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Story of the Bagpipe
All readers are familiar with the beautiful Pastoral
Symphony in the Messiah, which is an echo of the
Italian bagpipe or piffero, the performers on
„ , which are known as pifferari. It is modelled
Pastoral , . , , , T . ,
o « on a theme played by the Italian shepherd
bagpipers at Christmastide, in honouring -
the infant Messiah, and thus has a peculiar appropriate-
ness in Handel's sublime oratorio. Like many other
snatches of melodies annexed by Handel, the fragment
of a simple folk air has been treated in a masterly
fashion, the bagpipe effect being well brought out in
the orchestral treatment.
As has previously been stated, the Irish bagpipe
suggested the musical form of pedal point, or con-
tinuous bass, and it is remarkable that
rls , another musical form in vocal music is due
to this ancient instrument — namely, the Irish
cronan. O'Curry tells us that the cronan was a sort
of humming chorus accompanying the folk song, of
which many examples are to be met with, notably
Purcell's Irish Ground.
Bunting has preserved for us a very beautiful air
treated in the cronan form, which is reproduced by
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford in his Songs oj
„ Old Ireland. This is the song and chorus,
" 'Twas pretty to be in Ballinderry," of
which the shortened name is "Ballinderry." The folk
song has a burden of three notes, which run right
through the whole composition.
On the continent the French loure, especially popular
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