Claire Keville: Irish Music on the Clavichord | Album Review

Galway concertina and harpsichord player Claire Keville turns her attention to the genteel 14th-century keyboard instrument, the clavichord, for this ornate collection.

It’s a work born of intense application, with Keville drawing from the rich repertoire of O’Carolan, whose tunes are beautifully moulded by her chosen instrument.

Keville's choice of Balile Uí Laoi, long associated with Connemara sean nós singer Darach Ó Catháin, is strikingly apt, the clavichord's subtlety and lightness of touch surprisingly well-suited to the emotional depths of the song.

Four original compositions by Keville herself reveal a musician very much at home with the more meditational qualities of the music, and still marvelling in the haughty, high-stepping delights of her closing tune, Sailing Into Galway.

[ clairekeville.com ]