Page 211 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2023. Glasbena društva v dolgem 19. stoletju: med ljubiteljsko in profesionalno kulturo ▪︎ Music societies in the long 19th century: Between amateur and professional culture. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 6
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music societies in ireland during the nineteenth century
were nationalists and such an alignment did occur, despite his own
preferences.54
Soon the movement found itself between the cracks, being criticised by
the British political authorities for its alignment with nationalist Irish ide-
als while also being looked at askance by much of the Catholic hierarchy
due to the involvement of Protestants (the earlier movements of the 1820s
and 30s had mainly been Protestant affairs) and Father Mathew’s tendency
to operate in parallel to the Catholic leadership in Ireland.
Despite its relatively brief flourishing, the temperance movement had
a deep impact on musical life in Ireland.
Music and the Gaelic Revival Movement
There had been collectors of Irish Music since the late eighteenth century;
Edward Bunting, Thomas Moore and George Petrie were prominent among
them. Yet most of them were associated with the ruling class – the “Protes-
tant ascendancy” (of the aforementioned three, only Moore was a Catho-
lic). They were interested in a nostalgic, Romantic longing for a lost past
represented by this music more than in its utilisation as part of a nationalist
agenda. This is what the Gaelic Revival movement would focus on. Emerg-
ing in the 1890s, it created a number of institutions and societies that would
be important for the further development of music in Ireland. In 1893 the
Gaelic League was formed with the main aim to promote the understand-
ing and use of the Irish language (at this point Irish was only spoken in very
few remote, rural areas in the West of Ireland anymore). Yet it also cham-
pioned Irish traditional music, for its first President Douglas Hyde stated
that “[i]f Ireland loses her music, she loses what is, after the Gaelic language
and literature, her most valuable and most characteristic expression.”55 The
League’s members also recognised that singing songs in Irish would create
more interest in the language. In 1897 the “An tOireachtas” (The Assembly)
Festival was established, an annual series of events and competitions to cel-
ebrate Irish language and culture. From the beginning traditional music
was an important part of its proceedings.56 In the same year, 1897, the first
54 Elizabeth Malcolm, “The Catholic Church and the Irish Temperance Movement,
1838–1901,” Irish Historical Studies 24, no. 89 (May 1982): 5.
55 Adrian Scahill, “Gaelic League,” in The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland, vol. 1, eds.
Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 2013), 415.
56 Róisín Nic Dhonncha, “Oireachtas na Gaeilge,” in The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ire
land, vol. 2, eds. Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: University College Dublin
209
were nationalists and such an alignment did occur, despite his own
preferences.54
Soon the movement found itself between the cracks, being criticised by
the British political authorities for its alignment with nationalist Irish ide-
als while also being looked at askance by much of the Catholic hierarchy
due to the involvement of Protestants (the earlier movements of the 1820s
and 30s had mainly been Protestant affairs) and Father Mathew’s tendency
to operate in parallel to the Catholic leadership in Ireland.
Despite its relatively brief flourishing, the temperance movement had
a deep impact on musical life in Ireland.
Music and the Gaelic Revival Movement
There had been collectors of Irish Music since the late eighteenth century;
Edward Bunting, Thomas Moore and George Petrie were prominent among
them. Yet most of them were associated with the ruling class – the “Protes-
tant ascendancy” (of the aforementioned three, only Moore was a Catho-
lic). They were interested in a nostalgic, Romantic longing for a lost past
represented by this music more than in its utilisation as part of a nationalist
agenda. This is what the Gaelic Revival movement would focus on. Emerg-
ing in the 1890s, it created a number of institutions and societies that would
be important for the further development of music in Ireland. In 1893 the
Gaelic League was formed with the main aim to promote the understand-
ing and use of the Irish language (at this point Irish was only spoken in very
few remote, rural areas in the West of Ireland anymore). Yet it also cham-
pioned Irish traditional music, for its first President Douglas Hyde stated
that “[i]f Ireland loses her music, she loses what is, after the Gaelic language
and literature, her most valuable and most characteristic expression.”55 The
League’s members also recognised that singing songs in Irish would create
more interest in the language. In 1897 the “An tOireachtas” (The Assembly)
Festival was established, an annual series of events and competitions to cel-
ebrate Irish language and culture. From the beginning traditional music
was an important part of its proceedings.56 In the same year, 1897, the first
54 Elizabeth Malcolm, “The Catholic Church and the Irish Temperance Movement,
1838–1901,” Irish Historical Studies 24, no. 89 (May 1982): 5.
55 Adrian Scahill, “Gaelic League,” in The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland, vol. 1, eds.
Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 2013), 415.
56 Róisín Nic Dhonncha, “Oireachtas na Gaeilge,” in The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ire
land, vol. 2, eds. Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: University College Dublin
209
