Out of Nowhere

    Research output: Other contribution

    Abstract

    Out of Nowhere draws upon material from the traditional Irish air P�rt Na BP�ca� (known in English as Song of the Fairies), a ghostly and beautiful tune believed to have originated in the Blasket Islands off the remote South West coast of Ireland. The composer of the air remains anonymous but the story goes that a fiddler was awoken in the night by the sound of this tune coming off the waves outside and believing it was music of the ghosts, transcribed it. A more recent theory is that what was actually heard was the song of the humpback whale as it migrated south. Whilst researching the tune I also learned that the people of the Blaskets evacuated the Islands in the 1950s due to the increasingly harsh conditions of remote Island life and the migration of younger generations to mainland Ireland or the USA. In the three distinct parts of Out of Nowhere I never wanted to reinterpret what is already a stunningly beautiful tune but rather drawn upon it?s esoteric origins and both the folklore and reality which surround it. Most appealing perhaps is the idea that this music could have come from the ocean, interpreted by humans but not created by them, still existing after their eventual departure.
    Original languageEnglish
    PublisherComposers Edition
    Publication statusPublished (VoR) - 2015

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