Author: peadar

A chara / dear friend

I am just flying a kite here. I am very unimpressed with the quality of music degrees in recent years from third level colleges all over Europe and the USA. I find more and more degree and post grad. musicians coming to me asking can i teach them how to compose or ‘write’ music or about the most rudimentary elements of form etc. I know that since the 1960’s a lot has been ‘modernized’ but it does sometimes seems to me as if the baby went missing with the bath water. There seems to be a lot of ‘nice’ or ‘enlightened’ approaches with more involvement of the other arts and of modern
technology but at the expense of actual practical basic skills. I certainly would not deem a bridge constructed by an engineer taught in the parallel same way, as being safe to drive on – I would fear the structure as being unsound.

I do not mean to be an old fart about this but there really are a lot of young graduates out there, who are feeling a bit desperate to find out how to actually ‘put music together’ and feel that they lack some very basic skills.

It was easier if tougher for those of us who qualified from the older system which might have been very pedantic but we did learn the skills and then, if interested, went on to acquire tech skills etc as we needed them – we had the horse and found different carts. It was just as tough or tougher for those who had to teach themselves and there are even fewer successful self-taught individuals who, from my experience had to be very bright, talented and ‘hungry’ to succeed as they did.

So I am wondering would any one agree with me?

I am thinking about some sort of international symposium run by several different music departments together to thrash this out and a publishing of all the papers delivered. My input is to get people interested and stay out of the way in the background. We have a voluntary charitable trust – Iontaoibheas Fodhla which could organize some of the work but I think this is a project for academia and ideally would be held in Ireland with an Irish University and say an US University with an appropriate team of high standing in the subject to draw it together and oversee the quality and standard of the contributions.

Do you have ideas on this subject?

Mise le meas
Peadar Ó Riada

P.S Can the same could be said for third level Art Degrees. I hear it is now quite common for students to get their degree in Art after some 3, 4 or 5 years works and to not have been shown how to mix paint!

A fhearaibh is a mhnátha is a Uaislibh Gaeil, tá scamall cumha is brón ar dhúthaigh Laichtín, Abán is Gobnait Naofa inniu. Tá sagart, laoch, draoi is cara imithe i gcré na cille ansa. Duine uasal, flathúil, fearúil, Duine diaganta, dearafa, dáiriribh, Duine cráibhtheach, cróga croíúil. Fear nár ghéill in am an anaithe agus a gháir le gliondar i dtráth na fleidhe. Fear do bhí chomh daona linn féin.

Do bhí sé de bhua agatsa a Dhonnachadha Uí Chonchúir go bhfeadfaí comhrac do dhéanamh leat ar son cúise agus ’na dhiaidh sin do ghabhail amach leat chun comhluadair is spóirt. Thuigis cad ba bhrí le daonacht, le trioblóidí an gnáth dhuine, le tubaist is curam, le cleamhnas is le tógáil claine - thuigis na nithe seo mar do mhairis inár measc mar bhall dár dtreabh.

Ba thapaigh chun gníomh thú mar a mbeadh aon cumann nó eagraíocht ina raibh obair le déanamh ar son na daoine. Bo mhór do chuid fuinnimh ar son Luthchleasaíocht, oideachas, gnótha is cumarsáid. Tharais seo fós ní raibh do sharú le fáil le cosaint is caomhnaithe na teangan agus an chultúir. I 1963 ba tú do bhunaigh Cóir Cúil Aodha le do dhlúth cara Sean O Riada. Bo sibhse bo chúis le gaisce na duthaighe seo nuair a canfadh an t-Aifrean i teanga an phobail sa tír seo don chéad uair le míle bliain. Bo i ngaoluinn a déanadh an éacht sin. Tá d’ainm sna laoitheabh staire dá dheascaibh.

Thar aon nídhe eile ba sagart tú. Sagart den scoth. Sagart a chreid go h-iomlán i nDia. Sagart a bhí pósta leis an Eaglais- céile a thug dothain cúis bróin duit ar uaireantaibh ach bhí uaireannta suilt chomh maith. Sagart tú go bhfeadfadh an gnáth dhuine brath ort. Do bhís ann i gcónai in am na trioblóide agus an ghátair. Iomarca uaireantaibh do bhís ar thaobh bóthair ag fuascailt anamacha le h-olla dhéanadha an bháis. Mo mhairg gur ar an gcumadh céanna a sciob an stracaire bás tú. Ach narbh sin fós teastas eile ar do dhaonacht agus do bhráthaireachas led mhuintir. Tá duthaigh Mhúscaighe is Duibhneach faoi chumhadh inniu. Tá treabh Eoghan Rua, Máire Bhuí is Aodhgán ag scarúint leat a chomrádaí ach mionnaim duit go mairfidh do cháil faid a mhairimíd beo. Mar a dubhairt Aodhgán O Rathaile:

Cabhair ní ghoirfead go gcuirtear me i gcruinn-chomhrainn Dar an Leabhar dá ngoirinn níor ghoiride an nídh sin dhamh-sa Ar gcodhnach uile, glacchumasach shíl Eogain Is tollta a chuisle agus d’imthigh a bhrigh ar feochadh.

Do thonnchrith m’inchinn, d’imthigh mo phríomhdhóchas, Poll im ionathar, biorrannaibh trím dhrólainn, Ar bhfonn, ar bhfoithin, ar monga ’s ar míonchomhgair, I ngeall le pingin ag fuirinn ó chrích Dhóbher.

Do bhodhar an tSionainn, an Life, is an Laoi cheolmhar, Abhainn an bhiorra dhuibh, Brice agus Brighid, Bóinne, Com Loch Dirg ‘n-a ruide, agus Tuinn Tóime, Ó lom an cuireata cluiche ar an rígh coróineach.

Mo ghlam is minic is silim-se sírdheora Is trom mo thubaist, ’s is duine me ar míochomhthrom; Fonn ní thigeann im ghoire is mé ag caoi ar bhóithribh, Acht foghar na muice nach gointear le saigheadóireacht.

Goll na Rinne, na Cille, agus críche Eoghanacht Do lom a ghoile le huireasbhaidh ar díth córa An seabhac ’g a bhfuilid sin uile is a gcíosóireacht, Fabhar ní thugann don duine, cé gaol dó-san..

Fá’n dtromlot d’imthigh ar chineadh na ríogh mórdha, Treabhann óm uiseannaibh uisce go scímghlórach Is lonnmhar chuirid mo shruithibh-se foinseoga, ’S an abhainn do shileas ó Thruipill go caoin-Eochaill.

Stadfad-sa feasta, is gar dom éag gan maill Ó treascradh dreagain Leamhan, Léin, is Laoi; Rachad-sa a haithle searc na laoch don chill, Na flatha fá raibh mo shean roimh éag do Chríost..

Cád slán chun na siorraíochta leat a Athair Dhonnachadha Uí Choncubhair.