Chifmunk wrote:Re: tunes from other traditions... I tend to find for myself that tunes from other cultures are pretty accessible to play on whistle particularly if they share the common thread of being folk tunes. Folk songs, folk dances, folk tunes. Less intuitively do-able are the more formal or disciplined musical compositions of various cultures.
It always surprises me how many similar qualities can be found between say an American Civil War song, Cajun, Swedish folk songs, French 1700s dance, 1800s Irish tune, and 1300s Italian. Of course things do get more complicated when you're talking African, Chinese, Indian, Bali...
Agreed all around!
I think at least in part it is because in the past the line between Western "folk" music and "formal" music was much less distinct. Early composers were happy writing music sacred and profane as well as courtly. Music was played by what instruments were available. Eventually the composed music styles got ever more complex (via opera and the evolution of the concerto and the polyphonic style) and the instruments themselves become more complex to suit. Tastes changed and "rustic" instruments like flageolets (an instrument for dilettantes) either fell out of favour or never were in enough favour to be anything other than colour instruments. By the time the actual tin whistle evolved from the flageolet, the classical era had evolved into the romantic, oboes, flutes, clarinets and bassoons had evolved considerable masses of bling and the orchestra was pretty much set. No room for a Johnny-Comes-a-Late!
I also honestly think, now in the 21st century, that part of the issue is the vast majority of people view the whistle itself as a) a "folk instrument" and b) an "Irish instrument" and is not fit or even capable of playing anything other than traditional music. I think the reason here is obvious: penny whistles were made cheap and plentiful and were much less expensive than even the cheapest of "real instruments". (In 1895, a Clarke whistle in tin was 9c, brass was 14c, nickel plated 18c; while the cylindrical whistles (B&S e.g.) were 25c but came in more keys than the Clarke. The cheapest flutes (maybe comparable to the dreaded Pakistani flute?) was a dollar. A good flute with all the extras was $15!)
Like it or not, the penny whistle was destined for folk music glory!
