Collecting Music in the Aran Islands: A Century of History and Practice

Collecting Music in the Aran Islands is the first book to focus on the archipelago off the west coast of Ireland, arguing for a culturally equitable framework that considers negotiation, collaboration, canonization, and marginalization to understand the process of musical curation. It presents four substantial, historically valuable collections from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, illustrating how understanding the motivations and training of individual music collectors significantly informs how we should approach their work and contextualize their place in the folk music canon.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 352 pages
\n Publication date: 27 July 2021
\n Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
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For over a century and a half, individuals have ventured into the countryside armed with pens, paper, tape recorders, and even video cameras, in an endeavor to capture versions of songs, music, and stories that have been cherished by communities. As technologies and methodologies have evolved, the task of gathering music has expanded beyond the realm of scholars, attracting a diverse group of enthusiasts. The resulting collections, curated by these individuals, are shaped by a multitude of factors, including political and social concerns, cultural inclinations, and mere coincidence. This intricate relationship between music and its preservation remains largely unexplored, highlighting the need for further investigation.

Collecting Music in the Aran Islands, a groundbreaking historiographical study, offers a profound exploration into the practice of documenting traditional music. Authored by Deirdre NÍ Chonghaile, this book advocates for a culturally equitable framework that encompasses negotiation, collaboration, canonization, and marginalization to gain a comprehensive understanding of the intricate process of musical curation. Through the presentation of four substantial and historically valuable collections from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Chonghaile illustrates how the motivations and training (or lack thereof) of individual music collectors profoundly influence our interpretation of their work and its place within the folk music canon.

This book is a valuable contribution to the field of musicology, shedding light on the diverse ways in which music has been preserved and transmitted over time. By examining the experiences of individual collectors, Chonghaile challenges us to reevaluate our understanding of the folk music tradition and encourages us to appreciate the complexities and nuances that shape its evolution. Collecting Music in the Aran Islands is a must-read for anyone interested in music history, cultural studies, and the preservation of intangible heritage.

\n Weight: 600g\n
Dimension: 161 x 238 x 24 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780299332402\n \n