Islan of Man (Ellan Vannin)
Manannán "a famous merchant who resided in, and gave name to, the Isle of Man". A poem from 1504 reports that someone named Manannán was the first king of Mann. The name may derive from the Welsh name of the island Ynys Môn. This name appears to derive from the the Celtic word for 'mountain'.
Manx culture is Celtic with some Norse influences. Active revival campaigns have renewed interest in traditional music and the Manx language. Manx is a goidelic Celtic language and thus strongly related to Irish and Scottish. The last native speaker of Manx died in 1974. The earliest documentation of traditional .music describes fiddle music and folk dances. But, curiously, Manx is the only Celtic Nation that did not evidence a harp tradition. The Isle of Man became a Victorian vacation spot. This tourist boom stimulated growth in dance music and the music-hall tradition.
In 1982 the government of the Isle of Man created the Manx Heritage Foundation to promote Manx culture, heritage and language. The organization has been re-branded as Culture Vannin with broad scope of all things of art, history, and culture on the Island. A collection of Manx music, song and instrumental, oral histories and recited poetry, promoted by Culture Vannin can be heard at this link: https://soundcloud.com/culture-vannin..
The highly successful pop-music group, the Bee Gees (Brothers Gibb) were born on the Isle of Man. Thier family immigrated to Australia in 1958.
Manx culture is Celtic with some Norse influences. Active revival campaigns have renewed interest in traditional music and the Manx language. Manx is a goidelic Celtic language and thus strongly related to Irish and Scottish. The last native speaker of Manx died in 1974. The earliest documentation of traditional .music describes fiddle music and folk dances. But, curiously, Manx is the only Celtic Nation that did not evidence a harp tradition. The Isle of Man became a Victorian vacation spot. This tourist boom stimulated growth in dance music and the music-hall tradition.
In 1982 the government of the Isle of Man created the Manx Heritage Foundation to promote Manx culture, heritage and language. The organization has been re-branded as Culture Vannin with broad scope of all things of art, history, and culture on the Island. A collection of Manx music, song and instrumental, oral histories and recited poetry, promoted by Culture Vannin can be heard at this link: https://soundcloud.com/culture-vannin..
The highly successful pop-music group, the Bee Gees (Brothers Gibb) were born on the Isle of Man. Thier family immigrated to Australia in 1958.
The Manx tunes below are presented in both standard notation and ABC notation. Click on the audio players to hear the tunes. If you want to download an mp3 file of a tune to study it in greater depth, go to the tune download page.
Examples of performances of music from the Isle of Man are available at this link.
Examples of performances of music from the Isle of Man are available at this link.
Culture Vannin www.culturevannin.im sponsors www.manxmusic.com. That's a great site to find contemporary performances and recordings of traditional Manx Music.
Sets of Manx Tunes
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Tunes For The Class
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