The Connemara Suite
Composed by Bill Whelan
TARA4021
- Inishlacken
The Currach
The Island Terns
Evening Céilí - Errisbeg
- Carna
Dawn
Macdara’s
An Chistin
Performed by the Irish Chamber Orchestra
Conducted by David Jones
Soloists include: Zoë Conway (Solo Fiddle)
Morgan Crowley (Vocal and Lilting )
Colin Dunne (Dance Percussion)
Fionnuala Hunt (Solo Violin)
Michelle Mulcahy (Harp)
Bill Whelan (Lilting)
Recorded at University Concert Hall, University of
Limerick
and The Fort, Roundstone by Philip Begley.
Mixed at The Fort, Roundstone by Philip Begley.
Produced by Bill Whelan.
Composed by Bill Whelan and published by Cloonisle
Music.
Transcription and orchestration of Inishlacken by David
Downes.
Photography: Amelia Stein, Michael Kopa, Maurice Gunning,
Bill Whelan, Mella Travers, Steve Ullathorne, John McIntye
Design: Philip Melly - Design Warehouse
Cover image Inishlacken by Gerard Dillon,
used by kind permission of the Dillon estate
Dear Bill
I listened to your Connemara Suite under ideal circumstances,
standing at our window overlooking Roundstone Bay. It was
a still Autumn afternoon; a slight haze reduced the background
of mountains to a grey-blue silhouette. With the end of the
season the last of the summer fleet of white sails had already
flitted, leaving just one black-hulled traditional workboat
at anchor. And as the music streamed and bubbled, her rust-red
sails were hoisted and she began slowly to tack out of the
bay. The tall mast moved like a pointer against the graph-like
rises and falls of the skyline, as if it were mysteriously
directing the music that filled the room. Sailing must sometimes
be like this, more a state of mind than a progress; the music
too was dwelling in a long moment rather than pursuing an
argument, and was full of reminiscences of other Irish music
with the same quality, from Carolan to jigs and reels and
indeed to Riverdance. By the time the boat had disappeared
past Inis Leacan to leave the sheltering hill of Iorras Beag
and face into the Atlantic, the music was celebrating Carna,
the peninsula whose long spine of hills forms our eastern
horizon beyond the Bay. And since Carna is such a talkative
place, still having two languages to talk in, it was right
that the human voice should suddenly break into the instrumental
flow with a lovely slow air and then a rattle of portaireacht
béal, mouth-music.
Thank you for a quintessentially Connemaran experience.
Tim Robinson
October 2007
Tim Robinson is the author of Stones of Aran
and of Connemara: Listening to the Wind. He lives in Roundstone,
where Folding Landscapes publishes his maps of the Aran Islands,
the Burren and Connemara.
1) Inishlacken
Performed by the Irish Chamber Orchestra
Conducted by David Jones
Zoë Conway Solo Fiddle
Fionnuala Hunt Solo Violin
A concerto for two violins one in the classical style and
one traditional, Inishlacken (Inis Leacain) was named after
an island off the Galway coast and has been inspired by living
in Connemara and by many visits to the island. The first movement
imagines a trip in a currach out to Inishlacken. The vigorous
rowing is given a break in the middle of the movement, as
we look back at the Twelve Pins and the beautiful Connemara
landscape prior to taking to the oars again. The second movement
imagines the flight of the many terns that inhabit the island,
as they speed around in pairs, skimming the surface of the
sea. In the last movement, I tried to evoke the evening on
Inishlacken as the quiet sunset is replaced by the music and
dance of a community now sadly all departed.
3) Errisbeg
Performed by the Irish Chamber Orchestra
Conducted by David Jones
Zoë Conway Solo Fiddle
Michelle Mulcahy Harp
In the area where I live in Connemara, the local landscape
is dominated by the imposing presence of Errisbeg (Iorras
Beag). From the land it offers many routes for walking and
presents extraordinary views of the surrounding countryside
and of course of the sea - including Inishlacken and Carna.
I have walked parts of Errisbeg on many occasions and this
composition represents for me the different moods that this
mountain can evoke in the walker.
3) Carna
Performed by the Irish Chamber Orchestra
Conducted by David Jones
Zoë Conway Solo Fiddle
Morgan Crowley Song
Morgan Crowley and Bill Whelan Lilting
Colin Dunne Dance Percussion
Irish lyrics by Theo Dorgan
Carna is in three movements, the first "Dawn" imagines
the early hours of the day, when that extraordinary Connemara
light pushes back the dark and the early stirrings are heard
through the stillness. Finally the sun bursts through, and
the Connemara landscape is revealed with its rugged beauty
set against the powerful ever-present Atlantic.
The second movement, "Macdara's" evokes the sea
journey that takes place every year from the Connemara coast,
out to MacDara's Island, named after the sixth century saint
who lived and built a small one-roomed church on the island.
On July 16th every year, all the boats set out from Carna,
laden with pilgrims, to attend mass on the island and to spend
the day picknicking and having the craic on this otherwise
deserted and wild Atlantic outpost.
The final movement, "An Cistin" imagines the end
of MacDara's day, when the currachs and sailing boats (hookers)
have returned to Carna, and a proper seisiún begins
in earnest. In the past, musicians were not always available,
and the music for dance was often supplied by a "lilter"
who sang the melodies of the jigs and reels, wordlessly but
with much decoration and technical expertise. Here, I have
taken the rhythms of the dance and used them in a playful
interaction between fiddle, feet and orchestra.