Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky: Ó Riada Re-imagined Louth Contemporary Music Society

Ó Riada Re-imagined
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Artist: Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky
Genre: Traditional
Label: Louth Contemporary Music Society

Bold, angular lines intersect this timely reimagining of Seán Ó Riada's widely admired 1968 mass by Uzbek composer Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky, commissioned by Louth Contemporary Music Society. Recorded live at the 2012 Temple Bar Tradfest, with 16 voices (the EQ Singers), it features Zoë Conway on fiddle, Siobhán Armstrong on harp and Robbie Harris on bodhrán. Yanov-
Yanovsky brings a welcome detachment to the project, with his arrangements using Ó Riada's music as a springboard to propel it further into a sacred space where his clean, often bare classical lines can breathe free. Conway's fiddle and Armstrong's provide the persuasive backdrop to Rúndiamhair an Chreidimh, with music and voices achieving a poise born of Yanov-Yanovsky's healthy distance from the source. Avoiding any temptation to tether itself too closely to its roots, this reimagining is just that: a fearless flight that reinvigorates Ó Riada's much-loved opus. louthcms.org

Siobhán Long

Siobhán Long

Siobhán Long, a contributor to The Irish Times, writes about traditional music and the wider arts