harp: Music, History and Practice
Week 2.2: Pipes and Fiddle Music in Ireland
Week 3: Music Ensembles from the Folk Music Revival to today
Week 4: Sean-nósâ€...

Hide-Indicative Module Content:
Week 1: Thinking about Music in Ireland
Week 2.1: The Irish Harp: Music, History and Practice
Week 2.2: Pipes and Fiddle Music in Ireland
Week 3: Music Ensembles from the Folk Music Revival to today
Week 4: Sean-nós’ song
Week 5: Traditional Song in English
Week 6: Medieval and Renaissance Ireland and its Music
Week 7: Inventing Tradition: Carolan and his successors
Week 8: Classical Music in Dublin in the 18th and 19th and 20th Centuries
Week 9: Classical Music in 20th and 21st Century Ireland
Week 10.1: The Showband Era
Week 10.2: Rock, Pop and Irish Identity
Week 11.1: ‘Country and Irish’: Country Music in Ireland
Week 11.2: ‘Song Long Forgotten’: Changing Voices in Popular Traditional Singing
Week 12: Contemporary Voices