A Celebration of Traditional Music of Ireland & Elsewhere in Print
An exhibit of material from the collection of Lewis Becker,
Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law
March 13, 2006 – April 28, 2006
Falvey Memorial Library
Villanova University
Traditional Music and Musical
Instruments
(Exhibit Case 10)
The musical instrument most closely
associated with Irish traditional music is the harp. A great deal of
information on traditional Irish harp music can be found in the work of
Edward Bunting (1773-1843). Bunting, as a nineteen-year-old musician, was
hired to transcribe the music at the Belfast Harp Festival of 1792, the last
gathering of traditional harpers. Thereafter, he continued collecting harp
music during his travels across Ireland. Bunting eventually published three
collections of Irish music in 1796, 1809, and 1840.
Bunting, Edward. The Ancient Music of Ireland.
Dublin: Hodges and Smith, 1840
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- O’Sullivan, Donal. Carolan. The Life, Times and Music of an Irish
Harper. 2 v.
- London: Routledge and Regan, 1958
- The most famous of all of the Irish
harpers was Turlough O’Carolan (1670-1738), whose songs are still widely
played today. Donal O’Sullivan was a noted expert on traditional Irish music
and his study of O’Carolan is very extensive.
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- Fox, Charlotte Milligan. Annals of the Irish Harpers.
- London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1911
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- Armstrong, Robert Bruce. The Irish and Highland Harps. 2nd
ed.
- New York: Praeger, 1970
- The first edition was published in 1904
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- Another traditional Irish musical instrument
is the Irish bagpipes, which differ considerably from the perhaps more
familiar Scottish bagpipes.
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  Grattan Flood, William H. The Story of the Bagpipe.
- London: Walter Scott; New York: Scribner,
1911
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Collections of traditional music were not
limited to Irish music. For example, see the displayed books by Bronson and
by Fraser.
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- Bronson, Bertrand H. Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads.
4 v.
- Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1959-1972.
- Images from v. 1
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- Fraser, Simon. The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of
Scotland
- and the Isles. 2nd ed.
- Inverness, Aberdeen and Elgin: Logan and
Co., 1874
- The first edition was published in 1816
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collections:
Augustiniana | European imprints to 1800 | hubbard collection | incunabula
limited editions | Mcgarrity collection | manuscripts
mendel collection | North american imprints to 1864 | villanovana
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