Séamus McGuire: ‘There hasn’t been a trad album with viola as the lead’

As the year draws to a close, a new album has cast a fresh and unexpected light on our traditional music. Sligo fiddle player Séamus McGuire has taken the viola out from the shadows and placed it centre stage, so that its rich, mellow tones can find purchase in the deepest crevices of our tradition.

An Irish Viola/Víola Gaelach is a thing of beauty. A celebration of light and of shade, it offers an alluring space where the tunes of O'Carolan and those of the Goodman and other collections of the 18th and 19th century intertwine with the achingly beautiful tunes of Paddy Fahey, as well as those of contemporary composers including cellist and piper Neil Martin and McGuire himself. This is the first album of Irish music anchored by the viola, and bears all the hallmarks of a lengthy gestation in its thoughtful tune choices and pristine arrangements.

“I don’t think that anyone has recorded an album with the viola as the lead instrument in traditional music before,” McGuire offers, reflecting on the sense of adventure that characterised this labour of love that emerged during lockdown. “There have been lots of excellent musicians who have played viola. I’m thinking particularly of Máire Breatnach who has recorded some beautiful tunes on the viola, but they were part of albums or used as accompaniment. I loved her playing, but I couldn’t find any album of viola in Irish music, which really surprised me, because I think it really does work well.

“So that gave me a different kind of confidence, in that it hasn’t been done before. The combination of viola and guitar works very well too.”

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I've been drawn for a long time to the viola with its deeper, warmer tones. One of the reasons is the way the viola resonates so closely with the sound of the human voice

McGuire invited Steve Cooney to accompany him, and it's a heady combination of deep-rooted, reflective tunes cross-cut with deliciously delicate arrangements that amplify the beauty of McGuire's tune choices.

“I wanted to avoid the temptation of doing an album of slow airs and songs,” he says. “I wanted to show the instrument as one not confined to slower pieces. Obviously it suits lower music very well, but I wanted to avoid a load of slow airs and songs, because that would have been such a predictable way to go.”

Paediatrician

McGuire is a highly accomplished musician, with a fine back catalogue from his time with Buttons & Bows and more recently with the West Ocean String Quartet. In recent years, he’s retired from a career as a paediatrician in Donegal, and he’s clearly harnessed the luxury of time to dramatic effect on An Irish Viola/Víola Gaelach.

“Although the fiddle is my first instrument, I’ve been drawn for a long time to the viola with its deeper, warmer tones,” he admits. “I think one of the reasons for this is the way the viola resonates so closely with the sound of the human voice. A musician colleague recently commented that there’s something in the physics of the lower range of the viola that allows the slower vibration of the strings to hug the listener and performer in a different way. We’re eased into the lower-pitch world.”

This netherworld is one that Steve Cooney happily embraced too, and the pair have clearly enjoyed collaborating on this intriguing album.

“I was delighted to have the chance to record with Séamus,” Cooney offers. “I hadn’t played with him for many years, since subbing for Garry O’Briain in Buttons & Bows, fadó fadó. He has a masterfully elegant touch on the viola, an instrument that can often sound melancholy, but Séamus has a transcendent way of playing which gives a quality of airy lightness without losing the rich viola tone.”

Finding the right tunes with a rich mix of mood and of pacing was central to this project, and McGuire made some unexpected discoveries in his quest for appropriate tunes. This album reaches well beyond what might have been expected from the viola in terms of its clear suitability to songs and slow airs. His expansive liner notes offer some valuable insights into the creative process as it evolved.

I found myself in a certain reflective state of mind, thinking about what was important. That word 'yearning' comes into mind when it comes to playing and hearing the viola

“I found that the yearning style and long phrasing of Paddy Fahey’s compositions worked well, as did tunes in the gently flowing styles of Clare and south Sligo. Music from our great composer Turlough O’Carolan and the treasured 19th-century collections of Goodman, Joyce and Petrie also suited the deeper voice of the viola.”

Deeply meditative

Working closely with sound engineer Billy Robinson, who had worked previously with McGuire on the West Ocean String Quartet’s albums, the shape of this deeply meditative collection gradually emerged. The surreal impact of the pandemic is inevitably part of the mix too, with McGuire’s own newly composed tune The Dreamer’s Reel, opening the collection.

“Our two sons are based in Glasgow and naturally we were missing them, as everyone else was missing their loved ones too,” he says. “I found myself in a certain reflective state of mind, thinking about what was important. That word ‘yearning’ comes into mind when it comes to playing and hearing the viola. I wouldn’t like to call it a melancholy state of mind, but it was so unusual and none of us had experienced it before. I think that tune captures a certain mood of reflection and then towards the end where the tune soars upwards, there’s a certain hope for a good outcome and happier days ahead, whereas at the beginning it starts off in a lower pitch and is quite reflective.”

With a beautiful viola made by luthier Michiel de Hoog, and an album design characterised by pristine visuals and liner notes, McGuire has created what feels like a safe space to which the listener can retreat, in a time of so much confusion and anxiety.

“Of course there is a place for downloading but there’s a view out there that the CD is a dinosaur. My experience has been that people are still very keen on having that CD where they can handle, open and find out more about the music.”

An Irish Viola/Víola Gaelach is out now

[ seamusmcguiremusic.com ]