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Píobaire, An, Volume 8, Issue 4, Page 21

Píobaire, An, Volume 8, Issue 4, Page 21
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periodical Publisher
Na Píobairí Uilleann
periodical Editor
Chairman, NPU
periodical Title
An Píobaire
volume Number
4
issue Content
Píobaire, An 8 4 21 20120927 21 all the works I have found which feature the uil- leann pipes. Writing in The Journal of Music in Ireland (2005) Bob Gilmore comments on the unusual nature of the piece. It’s one of the strangest pieces I’ve ever heard – utterly compelling and magical, with plain- tive fragments of melody from the pipes against the banging and ticking of the percussion. It’s experimental, profoundly Irish, and quite dif- ferent in tone and content from any music I can think of. Michael Holohan has used the pipes perhaps more than any other classical composer. He has composed two solo works for Mick O’Brien, The Road to Lough Swilly (2001) and An Fear as an Fine Gall (2003). These works could be seen to follow on from the tradition of piping pieces such as The Foxhunt and Alasdruim’s March using as they do traditional tune forms alongside special piping effects to imitate nat- ural sounds. There is a cuckoo call in The Road to Lough Swilly. The Dream of Aengus (1997) contains a less conventional part for uilleann pipes in that it features the instrument as part of a chamber en- semble rather than as a solo instrument. Holo- han scores the pipes with voice, flute, French horn, violin, percussion and two bronze age horns. This unique instrumentation is utilised to create some very interesting musical colours. There is pointillistic use of the instru- ments at times which means the piper often has to play short phrases or individual notes in iso- lation. This is a considerable change from the melodic stream that is idiomatic of the pipes and for this reason this piece is significant within the canon of contemporary concert works which utilise the pipes. Another major work of Holohan’s to feature the pipes is the award-winning collaboration with the poet Paul Durkin, A Snail in My Prime (2000). A Snail in My Prime was conceived as a radio programme for RTÉ, it featured Peter Browne on the pipes along with Bronze Age horns and bells, Iron Age trumpa créda, bodhrán, cello, marimba, flute and voice. A Snail in My Prime won the overall award in the Radio Celtic Music Section at the Celtic Film and Television Festival in France. Notable recent chamber compositions featuring the pipes include Niall Vallely’s The Singing Stream (2002) for a quartet of uilleann pipes and Pedro Rebelo’s Illusion of Control (2009) for uilleann pipes, saxophones and 3D visuals. Rebelo’s work, which features piper Ivan Goff dueting with saxophonist Franziska Schroeder to the accompaniment of the 3D visuals of Brian Cullen, is one of the most experimental works yet to feature the uilleann pipes. The pre- miere performance of the work can be viewed on YouTube via Rebelo’s website. 2 A very recent work of significance is Lyric FM Composer-in-Residence Linda Buckley’s work Cosán de Solas Gealaí Buí (2012) which is scored for a large chamber ensemble including the pipes of Mick O’Brien. It was premiered in Temple Bar during the Love Live Music event in June 2012. I will briefly mention my own recent work with Mick O’Brien which includes what I be- lieve to be the first set of Études for uilleann pipes (2009). We have collaborated on five Études to date, three of which were premiered at the 2011 Masters of Tradition Festival in Bantry. The main function of these works is to extend the possibilities of the harmony-pro- ducing regulators of the pipes. These works would be simple enough to play if they were piano works; however on the pipes they are ex- tremely difficult and pose new challenges for any piper. The pipes also feature in my works Stories from the Old World (2008) for pipes, string quartet, sean nós singer and narrator and Le Cheíle is in Aonar (2010) for traditional music ensemble.
issue Number
8
page Number
21
periodical Author
[Periodical]
issue Publication Date
2012-09-21T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

An Píobaire, Volume 8, Issue 4

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