Tin Whistle clip on youtube Sir James Galway

rama · Post by **rama** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:11 pm

here's my favorite clip of the master sir james, he never sounded better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHcDY76a_eY

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:17 pm

dpmccabe wrote:
crookedtune wrote:I may be naive, but I believe James Galway could hold his own in most sessions. This isn't a pub session, though, and he's certainly not playing in a traditional style.
If he walked into a session anywhere in the world and started playing that Pennywhistle Jig, he'd surely get laughed out before he got to the 'B' part.

Yeah, but he wouldn't play that way in a session. He's playing for paying patrons of the classical and popular music genres, on whom traditional music of any style would be lost, if not offensive. I really wonder who's doing the laughing here!

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:38 pm

I mean watch this one, and say you don't respect the guy! I wanna be young again, and get into this class!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulKmP5ZV ... ed&search=

rama · Post by **rama** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:45 pm

crookedtune wrote:
dpmccabe wrote:
crookedtune wrote:I may be naive, but I believe James Galway could hold his own in most sessions. This isn't a pub session, though, and he's certainly not playing in a traditional style.
If he walked into a session anywhere in the world and started playing that Pennywhistle Jig, he'd surely get laughed out before he got to the 'B' part.
Yeah, but he wouldn't play that way in a session. He's playing for paying patrons of the classical and popular music genres, on whom traditional music of any style would be lost, if not offensive. I really wonder who's doing the laughing here!

he only knows classical, he does not know itm, there's no choice for him to make. he is stuck in the classical box and cannot get out. he would not fit into an itm session unless it stopped to let him do his schtick - the ole classical interuptus.

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:05 pm

Yeah, maybe. It's a given that his ITM schtick really sucks. Still, he's a cool old dude. I wouldn't mind having his gig.

yooval · Post by **yooval** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 2:00 am

Sir James is a master of the closed-chanter staccato style

Bart Wijnen · Post by **Bart Wijnen** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 3:26 am

rama wrote: he only knows classical, he does not know itm, there's no choice for him to make. he is stuck in the classical box and cannot get out. he would not fit into an itm session unless it stopped to let him do his schtick - the ole classical interuptus.

In a way he knows classical. I don't mind hearing him play Schubert or Fauré but boy, his playing of Bach and Mozart is just as styleless as his ITM treatment.

bayswater · Post by **bayswater** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 4:11 am

I wonder how Mr. Galway would rate OUR playing. From what I have seen of him on TV he would probably encourage us - I think the man is an inspiration and he seems to be very nice guy too. I think it's a bit narrowminded to state that he can't play ITM or whatever... He plays it his style - and people love it. What's wrong with that? Music would be boring if it sounded the same everytime you heard a piece. From one of his album covers (Quantz concertos) he quotes Quantz himself: "... the essential thing in music ... is to move and to please." That was true then and it's true today.

Thanks for the clip - I enjoyed watching it!

Cubitt · Post by **Cubitt** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 8:32 am

bayswater wrote:I wonder how Mr. Galway would rate OUR playing. From what I have seen of him on TV he would probably encourage us - I think the man is an inspiration and he seems to be very nice guy too. I think it's a bit narrowminded to state that he can't play ITM or whatever... He plays it his style - and people love it. What's wrong with that? Music would be boring if it sounded the same everytime you heard a piece. From one of his album covers (Quantz concertos) he quotes Quantz himself: "... the essential thing in music ... is to move and to please." That was true then and it's true today.

Thanks for the clip - I enjoyed watching it!

Well said! I will add that this piece was written for Galway by Henry Mancini, himself a fluteplayer as well as a fine composer of such hits as Moon River and the Pink Panther. it is meant to be an homage to ITM not a duplication.

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 10:06 am

Well, he's a superb classical musician who plays
the whistle like it's a classical instrument.
That's interesting, but not what the whistle does best.
What else is there to say?

pandscarr · Post by **pandscarr** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 1:38 am

Despite all the controversy, thank you for posting the link, David Quinn.

I certainly enjoyed the embouchure masterclass, and some of the others. I'll take what's useful to me and leave the rest.

P

dpmccabe · Post by **dpmccabe** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 2:48 am

bayswater wrote:I think it's a bit narrowminded to state that he can't play ITM or whatever... He plays it his style - and people love it. What's wrong with that?

Yes, he plays it "his style". His style is not ITM. ITM is more than just a repertoire. Unfortunately for Mr. Galway, you can't just pick and choose which elements of a traditional art form to use. In an effort to market himself to a wider audience, he seems to think just playing the tunes is sufficient, when in reality 90% is the style. And it's not just ITM, he "dabbles" in other genres that he doesn't understand, either.

Cubitt wrote:it is meant to be an homage to ITM not a duplication.

If Galway and Mancini knew anything about ITM, they would've known that such a bastardization of a centuries-old art form would only be considered an insult and a joke by many of its exponents, not an homage. Truly paying homage to ITM would be learning how to play it.

Cubitt · Post by **Cubitt** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 4:36 am

Mistake. See below.

dpmccabe · Post by **dpmccabe** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 5:03 am

Cubitt wrote:you are certainly entitled to your opinon, but I must say I find the ignorance of your remarks breathtaking. better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Note that you haven't directly responded to any of my arguments, just made an irrelevant personal attack. Care to comment on something I actually said?

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 6:47 am

Yes, we sure do better without ad hominems.

Back to the subject--the way I see it, it's enough just not to
like something musical. I don't much feel a need or a reason
to moralize, as in: 'He shouldn't play it that way. Bad fellow!'

People sometimes feel they are keepers of the sacred flame
and they get upset when somebody plays the music another
way, or commercializes it or whatever. I figure let them play
it as they wish. I don't like the way they play it, maybe, but the flame will survive if it's really sacred.

Ultimately this is one of the ways things grow and change.
Most 'fusions' of style don't work, many are motivated
by commerical interests, but we're better off with this sort
of thing than without it.

I can't tell you how many times in my life I've seen new music
attacked this way. I remember the audience booing Dylan
at a Chicago concert a long time ago--he'd sold out for commerical
reasons, was destroying folk music, and so on.

One can love the pure stuff, and for the right reasons,
without being a purist. Let the flowers bloom--no way
it can happen without some weeds too.