Tradition is how things are done and it's an ever moving, never ending
flow. Very similar to the evolution of a language.
To insist that one certain aspect is "the tradition" is actually taking
a snapshot of that evolution and stopping it (as if we were to still
speak the English of Shakespeare).
That's slightly different, of course, to deciding how a certain
instrument should be played which is more of a technical discussion.
Sudden changes cannot be traditional until and unless they are adopted
by the people who then continue the process.
Hence many instruments were "part" of a tradition but have now fallen
away. Things like concertinas for morris dancing were new but are now
regarded by many as a traditional instrument.
(Sound of bomb shelter doors closing and sealing)
Colin Hill
On 02/07/2011 00:44, Gibbons, John wrote:
It evidently does, and has done, and surely will do - compare tunes which
appeared in Atkinson, Dixon, Vickers and Peacock - or in the 19th century, the
sudden popularity of polkas and galops, and the boom in 4/4 hornpipes with
respect to 3/2 ones. Or the invention of keyed smallpipes.
Ned Pearson's recordings in the middle of the 20th century sounded
old-fashioned compared to the others from younger musicians Peter Kennedy and
others recorded.
The important thing is not that The Tradition should never change, but that it
should stay alive -
if you want to stop it developing, get rid of all the musicians, and just
listen to the records!
John
________________________________________
From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] on behalf of Steve
Bliven [steve.bli...@comcast.net]
Sent: 01 July 2011 23:52
To: Francis Wood
Cc: List - NSP
Subject: [NSP] Re: Your Video
Does this begin again the question of whether The Tradition can/should
(choose one) evolve?
Best wishes.
Steve
On 7/1/11 5:00 PM, "Francis Wood"<oatenp...@googlemail.com> wrote:
Interesting to contemplate how The Tradition will have evolved by then!
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