History of Music in Isle of Man

The Music of the Isle of Man reflects Celtic, Norse and other influences, which include their neighbouring countries like Ireland England, Scotland and Wales. The Isle of Man is a small island nation in the Irish Sea, between the Great Britain and Ireland (and not part of the United Kingdom).

source of picture: www.zimbio.com

A wide range of the music was performed on the island, such as the blues, jazz, rock and pop. Though, its traditional folk music has undergone a renewal since the 1970s beginning with a musical festival known as Yn Chruinnaght in Ramsey. This was part of the general renewal of the Manx language and culture, after the death of the last native speaker of Manx in the year 1974.

Artists of the Manx musical renewal include King Chiaullee, Skeeal, The Mannin Folk, Mactullagh Vannin, Moot and many others, the Manx Heritage Foundation provides a central MySpace for Manx Music and dance, which has connects to most performers. Others musicians who have released CDs include Emma Christian (Ta’Dooid Cheet beneath the Twilight), (voice, harp and recorded), and harpist and producer Charles Guard (Avenging and Bright) an administrator at the Manx Heritage Foundation. Several of the web entries about the Manx Music stem from Cliff McGann’s 1996 article that is today somewhat out of date.

Prior to the 15^th century, little can be determined about the character of the music on the Isle of Man, there are several imprinted crosses from this period, but they depict a total of two artists, one lur player and a harpist. Songs from this period may have had Scandinavian origins; some also bear similarities to the Irish and Scottish music. The song Reeaghyn dy Vannin (the Manx sword dance), is very similar to a song from the Hebrides and is also said to have been a ritual dance during the Scandinavian period.

The earliest written evidence describes the fiddle music and a variety of the traditional dances, there was no harp traditions as was otherwise widespread in the Celtic music. The English folk songs were very famous, later, which include the jigs, reels and the broadside ballads, also extant were traditional Gaelic psalm-singing and other church music.