Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Garth Knox - All Soundings Are True: pricking the edges of traditional

Its title suggests an existential observation on the natural essence of music, and this collaborative adventure undertaken by Caoimhín ó Raghallaigh and Garth Knox celebrates that wide open vista perspective.

Pairing Ó Raghallaigh's beloved hardanger d'amore with Knox's viola d'amore, the duo embark on a picaresque exploration of the countless intersections that prick the edges of traditional and contemporary music. This is terrain with which Caoimhín ó Raghallaigh is well familiar, from his 2007 recording Where The One-Eyed Man Is King. Now, a decade on, he's forging a path that's in some ways more disciplined, in the company or Irish/Scottish contemporary composer Knox.

Deliciously fleet of foot, the pair's reinvigoration of (The Star Of The) County Down is a slo-mo, creaky-jointed delight. The sense of mathematical precision underpinning Fluctus and Minutus is equally compelling.

[ diatribe.ie ]