Research Topic
I plan to research the way that Irish music has made use of the legendary Sidhe. I plan to examine the texts of songs and the titles of instrumental tunes, as well as what the musicians think the tunes mean. Dr. Smith said something in the comments on my topic proposal about a tune called "The Gold Ring" and Seamus Ennis and Tommy Potts having interesting stories about its origin, so I will definitely be looking at that. Also, to get enough evidence and support for my paper, I'm going to need to look at stories that exist about the effect the Sidhe had on music. I found some references to sources in the Readings Packet (Glassie Introduction) that should be helpful, as well.
I will probably be using the TTU Library for most of my research. I also have been grabbing books in book stores for awhile...most of which have song texts in them...and I plan to use those as well. For the tunes, I will be listening to recordings and reading liner notes.
This will also tie in to my performance project.
posted by wrocknquidditch @ 9:02 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
OK, as a basic topic, I like it, but it's still framed in slightly confusing terms. Does the following express what you intend to do?
"In thsi paper, I will be looking at rural folk beliefs about the Sidhe and the power of music, and especially at those stories, songs, or beliefs in which the power of the Sidhe and that of music overlap. I would expect I will look at both instrumental music and songs which reference the 'Good People.' I am particularly interested in what might be called 'origin myths' of certain tunes--those tunes that are specifically claimed to have come from the Sidhe."
If the above is accurate, please supply more *specific* list of *specific* tunes and/or songs you plan to focus upon, and your sources for those pieces. Do this as soon as possible.
Would this be better?
In my research I will be examining the way that Irish traditional music relates to the Sidhe. I will focus primarily on song subjects, titles, and texts, but will also include stories which speak of the Sidhe and music or "origin myths" (thank you so much for giving me something new to google!) for tunes which are supposedly from them. I want to draw comparisons from each of the examples I find to find common trends in perhaps *where* the tunes came from or *what* the Sidhe are claimed to do within song texts. I have not found very many good examples of these yet, but there are a few books in the TTU Library I need to look at and I have also requested one on Inter-library Loan that may prove to be extremely useful. Also, the book you recommended to Michelle -- "The Northern Fiddler" -- would that be worth looking at for my topic?
My current problem is not knowing exactly where to look. I did a library search and didn't come up with much, but I hope that the few things I did find will be helpful.
I see a clear connection between Kelli’s proposal and my own. She is planning to research how Irish music has made use of the Sidhe while I am planning to research how the magical and the symbolic have influenced Irish music, poetry, and storytelling. I will probably be listening to musical recordings as I can find them, but I would encourage her to look elsewhere in the story-side aspect. She might be able to find some different information there, as I suspect that I will. I would definitely love to collaborate on any information that she finds on the Sidhe and how they impacted Irish music, and she is definitely welcome to any of my findings.
i believe kelli's research also is related to my own, because she is comparing music, perhaps songs and tunes, with the storytelling related with it, which is what i am doing. i think these aspects of our research will probably be very much the same, and we will just vary on personal performance comparisons and contrasts, and a single connecting theme tying them together.
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