Pipers Ethnicity

[rgouette]

I'm with PJ mainly...
Though, am glad that my G/G/Grandmother was born in Ireland: apparently to Scottish parents.

[s1m0n]

My mom's family came from Wales in the late 1700's or early 1800's, although I don't know if that's where they originated or not. Family name there is Trevathan.

Most of the Tres (& the Pens and Pols) were Cornish at some point. There's a rhyme that goes something like "By tre, pol & pen, [ye shall know*] the Cornish men." I've reconstructed the part in parentheses, but I'm mildly confident about the rest.

*Or maybe "that's the mark" Or something.

[ferris54]

Both me Parents came from wexford, as i did, but now live in England. Mt grandad was an ammo distribution boy in the 1916 uprising

[rorybbellows]

When one plays the guitar, one is rarely asked whether one is of Spanish descent. Similarly, you don't have to be Italian to play the violin or German to play the saxophone. As the uilleann pipes expands its familiarity among music lovers worldwide, the question of Irish ethnicity will become less and less relevant. By saying that, however, I am not saying the connection with Ireland is not a good thing or should be diminished. Quite the opposite.

There are loads of different types of music played on guitar,violin and saxophone but the vast majority of music played on Uilleann pipes is Irish music. I think its great that people from all over the world are playing Irish music.

RORY

[benwalker]

It's really interesting to get some glipmses of the folks heritage and history. I think it does matter where we came from as it gives all of us a uniqueness and individuality. Guess I find it really interesting and I think it is great that all sorts of people from a wide variety of backgrounds all have the same commonality and love of ITM .

[ausdag]

Both me Parents came from wexford, as i did, but now live in England. Mt grandad was an ammo distribution boy in the 1916 uprising

My Grandmother grew up in Wexford (Kilcormick) (Glebe House, to be specific). She was atop a horse-drawn tram right outside the GPO in Dublin the moment the 1916 uprising began with gun fire from the same GPO.

[s1m0n]

There are loads of different types of music played on guitar,violin and saxophone but the vast majority of music played on Uilleann pipes is Irish music.

The UP's versatility is likely to mean that this is going to be less and less true over time, I suspect. The GHBs do only one thing well, albeit that superbly. So much so that the few freaks wresting funk or jazz from their pipes can do so only by committing brazen acts of imagination, miscegenation and perversion. That won't stay true of the UPs; they've already dropped into a perfectly UP-shaped hole in breton music, for instance, and time will see ever more penetration into other folk and trad genres - Scandinavian, baltic and slavic musics, for instance. Sometimes they replace indigenous pipes, but at other times its new & welcome colour. The UPs haven't yet found a kwela, but I'm eager for the day.

Do you think that the Calvinist or Lutheran German church musician who invented the bandoneon could have imagined tango? I can't think so for a moment. One day that might well happen with the UP

[Jäger]

There are loads of different types of music played on guitar,violin and saxophone but the vast majority of music played on Uilleann pipes is Irish music.

The UP's versatility is likely to mean that this is going to be less and less true over time, I suspect. The GHBs do only one thing well, albeit that superbly. So much so that the few freaks wresting funk or jazz from their pipes can do so only by committing brazen acts of imagination, miscegenation and perversion. That won't stay true of the UPs; they've already dropped into a perfectly UP-shaped hole in breton music, for instance, and time will see ever more penetration into other folk and trad genres - Scandinavian, baltic and slavic musics, for instance. Sometimes they replace indigenous pipes, but at other times its new & welcome colour. The UPs haven't yet found a kwela, but I'm eager for the day.

Do you think that the Calvinist or Lutheran German church musician who invented the bandoneon could have imagined tango? I can't think so for a moment. One day that might well happen with the UP

As a matter of fact, there are already a few players of the UPs who play almost exclusively swedish traditional music on them.

[Uilliam]

When one plays the guitar, one is rarely asked whether one is of Spanish descent.

That of course depends on if'n ye are playing the guitar properly. In Moate if ye came to a session wi a guitar back in the day it was promptly dealt with by someone cutting the strings.If ye where Spanish and could play properly I am sure that would have been listened to afore cutting the strings..
Uilliam
ps went to see Burke and Hare yesterday great movie lousy Bodhrán player (given it never really became musical until a century later.if at all)

[Hans-Joerg]

"Do you think that the Calvinist or Lutheran German church musician who invented the bandoneon could have imagined tango?"


Just a leetle aside (fear of misusing the thread): The "class distinction" in music is very extreme in Germany. No music other than classical music exists for these guys. A church musician on a Bandoneon would be like Obama on a bicycle. A friend (Bandoneon player) once told me that an other name for Bandoneon is "Miner´s Organ". The Ruhr area miners (some at least ) used to meet and play in Bandoneon orchestras. To some extent you could compare that to the English/British (?union?) brassbands.

Maybe the Bandoneon´s popularity in tango is due to it´s abilitiy to "cut a chord" (whereas an Uilleann Pipe only is able to cut a single tone - thats why they will not gain much popularity there... )

[Marcelo Muttis]

Well... from dad´s side, G/grandfather came from Northern Italy, Monasteriolo di savigliano - Piemonte near the border with Switzerland, and Spanish/Creole Argentinian mix from Mom´s side. Definitely not Irish.

[pancelticpiper]

you don't have to be German to play the saxophone.

Interesting point. It brings to mind a guy I know, a very good professional jazz musician, who plays sax.

One day he was mentioning to me the prejudice he often struggles against due to the fact that he's a white player who runs in largely black circles.

Anyhow my ethnicity is largely English, I suppose, with some of my people in Jamestown Virginia as early as the 1640s, people with names like Lavendar, Stanley, Cooper, Cook, Clay, and so forth.

Then there's the Irish side, the Glancys, who, as often happened, came over in the 1840s and ended up either farming or working on the transcontinental railroad.

When the Glancys arrived here the Lavendars had already been here 200 years. The Glancys won't reach 200 years here til 2040.

[rorybbellows]

Similarly, you don't have to be German to play the saxophone.

The saxophone was invented by a Belgian and patented in France.

RORY

[Uilliam]

Which proves the point ye don't have to be German to play the Saxophone.However Mr Sax did drink a German beer one night.
Uilliam

[MichaelLoos]

However Mr Sax did drink a German beer one night.

I bet he liked it better than belgian cherry-flavoured beer...