Irish Music and Iconic Realism in Sydney Owenson's piece, "When Floating O'er"

 

Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan) and Harp

from my book cover, 

a special acknowledgment to the New York Public Library

From my presentation at an annual Conference of the Association of Franco-Irish Studies, Dublin, Ireland: 

The Irish melody, “When Floating O’er: Cathleen Nolan” from Sydney Owenson’s 1803 collection, Twelve Original Hibernian Melodies, demonstrates an iconic vision and focuses the audience’s attention on iconic elements associated with late 18th - early 19th century Ireland that deal with transformation. This particular piece demonstrates my semiotic theory of iconic realism in that it complies with the following necessary components of my theory: 

1.    The presence of a realistic icon: a representation of Cathleen ni Houlihan. 

2.   Deliberate placement of the icon within the midst of a unique, realistic setting out of place for this particular icon: lyrical and musical choices. 

3.  A created dissonance between these two entities as the catalyst that generates audience enlightenment of a cultural dilemma in need of transformation: Irish awareness of cultural valor.  

In Owenson’s compilation entitled, Twelve Original Hibernian Melodies, published in 1803, one melody, “When Floating Oér,” contains lyrics that relate directly to the Irish iconic figure, Cathleen Ni Houlihan. She situates the essence of this character as one who is ubiquitous yet elusive, much like segments of Irish culture at the onset of the nineteenth century.  

Not only did Owenson’s nineteenth century listening audience experience the pleasant melody of this tune, they also were able to interpret the lyrics as an Irish romantic memory or a realization that a change in the historical relevance of Irish history was at hand. Playing this piece and other Irish melodies on her harp, Owenson exhibited iconic realism by bringing attention of Irish history, plucked on soothing strings. Perhaps, her attempt was to lull her audience into a state of acceptance or awaken them gradually by means of intense harmonics. 

Thus, the utility of music as a means of representing the semiotic theory of iconic realism involves a multiple sensory application in connection with sound wave production and its effect on human cognition. Whether the connection originates from a classical music composition, sounds of nature, or a synthesized production, juxtaposition of an iconic sound with an aspect of realism produces an auditory response that ultimately can lead to an audience’s awareness of positive change, be it cultural or individual.