The lilting, crystalline tone of the Celtic harp must be one of the most joyful sounds in mankind’s history. The harp originated a thousand years ago in ancient Ireland; it shone through the age of the bards and brought hope during long years of occupation and oppression. As it is a challenging instrument to …
Paddy Maloney has spent three decades arranging music for one of the world’s great instrumental groups, the Chieftains, which must have given him a hunger to write for the human voice. A Christmas in Rome features either choirs or solo singers on nearly every track. To sing his arrangements of Christmas music, Maloney has assembled an eclectic collection …
The Chieftains Collection: The Very Best of the Claddagh Years
The melodies on Collection may be ancient but this is the sound of a revolution. Before Paddy Maloney gathered together some of the best traditional musicians in Ireland in 1963 to form a band, such music was performed solo, if at all. The Chieftains not only reintroduced traditional music to the Irish public, they pioneered a new way …
There was no doubt in anyone s mind that siblings Míchaeál Ó Domhnaill and Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, rhythm genius Dónal Lunny, piping king Paddy Keenan, flute virtuoso Matt Molloy, and brilliant fiddler Kevin Burke stood at the very summit of the Celtic music a group admired by all, imitated by many, surpassed by none. It was inevitable that …