Blankenhorn, V. S.

After receiving a Master’s degree in Celtic Languages and Literature from Harvard University, V. S. Blankenhorn studied at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and subsequently received a Ph.D. in Celtic Studies from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. She has held teaching positions in the School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh, and at the University of Ulster in Coleraine, Northern Ireland.

Irish Song-Craft and Metrical Practice Since 1600

2003 0-7734-6782-3
This work is a systematic analysis and classification of Irish accentual verse-metres. It will interest linguists and students of metre, as well as ethnomusicologists studying the context of Irish traditional song, and musicologists studying the historical development of European song-forms. An assessment of previous contributions to the study of Irish verse-practice is followed by a general survey of metrical scholarship, which in turn lays the groundwork for a metrical theory of Irish accentual verse. Space is devoted to a phenomenologically-based discussion of the role of rhythm in spoken Irish and its implications for verse-structure. The heart of the work consists of a taxonomical survey of Irish accentual verse-types, in which the principal criterion for inclusion in a given category is the number of stressed syllables in a line. Following chapters deal with stanzaic and supra-stanzaic structure and verse-ornament, the musical context of verse, the ways in which musical metre differs from verse metre, and the implications of such differences for a system of versification primarily transmitted through a musical medium.