The Pilgrim (1983 album)
Encyclopedia
In 1983, following the hugely successful performance of Shaun Davey's work The Brendan Voyage
the previous year, The Festival Interceltique de Lorient
commissioned Shaun to compose The Lorient Festival Suite for orchestra and Celtic soloists representing the seven Celtic countries or regions (Scotland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, Galicia) and it was a recording of this concert that was released, on vinyl, in the same year by Tara Music under the title of 'The Pilgrim'. Despite the success of the initial performance and and subsequent LP release Shaun realised that the work needed a thread to hold it together. It was not until 1990, when Shaun was approached by Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
to stage The Pilgrim in Glasgow to mark the passing of the mantle of European City of Culture from Glasgow to Dublin, that he got the chance to address some of these problems. With the commitment to a CD release from Tara Music, he was in a position to add some new pieces (and delete others). He introduced the concept of a journey by St. Colum Cille through the Celtic countries which provided the missing thread from the earlier work. This concept was further strengthened by the introduction of a narrator between the musical pieces. The current CD release is a combination of remixed recordings from the original Lorient concert as well as the Glasgow concert.
It was not until 1999 that Shaun again revisited The Pilgrim. With a number of performances scheduled for the piece in the millennium year Shaun took the opportunity to once again revise and extend the suite to great effect. As the overall length of the suite was now beyond that of a conventional CD Shaun chose to release the additional tracks on a later release 'May We Never Have To Goodbye' also on the Tara Music label.
Orchestras : The Lorient Festival Orchestra / The Glasgow Philharmonic Orchestra
Soloists; Rita Connolly
& Iarla O'Lionaird (vocals) Liam O'Flynn
uilleann pipes
, Josik Allot & Bernard Pichard Bombardes, Pipe Major Tom Anderson (Scottish pipes), Helen Davies (celtic harp), Carlos Real Rodreguez, Vincente Manuel Tunas.
Narrator : Mick Lally.
Choirs : Cord Gord' rer Garth' Kerensa, An Tryskell, The City of Glasgow Chorus.
Pipebands : Wallacestone Pipeband. City of Glasgow Pipes and Drums.
The Brendan Voyage
Shaun Davey's first major orchestral suite which was composed for uilleann pipes played by Liam O'Flynn, depicting Tim Severin’s adventure in reconstructing Saint Brendan’s 6th century Atlantic crossing to America...
the previous year, The Festival Interceltique de Lorient
Festival Interceltique de Lorient
The Festival Interceltique de Lorient or Gouelioù Etrekeltiek An Oriant was founded in Lorient, Brittany in 1971 by Polig Montjarret...
commissioned Shaun to compose The Lorient Festival Suite for orchestra and Celtic soloists representing the seven Celtic countries or regions (Scotland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, Galicia) and it was a recording of this concert that was released, on vinyl, in the same year by Tara Music under the title of 'The Pilgrim'. Despite the success of the initial performance and and subsequent LP release Shaun realised that the work needed a thread to hold it together. It was not until 1990, when Shaun was approached by Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is an arts venue, in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is operated by Glasgow Life, an agency of Glasgow City Council, which also runs Glasgow’s City Halls and Old Fruitmarket venue...
to stage The Pilgrim in Glasgow to mark the passing of the mantle of European City of Culture from Glasgow to Dublin, that he got the chance to address some of these problems. With the commitment to a CD release from Tara Music, he was in a position to add some new pieces (and delete others). He introduced the concept of a journey by St. Colum Cille through the Celtic countries which provided the missing thread from the earlier work. This concept was further strengthened by the introduction of a narrator between the musical pieces. The current CD release is a combination of remixed recordings from the original Lorient concert as well as the Glasgow concert.
It was not until 1999 that Shaun again revisited The Pilgrim. With a number of performances scheduled for the piece in the millennium year Shaun took the opportunity to once again revise and extend the suite to great effect. As the overall length of the suite was now beyond that of a conventional CD Shaun chose to release the additional tracks on a later release 'May We Never Have To Goodbye' also on the Tara Music label.
Tracks
- Himlico's Map; Colm Cille Leaves Derry.
- Gair Na Gairbe
- A Walk In The Ocean
- The Pilgrim
- Colum Cille's Farewell to Ireland
- The Land of The Picts
- Iona
- Briochan and Columba
- Storm at Sea
- A White Wave Foams Over
- Ymadawiad Arthur
- St. Manchan's Prayer
- Samson Peccator Episcopus
- St. Matthews Point
- Danse Plin
- Bal Plin
- Dance An Dro
- Santiago
- Vigo
- The Deer's Cry
- God Be With Me
- A`Ghrian'
Musicians
Conductors : Noel Kelehan / Iain SutherlandOrchestras : The Lorient Festival Orchestra / The Glasgow Philharmonic Orchestra
Soloists; Rita Connolly
Rita Connolly
Rita Connolly is a Dublin-born singer who has lived and worked in Ireland. She is primarily known for her work with composer Shaun Davey Shaun Davey who wrote a song cycle for her called 'Granuaile' based on the 16th century pirate queen Gráinne O'Malley as well as including her in other of his...
& Iarla O'Lionaird (vocals) Liam O'Flynn
Liam O'Flynn
Liam O'Flynn is a master uilleann piper and prominent Irish folk musician. In addition to an impressive solo career and his work with the Irish traditional group Planxty, O'Flynn has recorded with many prominent international musical artists, including Mark Knopfler, the Everly Brothers, Enya,...
uilleann pipes
Uilleann pipes
The uilleann pipes or //; ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland, their current name, earlier known in English as "union pipes", is a part translation of the Irish-language term píobaí uilleann , from their method of inflation.The bag of the uilleann pipes is inflated by means of a...
, Josik Allot & Bernard Pichard Bombardes, Pipe Major Tom Anderson (Scottish pipes), Helen Davies (celtic harp), Carlos Real Rodreguez, Vincente Manuel Tunas.
Narrator : Mick Lally.
Choirs : Cord Gord' rer Garth' Kerensa, An Tryskell, The City of Glasgow Chorus.
Pipebands : Wallacestone Pipeband. City of Glasgow Pipes and Drums.