 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
It is the nature of folk music that people use what instruments are available to them. As a consequence, the stock of instruments commonly found in a music will change over time. In Irish music, for example, the pipes flourished in the period after the British banned the harp, which had been the national instrument. Accordion was introduced to the music around the beginning of this century, and guitar around the middle of the century.
The cello has had very different histories in Ireland and Scotland. There are virtually no appearances of cello in Irish music until very recent times, and it is still not a commonly used instrument. In Scotland, by contrast, violin and cello were a common ensemble combination in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Captain Frasier's voluminous collection of Scottish tunes, for example, is scored for violin and cello, and the cello line shows a strong influence of continental Baroque bass continuo lines.
By general agreement of those who hear it, however, the cello fits quite naturally into both musics, filling the bottom end of the accoustical space which is distinctly underutilized by older instruments in the tradition. It has now been used by singers, notably Jean Repath, to provide both bass lines and counter-melodies. Celtic artists like DeDannaan have also used cello in group arrangements. And Scottish master fiddler Alisdair Fraser is now reviving the duo style of the eighteenth century.
Most fiddle tunes can be played on cello as well, though some require transposition due to the different tunings of the instruments. The cello is perfectly suited to playing drones in open fifths on the lower strings. It is an exciting rhythm instrument either plucked or bowed. And there is perhaps no better instrument for slow airs or countermeolodies.
