minstrel: song question

[Muirgheal]

>Just because a song is written after 1600 doesn't mean it can't be made to
>sound period. Unless somebody has a degree in early musicology, the
>general SCA audience doesn't know the difference. Most "traditional"
>Scottish and Irish tunes that we have today have been written since the
>18th century, i.e., Star of the County Down, Galway Bay, Loch Lomond,
>Carlough,...all these are frequently assumed by the general fireside
>audience as being period tunes. (These may not be the best examples, but
>you get the idea...) At least that's been my experience.
>
>---Ceara ni Neill


I agree that this is generally true, but is it something that we want to 
encourage or discourage?  I don't mind non-period songs in an informal 
context, but is "they'll assume it's period if I sing it" a good reason for 
singing something?  It comes awfully close to implying something is period 
when we know it isn't.  My own personal opinion is that if we are going to 
do a non-period song because people would like it, that's fine, but the 
audience should know that it isn't period.

Muirgheal

-------------------------------------
Name: Lesley Anne Baker
E-mail: leslyann at voyager.snetnsa.com
04/30/97     15:28:13
-------------------------------------



-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this list, send email to majordomo at pbm.com containing
the words "unsubscribe minstrel". To contact a human about problems, send
mail to owner-minstrel at pbm.com