D A V E F L Y N N

S T O R I E S F R O M T H E O L D W O R L D

R T É C O N T E M P O Q U A R T E T | B R E A N N D Á N B E G L E Y

M I C K O ' B R I E N | I R I S H M E M O R Y O R C H E S T R A Q U A R T E T
STRING QUARTET NO.2 - 'THE CRANNING' (2004-2005)

1.  i    Slip 5:42

2. ii    Slide 1:30

    iii     The Bamako Highland 1:37

    iv    Cran 4.28

STORIES FROM THE OLD WORLD (2008)

3. i      An file agus an sprid (The Poet and the Spirit) 5:54

4. ii     “Más le gigeog a mheallas í..” (If it was with a fart I won her....) 4:09

5. iii    An píobaire agus bean an tábhairne (The Piper and the Landlady) 4.44

6. iv    Na Seana-Cailleacha (The Old Hags) 7.50

STRING QUARTET NO.3 - 'THE KEENING' (2007)

7. i     Ag Monabhar - Murmuring 7.24 

8. II     Reacaireacht - Dirge 7.20

9. III   Gol - Cry 4.30

ABOUT THE MUSIC by Dave Flynn

Between 2004 & 2008 I developed a new style of 'Irish' music, one equally influenced by contemporary classical and

traditional Irish music and everything in between. It was a lonely furrow to plough at times because Irish traditional

music wasn’t much respected in the classical music world then. With The Cranning I sought an alternative to the

syrupy Celtic Twilight style that is loathed equally by contemporary composers and traditional musicians. I found my

antidote in the fiddles of Donegal and the uilleann pipes. Donegal fiddlers often use an attacking bowing technique.

This heavy, aggressive sound characterises much of The Cranning. The title refers to a piping technique used in the

last movement. The quartet repeatedly ‘cran’ before an imitation of the pipes bringing the piece to a soaring close.

Spices from Kerry influenced Stories from the Old World to produce the next logical step, uilleann pipes mixed with

string quartet. This distinctive farrago is enhanced by Gaelic narration and singing and the influence of music from

Kerry. The stories come from Peig Sayers whose harrowing recollections of life on the Blasket Islands during the early

20th Century were required study for generations of Irish students. The book Peig wasn’t a true reflection of Peig's

character. The stories I found in the Blasket Islands Centre reveal Peig to be an artist of great poetry and wit.

The Keening is based on the three stages of funeral keening described in Breandán Ó Madagain's book Keening and

Other Old Irish Musics.  Murmuring "The mourner commences by some deep murmuring, repeating over and over the

name of the deceased”; Dirge "The lone keener sang her verse to old reacaireacht music, chant like, many syllables

on the same note, with little ornamentation and ending on a falling cadence"; Cry/Gol "The music of the gol, in

contrast to that of the preceding verse, was explosive and highly ornamented".

It's 15 years since I composed The Cranning, over a decade since I composed Stories from the Old World and The

Keening.  Now, in 2018, I'm glad to see more and more composers/musicians embracing both traditions as equals.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Cranning commissioned by Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival

Stories From The Old World commissioned by Kerry Chamber Music Festival with Arts Council of Ireland Funding

The Keening commissioned by the Galway Music Residency

I'm indebted to the Contempo Quartet for working so patiently with me to develop the string quartet sound heard

on The Cranning and The Keening. They are an extraordinary quartet.

I'm hugely grateful to Mick O'Brien, Breanndán Begley and the IMO Quartet for their brilliant musicianship and for

vividly bringing Peig Sayer's Stories from the Old World to life.

To the legendary Judith Sherman I send special thanks for taking a leap into my strange new world to produce

Stories from the Old World.

Thanks also to the following, without whom this album probably wouldn't exist; Joan Maguire, Juiliet Jopling and the

Engegård Quartet, Áine Moynihan, Annóg Theatre Group, Eoin Duignan, The Great Blasket Centre, The Smith

Quartet, Charlie Lennon, Jane O'Leary, Malcolm Singer, Kevin Volans, the Contemporary Music Centre.

This album is dedicated to the memory of Tommy Peoples (RIP)

CREDITS

The Cranning and The Keening performed by The RTÉ Contempo Quartet: 

Bogdan Sofei (violin 1), Ingrid Nicola (violin 2), Andreea Banciu (viola) & Adrian Mantu (cello)

Engineered by Ed Kenehan at Cuan Studio, Spiddal in August 2012

Stories from The Old World performed by Breanndán Begley (voice), Mick O'Brien (uilleann pipes)

and The Irish Memory Orchestra Quartet:

Aoife Ní Bhriain (violin 1), Niamh Varian-Barry (violin 2), Ciara Ní Bhriain (viola) and Cormac Ó Broin (cello)

Engineered by Alan Kelly at Windmill Lane Studio, Dublin in August 2012

All tracks produced, edited and mastered by Judith Sherman

All music composed by Dave Flynn (there are no 'traditional' tunes used)

Digital Booklet Design by Celia Walshe

www.daveflynn.com www.irishmemoryorchestra.com

© Frisbee Records/Frisbee Publications 2018. All rights reserved.

Unauthorised Copying, Hiring, Lending, Public Performance And Broadcasting Of This Record Prohibited.