Chapter One: Methodology
1.7 Chapter Outlines
1.7.1 Chapter Two: Theoretical Concepts: Electronic Mass Media and the
Construction of Musical Senses of Place in Traditional Newfoundland Instrumental Music
Chapter Two situates my study in relation to the theoretical issues of electronic mass media and place as related to fiddle music. I examine the research which has been conducted on fiddle music in North American, Ireland and Scotland. This dissertation focuses on a local tradition which selectively utilizes the transnational style of Irish music. Style is a word which is used extensively in discussions of fiddle music to compare and contrast regions, repertoire and players; however a clear definition of style
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is hard to determine. One usually equates style with location and as a sub-set of regional style a players’ repertoire choices, ornamentation and other technical musical elements. A part of my discussion takes into consideration how the literature approaches the concept of style in relation to mass media and place. I also consider the terms “musical senses of place” and “sense of musical place” and explore their different implications in relation to the wider literature on place and music.
1.7.2 Chapter Three: Britain’s Oldest Colony and Canada’s Newest Province:
Perspectives on Newfoundland History and the History of the Irish in Newfoundland
Newfoundland’s history of settlement and colonization varies quite dramatically from the histories of other areas of North America. Used as a fishing outpost by several countries including England, France and Portugal in the 15th and 16th centuries, an organized system of civil government was not put in place until the 19th century before which the British navy presided over the island (Cadigan 2009, 45-153). Newfoundland and Labrador has historic ties to Ireland, Scotland, England and France. Newfoundland was an English colony but it has recently started portraying itself as predominantly Irish similar to the shift in Nova Scotia towards Scottish “tartanism” as outlined by historian McKay (1994, 206-212). Today, many institutional and governmental initiatives are seeking to link Newfoundland and Ireland usually citing the pre-famine immigration of Irish to Newfoundland and their important role in the fishing industry. This chapter outlines the history of the Irish in Newfoundland.
Through this historical discussion I seek to discover the changing discourse of Newfoundland national and political identities and how they have shifted through time by
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looking at narratives of nationhood and ancestry. I examine a cross-section of identity narratives from the 19th century through the late 20th century spanning colonial
government through independence to Confederation with Canada and beyond. As one chapter within a larger dissertation, this examination will, by necessity, be cursory but it provides a foundation for later discussions.
1.7.3 Chapter Four: The Role of Mass Media and Revivals in Newfoundland and
Irish music
This chapter examines Newfoundland music scholarship and the role of mass media in the development of Newfoundland music as a listening music for stage and recordings. The chapter is conceived in four parts. First it presents the availability of various musics in Newfoundland during the 19th century and early-to-mid-20th century. Secondly, this chapter examines the scholarship surrounding Newfoundland music. Third, the chapter examines the early electronic media (radio, television and recordings) in Newfoundland and their interactions with traditional music. Finally as the case studies in this dissertation are selected from each of the international Irish revivals of the 20th and 21st centuries so I briefly address each of these revivals as background information.
1.7.4 Chapter Five: The Musical Routes of the McNulty Family: Ireland, New
York, Newfoundland
The middle of the twentieth century was a period of great change in
Newfoundland and Labrador, when the island went from commission of government to becoming a province of Canada. During this time period, the McNulty Family Band, an Irish-American group, was very popular in Newfoundland through the Big 6 sponsored
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radio shows (1944-1974). In 1953, businessman J. M. Devine brought the McNulty Family to Newfoundland for a two-month tour. This chapter examines the influence of the McNulty recordings and the use of place in the advertisements and concert reviews during their tour.
1.7.5 Chapter Six: Folklore Television: The Ryan’s Fancy Show Promoting
Local Newfoundland Culture
In the early 1970s, a group of three young Irish musicians formed the band Ryan’s Fancy and moved to Newfoundland. Through their experiences in the province they took an interest in the music of Newfoundland and balanced their repertoire between
transnational (Irish, Scottish, English) and local pieces. Ryan’s Fancy became known internationally through recordings and television. In 1974, Ryan’s Fancy began a local television show with the help of documentary film maker and producer Jack Kellum. Together they travelled throughout Newfoundland and the Maritimes producing
documentary-style television centred on local tradition bearers. This chapter relates the development of Ryan’s Fancy and examines the methods they used to promote local Newfoundland music.
1.7.6 Chapter 7: Crossing Over: Island to Island CD Project and Recent
Connections to Ireland
In 2003, Irish fiddler Séamus Creagh and folklorist Marie-Annick Desplanques produced a collaborative CD between Newfoundland and Irish musicians titled Island to Island: Traditional Music of Newfoundland and Ireland. This chapter examines the
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process and repertoire selection of this CD project and the general increasing personal musical connections between Newfoundland and Ireland as they have developed since the late 1980s when Séamus Creagh moved to St. John’s, NL. Séamus Creagh and Irish flutist Rob Murphy, both Irish musicians who lived in Newfoundland in the 1980s and early 1990s, were a major influence on a generation of musicians. These young local musicians had come to know Irish music through the recording industry, but it was their contact with Creagh which solidified their connection. Many musicians of this
generation have since travelled and lived in Ireland for periods of time, partly due to the feeling of connection to the place culturally and musically.
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