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Tony Kearns & Barry Taylor |
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A Touchstone for the Tradition
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Format: Paperback |
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Category: Music |
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ISBN: 0 86322 308 7 |
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Publication Date: Available |
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Description
Since 1973 Miltown Malbay has become, for one week in early July, the traditional music capital of the world. The crowded main street echoes with a plethora of languages and dialects, the bars are full to bursting point, and the sounds of jigs, reels and hornpipes fill the summer air. A Touchstone for the Tradition is an evocation in pictures and words of this remarkable community of Irish music enthusiasts, drawn together by the urge to learn music, to play music, to dance, to teach and to listen.
The text explores, describes and assesses the musical rise of Miltown Malbay; the origins of the Willie Clancy Summer School and its development over thirty years; the teaching of traditional music and dance, and the contribution of The School to traditional music. Interwoven between the chapters, a diary of one year’s School brings a special immediacy to this unique book, which will be essential reading for all with an interest in Ireland’s traditional music and dance. |
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Author
Tony Kearns is a film editor who since 1991 has devoted a considerable portion of each year to compiling a photographic record of the Willie Clancy Summer School, building up a substantial archive.
Barry Taylor is a freelance writer who first attended the School as a student of the fiddle in 1975. He is a frequent contributor to a number of journals; articles have included studies of local musicians Junior Crehan and J. P. Shannon, and a seminal article on the role of the Irish céilí band. He has twice presented the School’s opening Breandán Breathnach Memorial Lecture, and has completed two academic studies on Irish music.
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