Triúr’s new album is proof that imagination and passion still drive traditional music
THE SIGNALS are promising. Traditional music has been enjoying a renaissance in recent years, with new tunes being composed by a diverse range of musicians. Chicago fiddler Liz Carroll, piper and flute player Michael McGoldrick, accordion player Máirtín O’Connor and Cúil Aodha pianist, concertina and tambura player, producer and choral director Peadar Ó Riada have all contributed sparkling tunes to the canon in recent years.
And that's merely a skimming of the surface. Composers of tunes abound in a climate where "traditional" is no longer equated with "ancient". Ó Riada, son of Seán and a lifelong champion of the musician's need to be freed from the shackles of expectation or, worse still, predictability, is in the midst of another intensely creative period. As well as releasing a double CD of Muskerry sean nós by singer Peataí Thaidhg Pheig (the fruit of some 15 years' labour), he's just released a second raft of newly composed tunes in the company of fiddlers Martin Hayes and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, aka Triúr. Following on from their 2010 debut, Triúr Sa Draighean, and titled Triúr Arís, their collection is proof that imagination and passion are still at the heart of the tradition.
“I’m not sure about that word ‘composing’ – it suggests a more intellectual process,” Ó Riada says. “When I am making music, it’s a language, an urge to communicate something. What I live my life doing is experiencing and learning as much as I can, and that all goes into the pot of stew, which is my subconscious. Then, when I need to say something musically, I stick the ladle in and out it comes. You have to trust whatever’s inside of you.”
Hard graft plays a central part in the creation of new tunes as well, Ó Riada says. “My father’s father was a very gentle, spiritual man who came from a long line of very intelligent and eccentric people. They were extremely hard workers, and I’m delighted to have that in my bloodstream.”
Clare fiddler Martin Hayes is relishing tackling a whole new repertoire of tunes, in Ó Riada and Ó Raghallaigh’s company. “The two interesting things about his tunes are that first of all they sound like they’re from another time,” he says. “They also sidestep another thing which often happens, which is that often tunes are composed idiomatically, for instruments: there can be tunes that are great for accordion or for fiddle, but Peadar’s tunes are quite independent of instrument. I consider that a defining, ageless quality and a lot of the old tunes seem to have that flavour about them as well. They have an independent musical existence, in a way.”
There’s no denying the chemistry that unites Ó Riada, Hayes and Ó Raghallaigh in their Triúr incarnation, and Ó Riada is quick to put his finger on the elusive mix that binds them. “Have you ever noticed when you’re speaking to somebody that your accent changes according to where they’re from?” he asks. “That’s something you do instinctively so that you can fit in with the flow of the conversation, and that’s the same with the music. When I know they’re going to be playing these tunes, I speak in that accent, whereas if I’m putting together something for the lads in the choir [Cór Cúil Aodha], I speak in a different accent. I really enjoy the company of Martin and Caoimhín, and playing with them. You get transported to a different planet. It’s a very symbiotic musical relationship.”
Ultimately, Martin Hayes offers, the music will speak for itself, and Triúr will merely be its conduit. “The main attraction in the music is not my fiddle playing but in my ability with the fiddle to reveal what’s inherently beautiful in the melody.”
For Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and his multi-coloured Hardanger fiddle, encountering these new tunes for the first time last December, and renewing his acquaintance with Peadar and Martin for a second album, is as good as reason as any to play music. “Peadar had written a whole host of beautiful new tunes, and we set about the task of trying them on for size, feeling what way they wanted to be played, unearthing the beauty within each of them,” he says. “It feels like we put down a very special week of music together.”
Triúr will premiere their new album with a concert at the Abbey Theatre. It’s a first for the playhouse and an important reference point for Ó Riada, a sort of homecoming. “I’m very fond of that Aboriginal notion of songlines, and in my own songline, the Abbey are important pieces, because my father worked there from 1955 to 1961. It’s a place that holds many special memories for me.”
Triúr Arís,
is available on
[ peadaroriada.ieOpens in new window ]
. Triúr play the Abbey Theatre on Sunday
