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There's perhaps a reason angels are frequently
depicted toting the harp - no instrument has more capacity to relax and
soothe.
Heavenly is also an apt adjective
to describe McDonnell's rendition of the music of 17thC
composer Turlogh O' Carolan, hailed as the last of the Irish bards, on
"O 'Carolan's Harp".
Pursuing a rarely practised art, McDonnell
displays the touch of a virtuoso and elegantly recaptures the
sound of 330-year-old folk music.
Her choice of period accompaniment - Claire
Guimond on Baroque flute, Chantal Remillard on Baroque violin and Betsy
MacMillan on Viol de Gamba - brings O' Carolan's long-forgotten
compositions new life.
Outstanding on the 26-song CD are the ballad
'Lady St. John', a tune thought to have been O' Carolan's, and 'The
Lamentation of Owen Roe O'Neill', which honours the death of an Irish
general who fought Cromwell.
The 'Lark in the Clear Air', a traditional
Irish song from O' Carolan's period, exemplifies McDonnell's
ability to weave an airy melody throughout her accompaniment
without overplaying the harp section. The simplicity of these
haunting songs would suffer otherwise.
McDonnell, a displaced Nova
Scotian who now lives in Kitchener, Ontario (Canada), deserves
praise not only for resurrecting the rather obscure music of
Ireland's original pop superstar, but also for delivering it the
way it was meant to be heard. |
