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Le guth amháin - Unaccompanied Singing From The Irish Tradition
Galway, 17.03.22
Le guth amháin - 'with one voice'.
An hour of Sean-nós, lilting, funeral keens, migrant working ballads, rebel songs, songs of the Irish travelling community, Dublin street songs and other tunes from the Irish tradition, without instrumental accompaniment.
“If you're asked to sing a song in a country house, you'll make sure or try and make sure that nobody sees you while you're singing it - don't you see anybody - you turn your back. Not through disrespect, but out of shyness - I don't know how you call it - and if you have a cap on, you pull it over your eyes, so you won't see or hear or listen to anybody else, except for the song you're singing… …You’ll find the man what they call dhorais dúnta (closed door) in the back door, what they call the cúinneach; the man who goes into the corner and sings a song, the song is heard but he’s not seen… …You'll hear the song, but you don't know where it's coming from half the time. You know, they don't stand up or face an audience at all.” - Joe Heaney in conversation with Ewan McColl
Image Credit: “The Photographic Collection, N120.29.00134” by Dúchas © National Folklore Collection, UCD is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
Tracklist
- Joe Heaney
Explains The Meaning Of Sean-Nós - Thomas Moran
The Cruel Mother (Fragment) - Elizabeth Cronin
Siúil A Rún (Go My Love) - Molly Dineen
Interview With An Irish Tunneller At Angel Tube Station, London - Elizabeth Cronin
Interview With Alan Lomax About Singing - Rita And Sarah Keane
A Stór Mo Chroí (Treasure Of My Heart) - Aodhán
The Custom Of Keening At Irish Funerals - Dainí Maidchi Ó Súilleabháin
John Twiss (Live From St. Patrick's Cathedral) - Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin
A Ógánaigh An Chúil Chraobhaigh (The Unquiet Grave) - Luke Cheevers
Ulysses (Introduction)
