Holy Day Holidays
After I had celebrated the 10:30am Easter Mass at the parish, I drove on a very sunny afternoon to Ottawa to stay a few days with my sister, brother-in-law and their now young adult children. I arrived on time for Easter Dinner and had the constitutionally required sleep in the next morning.
Later in the week I ventured with my sister to the Museum of Civilization in Hull across the river from Parliament. We enjoyed our visit. At the end of our time we visited the gift shop, and much to my sister's surprise I came out poorer.
I made some new musical acquisitions. The museum not only exhibits important parts of the social history of Canada, but it engages in cultural activities too. I found some CD's. I was thrilled to find a collection of the fiddle music of Jean Carignan, the much-loved and certainly awesome player of folk music in Quebec. I have listened to the better part of two of the three discs. What I am most enjoying is the way that his music blends both his Quebec heritage and the influence of Celtic music which also has had a significant history in Quebec.
Like many folk musicians Jean Carignan grew into his craft and blossomed into an artist. While he did not sight read music until later in his career, he listened intently to recordings of violin music from different genres including classical music. He practised and practised. He built a style that is still very much distinctive and free from the rules of technique that one might learn if classically trained.
Folk music has the great virtue of directly speaking to us of life and of real people's lives. There is something that is a revelation and a joyful one to be found in folk music. It is music of the heart. Carignan was wise enough to seek out musicians from other disciplines too. The virtue of classical music is that it is noted down. With recordings and with musical notation the vitality of musical performance can be communicated through time and space. Unless preserved from musician to musician, folk music has risen and fallen according to social circumstance and taste. Like the way we understand the importance of biodiversity for our health, we need to preserve the breadth of human musical experience to benefit from the wisdom and joy of life that we have shared through folk music. In whatever expression it has around the world, it is our "soul" music.
I also picked up a disc of harmonica music by Gabriel Labbe, and a recording called, "Once in French America", a collection of music that was typical of the early years of Quebec settlement. Both these discs were also supported by the museum. The website of the museum is www.civilization.ca. There is an online version of the museum where you can view many artifacts. It is a great way to make our history available.
I think this entry is making me think about story-telling in music, life and spirituality. That may be an entry to come.
Later in the week I ventured with my sister to the Museum of Civilization in Hull across the river from Parliament. We enjoyed our visit. At the end of our time we visited the gift shop, and much to my sister's surprise I came out poorer.
I made some new musical acquisitions. The museum not only exhibits important parts of the social history of Canada, but it engages in cultural activities too. I found some CD's. I was thrilled to find a collection of the fiddle music of Jean Carignan, the much-loved and certainly awesome player of folk music in Quebec. I have listened to the better part of two of the three discs. What I am most enjoying is the way that his music blends both his Quebec heritage and the influence of Celtic music which also has had a significant history in Quebec.Like many folk musicians Jean Carignan grew into his craft and blossomed into an artist. While he did not sight read music until later in his career, he listened intently to recordings of violin music from different genres including classical music. He practised and practised. He built a style that is still very much distinctive and free from the rules of technique that one might learn if classically trained.
Folk music has the great virtue of directly speaking to us of life and of real people's lives. There is something that is a revelation and a joyful one to be found in folk music. It is music of the heart. Carignan was wise enough to seek out musicians from other disciplines too. The virtue of classical music is that it is noted down. With recordings and with musical notation the vitality of musical performance can be communicated through time and space. Unless preserved from musician to musician, folk music has risen and fallen according to social circumstance and taste. Like the way we understand the importance of biodiversity for our health, we need to preserve the breadth of human musical experience to benefit from the wisdom and joy of life that we have shared through folk music. In whatever expression it has around the world, it is our "soul" music. 
I also picked up a disc of harmonica music by Gabriel Labbe, and a recording called, "Once in French America", a collection of music that was typical of the early years of Quebec settlement. Both these discs were also supported by the museum. The website of the museum is www.civilization.ca. There is an online version of the museum where you can view many artifacts. It is a great way to make our history available.I think this entry is making me think about story-telling in music, life and spirituality. That may be an entry to come.
