JAVS Spring 2007

An accountfrom the end ofthe sev enteenth century tells us tbat the citi uns ofCork, evm whm tbry could afford nothing else, brought their

Atlantic Coast, his second home. Bax would definitely have been exposed to this type of folk song as it is along the Atlantic coast of Ireland that Sean-nos is most prominent. In 0 Canainn's articleS on this type of singing, "The Music of the Sean-nos," he delin- eates rwo basic ornamentation types: melismatic ornamentation and intervallic ornamentation. The first type, melismatic orna mentation, is used to decorate a note through the use of a pitch surround (Example 4):

6) is an example of this pitch-sur round ornamentation that 0 Canainn describes.

Example 6

children up to dance, ftnce andplay upon the fiddle. The instrument in question was undoubtedly the violin, which had emerged in the middle of the previous century and which is rifemd to invariably among tradi tionalplayers as the fiddk. 11 Breathnach refers to use of the fid dle in Ireland and irs acceptance imo Irish society: The new instrument was eminently suit edfor theplayingofdance music. It had an acceptable sound, and tl~ fingmng IJ wasflexible to permit aUforms ofoma mmtatum. Its use had become universal in tlx eight«nth century, as is evidenced by tlx reftmzce to tlx instnmzmt in titles oftlx innumemble co!kr:tums of coun~ dances publi.rhedin that century. u Fiddlers used specific traditional orna mentations and figures while playing the violin. Breathnach's research imo this subject has produced several examples ofdifferent rypes oforna mentation that are to be found within the Irish fiddle genre (Example 8). The Concert Piece'\ also makes much imitation of the Irish fiddle tradition. The grace notes occur in the viola in m190 (Example 9) and throughout the piece.

Intervallic ornamentation is by step; however, there are cases of this by third, filling out the chord. In the Concert Piece, it is easier to identify this particular ornament than in his other viola and piano pieces because, more often than not, Bax actually notates it as an appoggiatura; this ornament can also be thought of a as harp-strum in the Irish harp tradition. This occurrs many rimes in the viola line and example can be found in m81 -82 (Example 7):

The other type of ornamentation inherent in this traditional singing

Example 4

I

sryle is intervallic ornamentation (Example 5). 0 Canainn writes, "in intervallic ornamentation an interval berween rwo notes may be replaced by a different interval or, perhaps, by a series of stepwise notes to fill the interval." 10

Example 7 Bax often treats the viola parr in the Concert Piece like a fiddle. Many of these fiddle-like passages mimic Irish fiddle playing; and because of the natural similarities

The Concert Piece uses both types

Example 5

berween viola and fiddle, the use of the genre lies well within the technique of the violist. In Breandan Breathnach's book on traditional Irish music, Folk Music and Dances ofIreland, he refers to the fiddle as a necessary part of Irish life from the seventeenth cen tury unril the present:

of ornamentation from the ean nos tradition, with the viola part more commonly using these tradi tions. However, the intervallic ornamentation is also found in the piano part. The melismatic orna mentation is seemingly used more sparingly then the intervallic orna mentation . M252-253 (Example

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