Sibelius was right, as were all the composers in this programme. The creation of national character in music does not depend on folk song.Brian Boydell's A Pack of Fancies for a Travelling Harper (1970) is among a handful of that composer's works which refer to Irish traditional music.
Clíona Doris (harp)
Bank of Ireland Arts Centre, Dublin
Martin Adams
A Pack of Fancies - Boydell, Stanza II - Takemitsu, Acuerdos por Diferencia - Javier Alvarez.
Carolan, to whom it is a tribute, becomes a living figure, not through the juiced-up quotation of existing melody, but through the inventive use of folk music's characteristics. As always, craft, shape and timing are paramount.
Toru Takemitsu's blending of oriental and western influences has a more modern surface than the Boydell, but in Stanza II (1972) the aesthetic is not especially radical. The recorded tape, incorporating quasi-harp sounds and distorted speech, and its relationship to the live harp, have much in common with Stockhausen's work of the 1950s and 1960s. This piece makes its stylistic points with flair.
The most compelling work in this concert was Acuerdos por Diferencia (1989) for harp and tape, by the Mexican composer Javier Alvarez. Here is music with material that clearly originates in the Americas, and that works out one stark concept via sustained determination and technical flair. Differences of speed, rhythm, idea, and colour fight it out; and when they coincide, it's a real event.
Throughout the concert, but especially in the Alvarez, Clíona Doris played with a feisty energy which brought all things to life. Technical ability was never in doubt, in one of the most vivid, communicative concerts that the Bank of Ireland Mostly Modern series has put on for some time.
Continues on Thursday at
1.15 p.m. with Kathleen Boyd
Sliabh Notes
Mother Redcap's, Dublin
Siobhán Long
Every now and again punters get a chance to slip beneath the epidermis of traditional music. It's a place where musicians lurk almost permanently, but for non-players it's a rarity. This was one of those nights, when musicians and punters were safe to consort beneath the surface of the tunes, and revel in their intricate tapestry for a while.
Sliabh Notes have been polishing and honing, sharpening and filing their repertoire for some years now. They've always revelled in the tempestuous music of Sliabh Luachra, borrowing from the masters (Patrick O'Keeffe, Johnny O'Leary and Dennis Murphy) and infusing them with their own particular quirks and shadows.
These days their instincts are as keenly tuned to every nuance and gesture of the music as prize truffle-hunters are to underground fungi.
Matt Cranitch's fiddle cosseted the magnificent Cúil Aodh slow air, Aisling Gheal, his bow transforming the funereal tune into a celebration of both the place and the person closely associated with it (Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin). Dónal Murphy's accordion whispered and sighed between the glorious reels book ended by Providence and Speed The Plough. Tommy O'Sullivan's voice, now mellower and far more comfortable with itself than previously, basked in a distilled selection of songs that included Suzanna Clark's From The Heart and the traditional Sweet King Williamstown.
Their simple pairing of The Greencastle Hornpipe with Terry Cuz Teahan's The Road To Gleanntán, was a lesson in how to embed brand new flourishes within a tune, breathing new life into its veins without sacrificing the original identity in any way. Matt Cranitch's academic attention to detail ensured that the latter would never be allowed to happen anyway.
Sliabh Luachra's identity has always been defined by the feisty combination of fiddle and box, but somehow Sliabh Notes have managed to introduce guitar and vocals into the equation without either upsetting the equilibrium of the regional style or diluting its concentrate. The only trouble is that it's becoming increasingly untenable to listen to their spirited music with both legs tucked priggishly beneath a seat.
Theirs is essentially dance music, born to bounce off floorboards and dancers heels and toes. Their encouragement of a set at the end of the night was a fitting reminder of what this music is really all about - so bring your dancing shoes next time their wagon pulls into town.
