Singing in Irish: Harmony

This article is the fourth in a series on singing in Irish. The previous three articles are Singing in Irish – Yes, It’s a Language, Singing In Irish – The Sean-Nós Tradition and A Listener’s Guide to Irish Song: A Taste of Sean-nós.

2010 Cór Ainglí

Merry Christmas!

“Christmas?” you ask. “It’s May. Christmas is more than six months away! What’s with the ‘Merry Christmas’?”

For the rest of the world, Christmas may be a long way off, but for members of one very special choir, Christmas starts in just a little over two weeks, when Mary Mc Laughlin’s Cór Ainglí begins its summer rehearsal season.

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Singing in Irish

A listener’s guide to irish song: a taste of sean-nós

This article is the third in a series on singing in Irish. The previous two articles are Singing in Irish - Yes, It’s a Language and Singing In Irish - The Sean-Nós Tradition.

Audrey Nickel

In previous articles, I’ve talked a bit about the Irish language and about the stylistic differences between traditional sean-nós (“old style”) singing and other forms of “Western” music. In this article, I’d like to introduce you to the songs themselves.

“A Listener’s Guide” seems to be a presumptuous title for a brief article on an ancient singing tradition. That’s why I’ve subtitled this article “A Taste of Sean-Nós.” I’m hoping that this small sample of the many songs and singers in the tradition will encourage you to take a bigger bite and start exploring the subject in more depth.

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Singing in Irish – The Sean-nós tradition

Audrey Nickel

Like many Americans, I grew up with a very fixed idea of Irish traditional singing. I cut my musical teeth on The Irish Rovers, The Dubliners, and The Clancy Brothers in the 1970s, and cherished fond images of someday finding myself singing in an Irish pub, belting out rebel songs and drinking songs, accompanied by guitars, banjos, bodhráns, and tin whistles.

Then I discovered sean-nós singing.

Sean-nós (pronounced shan nohss) means “old style” in Irish. When applied to singing, it refers to the classical style of Irish traditional song: unaccompanied, usually solo, and in the Irish language.

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