and made use of simple jigs and reels then extant.

Several of these set tunes

survive today in the guise of slides and polkas. Later in the 19th century,
schottisches, highland flings, polkas, waltzes, barn dances, mazurkas, quicksteps,
and varsoviennes emigrated to Ireland from European ballrooms and were naturalized
into the Irish tradition. Again, the process of reworking existing tunes asserted
itself, and much of the music used to accompany these dances has been drawn from
native sources.
There has been some dispute among scholars regarding the classification of
pieces of music known variously as "airs", "song airs", "slow airs", or narrative
airs. They are in most instances wedded (or were at ome time) to lyrics in
English and/or Irish. In some cases, only the airs have survived and have assumed
a new identity of their ow. To complicate the issue further, many Irish folk
songs are often sung to dance tunes, especially jigs.
Currently, the most frequently played airs derive from the sean-nés
("old style’ or "old manner'') tradition of Gaelic singing. These airs are
often called slow airs because of the slow performance tempo and the rubato
method of interpretation in which the basic rhythmic structure of the air is
varied according to the demands of the text and the creativity of the singer.
The sean-nés style is also highly ornamented and, though reducible on paper
to a fairly simple, symmetrical structure, often gives the impression of
amorphousness to those hearing it for the first time.
To present a complete transcription of a slow air would be of little value
except for purely illustrative or analytic purposes. Most players agree that
the best way to leam a slow air is to listen to it being sung; in this way,
all the nuances and expressive devices present in a virtuosic, soulful inter-—
pretation of a sean-nés performance can be absorbed. Often, however, it is
only possible to learn an air from a musician, and, in this instance, it is
perhaps a case of the spirit rather than the letter of the law being preserved,
as the traditions of vocal and instrumental music are distinct, though related.
The airs found in this book are not from the sean-nés tradition, though they
can be enhanced by introducing sean-nés techniques of interpretation. Perhaps
more than any other genre of Irish music, airs must remain in the living
tradition to retain their genuine character and vibrancy.
For more details on Irish music, song, amd dance, these books will be
useful: Folk Music and Dances of Ireland, Breand&n Breathnach (Talbot Press,
Dublin, 1971); A Handbook of Irish Dances, J.G. O'Keeffe and Art O'Brien (Gill
and MacMillan, Dublin, 1954); Songs ot Irish Rebellion, Georges—Denis Zimmerman
(Folklore Associates, Hatboro, Pennsylvania, 1967).