EFDSS Role in the 21st Century

Subject: RE: EFDSS Role in the 21st Century
From: The Sandman
Date: 09 Aug 06 - 07:02 AM

How much money do efdss receieve from the sports fund
Iwould be prepared to donate money to efdss,if they had a seperate aimed song project , with an explanation how the money was intended to be used.thats whatI would like them to do Dave.not unreasonable.
To Folkie Dave,Yes comhaltas lists 65 fleadhs and summer schools on their website, comhaltas were formed in 1951, efdss were formed in 1932. the population of Ireland is 4 million the population of england is 55 million ,Considering the handicap of population, no comparison. now Iam not asking of efdss very much. but perhaps a summer school once a week at cecil sharp house, listening to traditional players, Oscar woods , stephen baldwin ,, walter bulwer, billy bennington ,william kimber, jinky wells. scantester.onthe song side Harry cox,joseph taylor,sam larner,fred jordan,bob and ron copper,phil tanner jeannie robertson,even bulgarian throat singers, as well as paddy tunney sarah makem ,as the song side is international.

Subject: RE: EFDSS Role in the 21st Century
From: Folkiedave
Date: 09 Aug 06 - 07:19 AM

But you can walk in and do this (basically).

Why would you want a summer school?

How much has comhaltas received from the state over the years?

Subject: RE: EFDSS Role in the 21st Century
From: The Sandman
Date: 09 Aug 06 - 09:37 AM

The purpose of a summer, school, Would be to make aware of styles of source singers and players to children and others who may be interested. the promotion or instigation of traditional dance and song is the remit of the efdss, that is why they get a grant from the sports fund, that is why it is their responsibility not mine. your final question, you should direct to comhaltas, who can answer that better than I can. lastly you seem to be rather defensive, why

Subject: RE: EFDSS Role in the 21st Century
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Aug 06 - 03:57 AM

For a fascinating article on Comhaltas you should seek out a piece entitled 'Labhrás ó Murchú' (much of it dealing with the unholy alliance between Comhaltas and the Irish Musical Rights Organisation) in the 'Pillars of Society column of Phoenix magazine - Dec 6th-19 2002 (now made somewhat out-of-date by recent grants). At the time profits were announced as £1.5m; this did not take into account the various grants received.
Also follow the debate surrounding ó Murchú's report of some years ago on the state of Irish music, which was such an embarrassment that the Irish government was forced to shelve it.
It is appalling that a music organisation which has been in existence as long as it has, has neither an accessible library or archive, no serious Journal (Treoir is a joke) and carries out no serious research.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: EFDSS Role in the 21st Century
From: The Sandman
Date: 10 Aug 06 - 07:16 AM

Good points jim, efdss does have a magnificent library,and excellent sound archives.      Comhaltas does however run workshops that I know people have found useful. Im sorry I wouldnt describe treoir as a joke it normally has pages of tunes, and articles about musicians , different instruments . origins of tunes, songs etc. and I find it more readable than the folk music journal[Thats only my opinion].undOubtedly it could be improved but then so could english dance and song and F M J.[ Would you describe them as a joke ]I wouldnt.comhaltas does also run seisuns throughout the summer which are very successful. comhaltas does not have a house, equivalent to cecil sharp house[ that could be seen as an advantage or disadvantagefrom a commercial point of view]the purchase of a building for a library may or may not be necessary in these days of the computer when things can be accessed by computer.I have an open mind on the subject. however at the next comhaltas meeting I shall endeavour to bring your points up about lack of library and sound archives.

Subject: RE: EFDSS Role in the 21st Century
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Aug 06 - 01:28 PM

Cap'n,
If Treoir was coupled with a Journal like FMJ I would agree with you, but it isn't. It is the sole publication of that organisation.
My point about archives rankles very much.
Comhaltas has had support of a great number of musicians down the years and has almost totally failed to record them. Countless thousands have passed away without trace.
A collector friend once described his job as 'a race with the undertaker'.
Comhaltas have stood by and waved as the hearse passed by.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: EFDSS Role in the 21st Century
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Aug 06 - 02:41 PM

Sorry Cap,
That was done in a hurry, if I hadn't gone in for my meal I might have had to cook my own tomorrow!
Now that I have the ear of a Comhaltas member who apparently cares, you don't get away that easy.
Don't let them fob you off with the reply that there is a library and archive - we visited the one at Ennis a couple of months ago and there were about the comparison of half a shelf of my own collection - none indexed, and around a dozen books. I was unable to find one in Dublin at Monkstown, but that was years ago.
I have never found anybody who has visited this one. It's a little like the Yeti; people will tell you it exists, but nobody has actually seen it. Look forward to learning I am wrong!
While you're in the good deed mood, you might ask about the 'Darby O'Gill' tendency in CCE who insist on dressing musicians up in period costume, a sort of historical fetishism. I have to say I did enjoy Joe Burke's Leprechaun, but I have a theory about that!
As far as magazines are concerned, Dance and Song certainly improved under Dave Arthur's editorship, but it still has a way to go. A good combination seems to me to be that of the School of Scottish Studies, a nice balance between the academic 'Scottish Studies' and the excellent (if irregular) 'Tocher'.
Jim Carroll