minstrel: "Traditional" songs?

[Patricia Yarrow]

Now that is a whole bucket of worms.  Generally, traditional music differs
from art music in that there is no single author, and its transmission is
oral rather than written.  Some traditional music was collected and written
down, or borrowed by composers, well before 1600.  An example is "L'homme
arme," a French secular song which formed the basis of many masses.

I'd like to quote some points from http://www.itma.ie/home/leaf1a.htm which
provides a definition of Irish traditional music:

"The term 'traditional music', which lays emphasis on transmission, is
nowadays preferred to the term 'folk music', which emphasizes origin and
circulation. . .

"It is music of a living popular tradition. While it incorporates a large
body of material inherited from the past, this does not form a static
repertory, but is constantly changing through the shedding of material, the
reintroduction of neglected items, the composition of new material, and the
creative altering in performance of the established repertory.

"It is nevertheless music which is conservative in tendency. Change only
takes place slowly, and in accordance with generally accepted principles.
Most new compositions are not accepted into the tradition, and only a
relatively small amount of variation takes place. Elements of the repertory
perceived as old are held in esteem.

"Being oral music, it is in a greater state of fluidity than notation-based
music. Versions of songs and tunes proliferate, skilled performers introduce
variations and ornaments as the mood takes them, and the same melody can be
found in different metres.

"The bulk of it comes from the past, and is of some antiquity. Much of the
repertory is known to have been current in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries. Some is earlier in origin, and it is likely that some very old
melodies and lyrics survive adapted to modern forms.

"It is handed down from one generation to the next, or passed from one
performer to another, more by example than by formal teaching. The
traditional learner normally acquires repertory and style through
unconscious or conscious imitation of more experienced performers. But
nowadays learning also takes place in groups organised for teaching, and
occasionally within the formal education system. Printed and manuscript song
and music has had an influence on the tradition since at least the
eighteenth century. Throughout this century books, sound recordings, radio
and television have played an important part in the transmission of the
music, and there are always traditional performers with experience of
popular and classical music.

"Although items of the repertory are initially produced by individual
singers and musicians, they are changed as they pass from performer to
performer, and they eventually become the production of many hands, music
'of the people'. There is a community of taste between composer, performer
and audience. The original producer normally receives no financial reward,
and is forgotten. Words of songs are often written to existing tunes.

"Repertories and styles have originally evolved in given regions, but
natural processes of diffusion and especially the modern communications
media have spread them more widely.

"It is music of rural more than urban origins, a reflection of earlier
population distribution, but many items and forms of the repertory have come
from towns and cities, or through them from abroad. Much traditional music
is now performed and commercially produced in urban areas.

"It is performed, almost entirely for recreation, by people who are normally
unpaid. There are relatively few full-time professional performers. "

Vivien
_____________________________

Probably an odd question, but at what point does a song become
"traditional"?

For example, "Bonny POrtmore" is listed as traditional, but what does
"traditional" mean?

Thoughts to ponder...
Conchobar

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