Cultural Constructs of National Identity in Irish Saga-Inspired Musical Composition

Horgan Goff, Angela (2014) Cultural Constructs of National Identity in Irish Saga-Inspired Musical Composition. PhD thesis, Waterford Institute of Technology.

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Abstract

The performance of saga-inspired works, composed within the last fifty years, has given life to a number of the best-known tales from the ancient manuscripts. This thesis undertakes an examination of selected compositions derived from two specific sagas from early Irish literature — the Táin and Buile Suibhne. One way for composers to forge an Irish identity is through the fusion of an aggregate of components from the European canon with ancient Irish sagas, thus affirming the universality of Irish culture. The timelessness and social impact of the local and universal themes of early Irish sagas, centuries after they were documented, resonate in our daily lives. How the composers chose to embrace the Irish past is reflected in their attitudinal responses to the sagas. The linking of traditions provides a path for the composer to either succumb to global homogeneity or particularisation, or to embrace pluralism, which serves to enrich Irish culture.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	Audio files also available, please see http://repository.wit.ie/2898/
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Music composition - Ireland
Departments or Groups:	*NONE OF THESE*
Divisions:	School of Humanities > Department of Creative and Performing arts
Depositing User:	Derek Langford
Date Deposited:	17 Sep 2014 14:48
Last Modified:	22 Aug 2016 10:27
URI:	http://repository-testing.wit.ie/id/eprint/2897

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