November-December 2007

APOTHEOSIS OF THE POLKA AND JIGS TO HAUNT YOUR DREAMS

ARTISTS: BREANNDAN BEGLEY AND CAOIMHIN O'RAGHALLAIGH

TITLE: FYH

LABEL: FYH (STATE OF CHASSIS, 2007)(currently available only at concerts -therefore not Pure Unobtanium!-but soon available from CDBaby)

By Brooke Alberts

“A moment of madness is better than a life of logic.” Might as well Follow Your Heart. This according to Mr. Breanndan Begley, and Mr. Caoimhin O’Raghallaigh concurs- it’s right there in their playing (play being the operative verb).  Mad moments ensue here in plenty- some more obviously, like the tune they’re calling a Slippery Jig . Slip-jigs are in 9/8, but this one, learned from the playing of Paddy Cronin, has an extra beat. Then there’s a  rendition of O’Sullivan’s March after which they roam about, still playing, and snatches of the tune waft back into the recording device’s earshot  like a poignant draught of nostalgia. Furthermore, O’Raghallaigh introduces the hardanger fiddle (a traditional Norwegian instrument with four played strings and five sympathetically resonating strings) for a set of polkas. He takes these very common polkas and, by his intensely musical playing, presents them as intriguing and delightful new creatures.

The entire CD, however brief, is full of wonderfully creative explorations. They kick it off with the  infectious “P & O Polka” by Christy Leahy (a tune that will surely take over the world)- the fiddle low and the two instruments’  timbres inextricably intertwined.  Next comes an absorptive and spiraling 3-part jig, Tonn Cliodhna, composed by Begley .   And who better than the fine sean nos singer that he is to play a set of airs on his breathing box?

A sparky live set of polkas (The Green Cottage, The Glin Cottage and Julia’s Norwegian Polkas) gives a good indication of how they sound in concert, with the pulse and percussive bowing, the weaving of the fiddle around the accordion, and the notes between the notes that makes them so inspiring to hear. Ending with a lower-key reprise of the “P & O Polka” (that, at length, fades away) serves to underscore the infinite nature of the permutations of this music.

Not only are the tunes themselves intriguing, but it’s the musicians’ musicality and thought-provoking approach to what they do with those tunes that is so entrancing about this recording. The carefully-managed manipulation of dynamics, varying pace, percussive bowing and fiddle drones, the breathing bellows…it all calls attention to the music in a way that makes for very rich listening.

Brooke Alberts is a songwriter and has a Masters degree in Medieval Studies.