About the Book

Focus: Celtic Music of Ireland, Scotland, and Beyond is intended for undergraduate and graduate area studies courses in music, ethnomusicology, anthropology, literature, and Celtic (particularly Irish) Studies. It unfolds as a general study of the Celtic regions (Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Bretagne, and the semi-Celtic region of Galicia), then builds a comparative study of the instrumental music traditions of both Ireland and Scotland, and – as the central piece of the text – focuses specifically on Irish song in both Gaelic and English. The two main nations–Ireland and Scotland–share a significant history as colonies of England and as important sources of immigrants to the United States and Canada; in addition, they have much in common in terms of performance practice and instrumental traditions (fiddles, pipes, harps, etc.). The book concludes with a discussion of Irish and Scottish traditions in North America.