Williams, Sean - Bright Star of the West

Bright Star of the West examines the life, repertoire, and influence of Ireland's greatest sean-nos (old-style) singer, Joe Heaney (1919-1984). Best known for popularising this form of Gaelic a cappella folk song in the United States, authors Seans Williams and Lillis O Laoire reveal the ways in which Heaney's life story demonstrates the intertwining of music with political memory and cultural understanding.

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CONTENTS

Introduction: Singing the Dark Away
1. Sean-nos Singing
1. Sean-nos Singing in Theory and Practice
2. The Performance of Sean-nos in Connemara
2. The Iconic Repertoire
3. Singing the Famine
4. The Religious Laments
5. The Medieval Transformed
3. Masculinity in a Musical Context
6. Irish Masculinities: The Irish Tenor and the Sean-nos Singer
7. Fighting Words, Fighting Music: The Performative Male
4. Joe Heaney in America
8. The Irishman at the Threshold
9. The Folk Revival and the Search for Authenticity
Guide to Pronunciation
References
Discography
Index

Series	American Musicspheres