Patrick Ball - Celtic Harp, Vol. I: The Music of Turlough O'Carolan
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Artist: Patrick BallEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2009-04-13
Music Label: Fortuna Records
Soundtracks:
- Carolan's Quarrel With The Landlady
- Maurice O'Connor
- Blind Mary
- Carolan's Receipt For Drinking
- Carolan's Ramble To Cashel
- Carolan's Welcome
- Young William Plunkett
- George Brabazon
- Lady Athenry/ Fanny Poer
- Give Me Your Hand
- Lady Maxwell
- Dermott O'Dowd/ The Queen's Dream
- Mrs. Judge
- Carolan's Farewell To Music
- Sheebag Sheemore
Music reviews of Celtic Harp, Vol. I: The Music of Turlough O'Carolan
Music Review: A Cup o' Kindness Yet ...
Rating: 5 Stars
... Yes, I know that line was written by a Scot, not an Irishman, but it suits the occasion. I went to a grand Saint Patrick's Day party last night, with the same old friends, and none of them musicians, whom I always break soda bread with this once a year if I'm in town, forty or fifty people with only a few really Irish but all as gentle company as any blind harper could have asked for. My son is now eighteen, and far more obviously a man than anyone remembered from last year, so he joined us in the ritual sampling of the Irish 'usquebaugh' and we got a trifle tipsy together and found ourselves re-enacting various scenes from the movie "Waking Ned Devine." But the 'comfort' was welcome, since after the party we were committed to spending the second half of the night patrolling our little neighborhood, which is being afflicted by a garbage-can arsonist.
And being a Paddy's Day party, the music was The Chieftains and other artists of the Celtic Revival, including harper Patrick Ball. Irish music has a way of taking you with it emotionally. I love the jigs and reels, with the elbow pipes and fiddles and bodhran jamming at breakneck speed. I played penny whistle with an Irish band - Banish Misfortune - a long time ago. But I also love the wistful planxties played on harp alone, and the best of them were mostly composed by Toirdhealbhach O Cearbhlallain (Turlough O'Carolan), the blind 17th C harper who spent his life as a wandering guest of the manors, one of the last of the ancient tradition of Celtic and Nordic minstrels.
The Chieftains include plenty of Carolan in their performances, with harper Derek Bell, but this solo performance by Patrick Ball brings Carolan's music to you in its purest form, with its twilight whimsy intact. Volume 1 includes my two favorites of all Carolan's tunes - 'Planxty George Barbazon' and 'Give Me Your Hand.' Ball plays a wire-strung Celtic harp, and he plays with total rhythmic integrity. There's nothing folksy-wolksy about his musicianship; his Carolan is technically superior, I think, to the playing of classicist Andrew Lawrence King. You won't need to wait for next St. Patrick's Day, or drink Irish whiskey in place of your usual wheat grass beverage, to relish this serene, sublime music.
Description of Celtic Harp, Vol. I: The Music of Turlough O'Carolan
The lilting, crystalline tone of the Celtic harp must be one of the most joyful sounds in mankind's history. The harp originated a thousand years ago in ancient Ireland; it shone through the age of the bards and brought hope during long years of occupation and oppression. As it is a challenging instrument to play well, nearly two centuries ago the wire-strung Celtic harp was abandoned in favor of the easier to play, more subdued gut-strung neo-Irish harp. Patrick Ball would not let that sweet voice fall silent. He brings to audiences world-wide the ancient Celtic harp that "has always been loved and celebrated by the Irish people for its mystical power to enchant them, to draw them into realms beyond thought, and to refresh their spirit." That is exactly what Patrick Ball accomplishes in these five sparkling recordings. Listeners are enchanted by his performances. They are drawn to the emotional portrait that Patrick paints with each piece, romantic, melancholy or jubilant. Although Patrick is a delightful storyteller with words, these instrumental works tell their own stories, requiring nothing more than Patrick's fingernails deftly plucking the brass strings of his beautifully crafted harp. The harp he plays is a re-creation of the ancient Celtic instrument, lovingly crafted by master harp builder Jay Witcher of Houlton, Maine, who has made it his life's work to allow the sound of the great instrument to live again. Patrick Ball pays his greatest tribute to the legendary Turlough O'Carolan, a blind, itinerant harper who wandered the Irish countryside at the turn of the eighteenth century, playing for wealthy landowners. O'Carolan was witty, a prolific composer and a genius on the Celtic harp. It is little wonder that Patrick Ball has included O'Carolan's brilliant tunes in each of his first four volumes.Folk CDs
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