最近、アイリッシュ音楽ネタだかりだが、今回も懲りずに音楽ネタ。
8月9日(日)〜16日(日)までスライゴーにて年に一度のアイリッシュ伝統音楽最大の祭りFleadh Cheoil(フラー・キョール)が行われた。
Recently I am always posting articles about
Irish music, but forgive me; I’m posting another one!
The biggest annual Irish traditional music
event, the Fleadh Cheoil, was held in Sligo from Sunday 9th to Sunday 16th
of August.
2年ずつ持ち回りでアイルランド各地の都市、街がこの最大の祭典を受け持つ。
去年と今年はアイルランド西部の街、スライゴーにて行われ、今年は40万人もの人を動員した。
毎日街の至る所で子供たちや大人が路上でバスキングをしたり、夜はパブでのセッション、また期間中には1週間の楽器別・レベル別ワークショップやプロによるコンサート等が行われた。
Towns and cities around Ireland take turns for
two years to host this big event.
This year as well as last year Sligo City
took responsibility to hold the Fleadh, and it is said that 400,000 people
visited there.
From dawn to dusk, buskers young and old
created a festive atmosphere in the small, old city. In addition to the daytime sessions, you could easily find pubs with
good music. Also, there were one-week-workshops catering for different
instruments and players’ levels, and people could also enjoy concerts by
professional trad groups such as Danu.
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| スライゴ―の街を貫く川 |
中でも大会の目玉の一つは、小学〜高校生(一部大人の部もあり)が出場するCompetition。
そもそもアイルランド伝統音楽は人と競争するものではなく、人から人を通じて地域の生活と共に自然と息づくもの、と競い合うことに好意を示さない人もいる。
しかし、家族の中で音楽を日常で奏で合う文化が現在でも盛んな西部やそれほど強くないアイルランド東部、また他の地方の子供たちにとってのモチベーションとなる大会であり、日頃の腕前を披露する場となる。また、このコンクールで優勝した人は今後のキャリアに大きな影響を及ぼし得る機会でもあり、実際優勝OB,OGは国内外で活躍している。
One of the main events was a competition
where musicians from the ages of 5 to 18 (sometimes over 18) would enter. Some
people say that Irish traditional music should live naturally with local life,
between people not competing with each other.
However, the competition can be a strong
motivation even for those who are not from strong music regions, such as the
east of Ireland. It is a stage for students to show (sometimes show off?) their
music and its skills. Moreover, any
musician who successfully wins this all Ireland traditional music competition
once, can see their music career broaden so widely. Actually, many ex-winners are now playing not
only nation-wide but world-wide after winning this influential event.
スライゴーの街に着くと、早速、街角に立てば昼間のわりとまだ昼間で静かなはずの街に同時に4つのセッションが聞こえた。
Shortly after we arrived at Sligo City, when
standing up at the corner of a street we could hear four different sessions at
the same time even though it was still mid day.
小さい頃にこうして夏休みを使ってアイルランド伝統楽器に触れるアイルランドの子供たち。
大学生になるころにはいろんな音楽に触れてアイルランド伝統音楽から離れる人もいるだろう。でも、私は結局こうした人たちはおじさん、おばさんになってからまた伝統音楽に戻ってくると信じている。子供のころにその血に染み込んだ上、まわりの友人がやってるからセッション一緒にやるか、というように輪を描くように波及していくのでは？アイルランド伝統音楽の底力を感じる。
Children in Ireland absorb Irish
traditional music during summer vacation from an early age. When they grow up,
some people might take a break from trad music and start learning different
music genres. However, I believe that many of those who quit trad music at a
young age eventually return to it when they are older. As they have absorbed trad music when they
were young, it’s in their blood. Also,
they will enjoy sessions with their friends from childhood. I think this is the
potential of Irish traditional music.
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| Ceili Dance |
さーて、コンクールの時間！
まずは、初めてCéilí(ケーリー)という伝統ダンスを見る。8人のグループで踊る。
リバーダンスのように基本足のみを使って踊るダンス。
伝統音楽はケーリーと共に演奏され、音楽と同様ダンスもセットパターンがあるようでその展開の仕方が音楽と似ていた。もともとダンスは音楽と共にあり、音楽はダンスと共にあると実感。
Now, it’s time for the competition!
First of all, I saw a Céilí dance for the
first time. Usually, they dance in a group of 8 people. Similar to contemporary Irish dance, they
danced only with their feet.
Irish music was originally played for Ceili
dancing. Like music, it seemed that dance had certain set patterns. I found out that music and dance live
together in Ireland.
雰囲気もつかんだところで、まずはハープのコンクール会場へ。
15-18歳のスローエアの部で大学の講義場の階段教室で行われる。
出演者は他の楽器と掛け持ちで出ていることも多く、適当な時間に来て、自分の演奏が終わったらすぐ出て行くという演奏者にとって負担の少ないコンクール。
音質とか、弾き方とか、表現の仕方とか人により個性があって面白かった。そして、あまりに心地が良くてお昼寝zZz...
After tasting a bit of the atmosphere of the
Céilí dance, I headed for a competition for the harp (slow air/Age:15-18 years
old). Most competitors played other instruments, so competitors showed up
basically anytime within the designated times and played the harp. After finishing playing, they tended to leave
soon, which it seems let students feel less stress or burden when playing. Feeling relaxed, I enjoyed finding each
persons’ different styles, sounds, tunes, the way they played and their
expressions. In the end, I took a really comfortable nap in the competition
venue while listening to the ‘live harp concert".
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| 心地よい居眠りを誘うSlow Airハープ。 |
そして、お次は市内の美術館のシアターを会場にして開かれたフィドル15-18歳の部。
到着したころは1時間も時間が押していて、まだスローエアの部の最終演奏者が弾いているところ。その名の通り、かなりスローでテクニックを入れつつ確実に弾いている感じ。
I moved to a museum theatre in Sligo city
to listen to another competition, the fiddle (Age:15-18 years old). When I arrived at the venue, I found out that
the previous fiddle competition (slow air/Age:15-18 years old) was behind time
by an hour. The last competitor was
playing. Literally, she was playing
slowly and playing steady with some amazing techniques.
ほどなくして、普通の演奏の部が始まる。
圧倒的だった・・・！指の細やかな動き、音と共に風が吹いてきそうだった。
驚くべきほど早い装飾音符や美しいハーモニーを奏でる重音。
この瞬間に照準を合わせた若きフィドラーたち。このためだけとは言わないけどこの瞬間に輝くために練りに練られたパフォーマンス。贅沢な時間だった。１人あたり結構長めの曲を３曲弾いたため、次のDanúによるコンサートが待っており２人しか聴けなかったけど、素晴らしい作品を見たという感じだった。
Shortly afterwards, the normal competition began.
I was so overwhelmed!!! How fast they used
their fingers! I felt as if the wind was blowing along with their notes. What I was impressed with the most was their
fast finger movement for ornamentations and beautifully harmonised double
stops.
The young fiddlers conditioned very well
for just several minutes in this special annual competition. I don’t think they practice only for that,
but they must practice so much to shine this moment. It was such a brilliant time.
I could only listen to two students play
because it took several minutes for one person to play three tunes, and I had
to rush to a concert by Danú, the world-famous musicians. However, listening to
their amazingly beautiful work satisfied me.
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| パブが密集しすぎてセッションを選ぶのも一苦労。 |
２日目になって、セッションに入ったり、道端でバスキングをすることにした。
初バスキング！２人カップルに私。初めて組むため、お互いの共通の曲を探り探り入れ、
なかなか知っている曲がないと悟った時、国営放送RTEの取材クルーが来た。
そして、取材したい、と・・・！
３人で急いで共通の曲を探し、Inis
Oirrを弾くことになった。
見る見るうちに目の前に半円を描くように群衆ができた。弾き終わると拍手がもらえる。
気持ちがよかった。２回撮って、インタビューを受けた。
インタビューでは、何を答えているのかわからなくなり気の利いたことは何も言えなかったのだけど、よい経験に。ただ、オンエアされるのが怖いな。。。
On the second day, we joined sessions in
pubs and hotels, and we were busking on the street.
It was my first time to busk! As friends of mine, a couple, had more common
tunes, we were struggling to find our common tunes. When we found out we did not have many tunes
in common, a national broadcast TV crew, RTE, approached us.
And…they said they would like to record our
play!
We struggled more to find a tune in
common. We ended up playing a tune
called Inis Oirr, which is one of my favourite tunes.
In two seconds, the crowds formed a big
semicircle. When we finished playing,
clapping followed us. I had a nice
feeling, a mix of excitement and nervousness.
We played twice and I had an interview with one of the RTE crew
members.
I did not know what I had been answering to
the questions, or how I was managing to answer them. Though I was not sure whether I could say
something nice, it was a great experience for me.
I’m afraid to see myself in the TV, though…
取材を入れて1時間程度で約10ユーロを稼いだ。
１人あたり３ユーロちょっと。３ユーロにこんなに重みがあるなんて思いもしなかった。
We earned around a tenner in an hour. We split it and got around 3EUR per
person. I didn’t know until that time how
much 3 euro was worth.
レベルの高い演奏を見聞きして、
実際に初めて道端で群衆に囲まれて弾いたフィドル。
It was great to see and listen to
high-standard music throughout the Fleadh and also I had a lovely experience to
play the fiddle in front of the crowds on the street.
インプットとアウトプットのバランスがなんとも心地よい初Fleadh経験になった。
My first Fleadh felt like a good balance
between input and output, and a really pleasant experience.
来年は、音楽の街クレア県のエニスにて会いましょう♪
See you in music town Ennis in Co. Clare
next year♪
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子供たちの表情も真剣。楽しいのかな！？笑
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