Please enjoy this short fairy harp track, funded with thanks to Arts Council of Ireland.
“There are obvious musical differences between traditional Irish music and European classical music that are immediately obvious to the ear. Beyond the notes, one of the most important and striking differences to me, is that in the European relationship with the fairies and the music they inspired, there’s no direct contact with fairy folk. A classical music composer will be inspired by a painting or poem and write a piece that responds to or somehow illustrates the fairy.
In Irish heritage, lore and music there is often direct contact and exchange with the fairies. The fairies were a very real threat to people and sometimes would bestow the gift of music-making or particular tunes on an individual. They might steal a gifted musician and bring them to the other world for a fairy party and return them with prodigious talent. The fairies, the Tuatha De Dannan, having gone under ground so that we could walk the land, could at any moment return for divilment and mischief and living with this constant risk was perhaps the price we paid for sending them underground in the first place.”
Tune: 🎵 Na Sioga trad. Arr. Aisling Ennis (Traditional Irish Hornpipe) 🎵
“There are obvious musical differences between traditional Irish music and European classical music that are immediately obvious to the ear. Beyond the notes, one of the most important and striking differences to me, is that in the European relationship with the fairies and the music they inspired, there’s no direct contact with fairy folk. A classical music composer will be inspired by a painting or poem and write a piece that responds to or somehow illustrates the fairy.
In Irish heritage, lore and music there is often direct contact and exchange with the fairies. The fairies were a very real threat to people and sometimes would bestow the gift of music-making or particular tunes on an individual. They might steal a gifted musician and bring them to the other world for a fairy party and return them with prodigious talent. The fairies, the Tuatha De Dannan, having gone under ground so that we could walk the land, could at any moment return for divilment and mischief and living with this constant risk was perhaps the price we paid for sending them underground in the first place.”
Tune: 🎵 Na Sioga trad. Arr. Aisling Ennis (Traditional Irish Hornpipe) 🎵
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Fairy Harp QR Recital Project expands on artistry from her 2023 lecture-recital series 'Fairy Harp Ceol Sí' which was funded by Wicklow County Council. I hope that these short snippets of harp music and info elevate your experience of Russborough's beautiful fairy trail walk.
Copyright Aisling Ennis 2024
Copyright Aisling Ennis 2024