I've been raiding archive.org for old 78 rpm recordings of Killoran, Rowsome, and the like...absolutely wonderful stuff and free too. Is there a similar resource for sean nos singing online, preferably where I could listen or download for free?
As far as I know (and I'd be more than happy to be proved wrong) the first recordings of sean-nós songs to appear in a commercial format were not released until the 1950s. I'm thinking of the Cowell collection 'Songs of Aran' which appeared in 1957 and the 78s of Seán 'ac Dhonncha and Seosamh Ó hÉanaí which were also released late that year. Sure, there'd been plenty of collecting going on (notably by Séamus Ennis, Alan Lomax, Jean Ritchie and Diane Hamilton), in the fifteen years prior to that, but their recordings remained in the hands of broadcasting corporations or academic institutions. Indeed, only in recent years has some (and by no means anywhere near all) of their work been released to the public.
So, Jason, you're not going to find anything like the equivalent of the dance music available at the archive.org.
However, for recent free recordings I'd strongly recommend the Radio na Gaeltachta site - http://www.rte.ie/rnag/ceol.html - especially its recordings of the Corn Uí Riada and Oireachtas competitions.
Sean nos online
Sean nos online
I've been raiding archive.org for old 78 rpm recordings of Killoran, Rowsome, and the like...absolutely wonderful stuff and free too. Is there a similar resource for sean nos singing online, preferably where I could listen or download for free?
# Posted on July 10th 2008 by jasonb
Re: Sean nos online
You might find some in the archives here perhaps
http://kohm.org/blog/?cat=8&paged=14
# Posted on July 10th 2008 by wolfbird
Re: Sean nos online
As far as I know (and I'd be more than happy to be proved wrong) the first recordings of sean-nós songs to appear in a commercial format were not released until the 1950s. I'm thinking of the Cowell collection 'Songs of Aran' which appeared in 1957 and the 78s of Seán 'ac Dhonncha and Seosamh Ó hÉanaí which were also released late that year. Sure, there'd been plenty of collecting going on (notably by Séamus Ennis, Alan Lomax, Jean Ritchie and Diane Hamilton), in the fifteen years prior to that, but their recordings remained in the hands of broadcasting corporations or academic institutions. Indeed, only in recent years has some (and by no means anywhere near all) of their work been released to the public.
So, Jason, you're not going to find anything like the equivalent of the dance music available at the archive.org.
However, for recent free recordings I'd strongly recommend the Radio na Gaeltachta site - http://www.rte.ie/rnag/ceol.html - especially its recordings of the Corn Uí Riada and Oireachtas competitions.
# Posted on July 10th 2008 by Floss the Tethers
Re: Sean nos online
Thanks. I'll try these.
# Posted on July 12th 2008 by jasonb