I have been digitising many of my early recordings lately, which include a considerable amount of Irish language material. One thing that has struck me is the many different styles of those songs; fast, slow, intermediate, introspective, outgoing, heavy, light, humourous, serious,.... the whole gamut of manners of delivery. I have particularly been taken by the singing of the relatively unknown Tom 'Pháidín Tom' Costello from Spiddal, in Co. Galway, a wonderful singer whose repertoire covered many of these contrasting forms.
I can't speak for Scotland, but Ireland has been experiencing a considerable renaissance in Irish language singing over the last decade, thanks in part to such events as 'The Ennistymon Singing Weekend, where Irish language singing sessions were held to make the visiting Sean Nós singers feel at home.
While it is great to see the songs coming back into popularity, it's hard not to notice that many of today's singers are choosing only a small corner of the repertoire, namely the slow, introspective, highly ornamented ones; the lighter, up-tempo songs very much taking a back seat. I believe that the main reason for this is that singers are being attracted to the magnificent tunes rather than the combination of text and tune, which, for me, is the great strength of Gaelic singing.
The effect on the listener, especially those of us who have no Irish, is that it is rather like wading through syrup – the ears and the brain stop working and we cease to listen - the songs become musical wallpaper. This impression was confirmed recently by an American friend, a Sean Nós singer and expert who has written a well-received book on the subject and who all but fell asleep during a Sean Nós competition last year.
If you are going to learn Gaelic songs, please consider the whole repertoire and not just the pretty tunes.
Jim Carroll