“Irish folk is probably the biggest influence musically that I’ve ever had. My mother’s Irish, and when I was very young, both my brothers were very into traditional music, English and Irish. They were always playing music, so I was always brought up with it.” In this quote, Kate Bush (musician) signifies Irish music in the present and is an example of how Irish folk music is passed down from one generation to the next. Irish folk music is the music of the community and has been primarily impacted by Irish history. The harp, a historical and cherished instrument, has altered Irish culture and music in several different ways. Irish music is also greatly influenced by Irish history and tradition, songs are built around the history of Ireland and contain lyrics from events in history. The Great Famine of the 1840’s caused Irish people to emigrate to countries across the world. They brought their songs and musical traditions with them. Even though, the Great Famine was a time of depression for the Irish, it caused them to emigrate and share their musical traditions with others. After the emigration, recordings of Irish musicians were developed in the US, most were fiddle players. Later on, a band of traditional musicians in the early 1960’s called Ceoltoiri Chualann formed and created the concept of an Irish music ensemble. As the musical …show more content…
The harp, a cherished instrument in ancient Ireland is symbolic to their musical traditions. The harp was one of Ireland’s national symbols was used to act out the earliest myths and legends. The harp, relevant to Irish history shows meaning through the saying “tuning the harp” which means controlling the Irish. The different strands on a harp that all play together in order to create music represents the Irish culture being brought together. All in all, the harp and other musical instruments had a great effect on Ireland’s musical