The multi hued Sound of Iona, between the islands of Mull and Iona, is only one of the many bodies of water we cross to glean our Celtic musical bouquet: the Irish and North Seas, the English Channel, the Atlantic Ocean. The group IONA presents the multi hued Sound...
About the sound bytes.
The complete lyrics may be viewed here.
We open--and close--this set with puirt-a-beul, or mouth music, a
song in Gaelic from the
Outer Hebrides Islands of Scotland. The words of puirt-a-beul are
composed to dance tunes, and
are often simply mnemonics for the tunes—in this case exhortations to
open the door, and
bring goat's milk for the king's son-in-law, who is the fiddling
tailor, or tailoring fiddler... The 6
part jig, which Bob sandwiches in between, has an equally irrelevant
name.. lyrics
The sound byte is 25 seconds of music (197K).
We play Bonnie Charlie as a hornpipe, and follow it with a Manx song
in 3 part
vocal harmony. It describes the trials and tribulations of a poor farm
hand whose
master wakes him up at the crack of dawn to feed a bunch of shiftless
itinerants. Bob
follows with a hornpipe by P/M R. Lawrie and jig by Jack Chisholm on
great pipes--just to be
sure the poor kid's awake. lyrics
The sound byte is 29 seconds of music (235K).
The song, an interesting example of how Celtic traditions have been
transplanted to the New
World, was collected from a Welsh American in Utica, NY, who had
learned it from her Powys
born mother. As with many songs with birds as their subject, Y Gwcw
Fach is one in which the
singer sends her true love a message. Not to say she's bird brained...
Bernard arranged the
Welsh hornpipe as a fitting conclusion. lyrics
The sound byte is 21 seconds of music (165K).
Bob launches us from the mists of the Banks of Locheil, an air on
the great pipes, into an
Irish song of emigration. During the potato famine (1845-51), a million
people fled Ireland. Most of them never saw their families again.
Departures to America were called
"American wakes", and many songs detailing the poignant combination of
homesickness and anticipation evolved during this time. Paddy's Green
Shamrock Shores is one
of the finest, and most upbeat: everyone ends up drinking in New York.
And still does...lyrics
The sound byte is 20 seconds of music (159K).
We intersperse the tune of a popular Breton song with a medieval
Cornish tragedy. Three
knights court a sweet young thing. The one she chooses gets the thumbs
down vote from her
brother, who promptly decides to kill her. Typical folk song.
The sound byte is 26 seconds of music (212K).
And here's another one. Pháidín's ex doesn't
appreciate being dumped, and lays
a nasty curse on the new wife, calling for both her legs to be broken,
followed by her death. What is it with these Celts? We play Sgt.
Early's jig slowly, working up to that vicious little
song, and complete the set with the 5 part jig that Bernard and Bob
arranged for the great pipes
in the finale. lyrics
The sound byte is 25 seconds of music (199K).
Bob composed this variation on pibroch (a pipe competition thing) as
a comment on the
reel, The Ale is Dear. Obviously also a comment on Scottish parsimony.
The song is a spirited
love song: nobody kills anybody! lyrics
The sound byte is 26 seconds of music (289K).
Bob and Mary get to strut their stuff. We start off with a Scottish
march on small pipes,
segué to an Irish jig on harp and flute, whip back to Scotland
for a couple of strathspeys
on the great pipes, and finish off back in Ireland, with two rousing
reels. Quite a frenzied jaunt
across the Irish Sea and back and forth and so on.
The sound byte is 18 seconds of music (193K).
When our friend, Loralyn Coles, heard Bernard explain about the Wild
Geese, Irish soldiers
who had been captured by the British and exiled for life--a tribute to
their valor, she wrote these
moving words. Many of the exiles became mercenaries in Europe, and
legend had it that, when
they died on the battlefield, their souls returned to Ireland in the
guise of wild geese. Loralyn
chose a lovely, obscure variant of the jig Lark in the Morning for her
tune. She has kindly
allowed us to have our way with her hauntingly beautiful creation, and
we trust it will do the
same wild goose bump thing to our listeners as it always does to us.
lyrics
The sound byte is 43 seconds of music (472K).
And yet another tribute to a good friend. Nolwenn Monjarret, who
performs frequently at
the Potomac Celtic Festival (also produced by Barnaby Productions,
Inc.), and helps us with
Breton songs, taught us Voici le Mois de Mai at the ‘97 Festival. We
sang it with her that
year, and, in ‘98, she returned to sing it with us--on this recording!
The song is kan ha
diskan, a call and answer dance tune, arranged so that the singers
don't miss a beat. It is one of
courtship--by the son of the king of Spain, no less. We get our
audiences singing along on the
choruses: "I will never be 15 again/I will never have a 20 year old
lover
again"—how true! Mary contributed the an dro with which we open the
set, and the
laridenn, following the song, was collected by Nolwenn's father, Polig,
in the most
comprehensive (and mind boggling) tome we ever did see. In the finale,
Bob, on chanter, is
answered by Bernard on bombarde, with feeling... lyrics
The sound byte is 31 seconds of music
(344K).
Total Running Time - 50:50
Credits:
Produced by Bernard Argent, Barbara Ryan and Myron Bretholz
Sound Engineering, Mixing, and Mastering by Scott Shuman & Mike
Melchione
Recorded and Mastered at Shuman Recording, Inc., Falls Church, VA
703-237-5677
Original Art Work and Design by Barbara Tresidder Ryan
Art Direction by Steven Parke, WHAT?Design, Baltimore, MD 410-327-9363
Photographs of Iona (with Mark Ryan) by Barbara Ryan
Studio Photography by Irene Young
Liner Notes by Bernard Argent & Barbara Ryan
All tracks traditional except where noted,all arrangements by IONA
© 1998, Barnaby
Productions, Inc
Guest Musicians:
Abby Newton, Cello on Paddy's Green Shamrock Shores and Lark in the
Morning, Wild Geese at
Night
Nolwenn Monjarret, Vocals on Voici le Mois de Mai
With Special Thanks to: Our Families for their support and patience, especially Argus Tresidder, who made this album possible, and Mike Spalding, Roadie Extraordinaire, Cheryl Mitchell, the Barnaby Productions Family, and Barnaby in particular, Friends and Loyal Fans of Iona, and the presenters and radio announcers, especially Mary Cliff, who keep the traditions alive.
Bernard Argent
Flute, Whistles, Doumbek, Vocals
Barbara Tresidder Ryan
Vocals, Guitars, Bouzouki, Bodhrán, Tambourine
Mary Fitzgerald
Harp, vocals
Robert Mitchell
Great Pipes, Shuttle Pipes
IONA: traditional instruments and music; exceptional, nontraditional arrangements.
BackDocument last modified on July 4, 2006 - IONA.