CELTIC CONNECTION • DECEMBER/JANUARY 1994/1995
Page 5
COMPOSER SHAUN DAVEY CREATES A MASTERPIECE WITH THE PILGRIM
A Musical Pilgrimage
By TREASA O'DRISCOLL
The term pilgrimage implies travel from place to place or it can suggest an inner journey leading to new and expanded levels of consciousness. That the term "pilgrim" and "celt" are almost synonymous is attested to in our mythology, history and spiritual tradition.
There are endless variations on the theme of seafaring, including the well-known tale of three guileless monks who pushed off in a coracle from Kerry without benefit of oar or sail. When they eventually beach up on the coast of Cornwall and are questioned as to the purpose of their enterprise, they answered "we stole away because we wanted for the love of God to be on pilgrimage, we cared not where.
To peregrinating Irish monks, Christ was king of the elements. His face was revealed in every flower and in every human face. In this perspective was seeded, I believe, the lifelong motivation we Celts have for seeking out kindred spirits and for forming cultural community wherever we are, hence all thehooleys and "crate."
The "journey over water" tale may have had an auspicious beginning with the voyage of Bran in a time beyond recall. It was brought to exhaustive literary conclusion in this century when James Joyce styled a river, Anna Livia, as the pilgrim — wending her commodious way in Celtic knot-like fashion, and having no beginning or end.
Music begins where words end. A new CD entitled The Pilgrim has just been released on the Tara label. It embraces all Celtic definitions of pilgrimage. In it, Shaun Davey demonstrates a magnitude of inspiration and vision.
As a composer, he has previously given us The Brendan Voyage and given Liam O'Flynn scope for his virtuosity. He also includes O'Flynn as soloist on The Pilgrim.
If the word pilgrimage implies imagination, the willingness to explore and move beyond the known, the transcendence of comfort zones, a quest for truth, a going to the heart of things, courage and determination, this composition has earned its title. For all of the attributes listed apply.
I have listened to it several times, trying to determine for myself what it was about the work that so deeply moved, excited and overwhelmed me at moments. This enquiry did not detract from the intensity of my response because there is nothing superficial about this composition, no artificially induced sentiments.
The work draws on a fullness of feeling that is closer to truth than sentiment and the artists involved are all aligned with this authenticity of approach. The goosebumps therefore persist with every hearing.
I can only compare its impact today with that of Sean O Riada's Mise Eire in the Sixties. That synthesis of the familiar and strange was peculiarly appropriate to the cultural transition Ireland was undergoing at the time. Shaun Davey seems to share O Riada's brilliant sense of the fitness of things. Ireland hears with different ears today as her cultural parameters extend much further now and her psychic embrace is broader.
Davey has created a synergy of eclectic elements commensurate with the consciousness of our day. He has involved soloists, orchestra and choirs from seven Celtic regions (Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and Galicia).
The musical harmony this engenders suggests to me an invisible Federation of Hearts, the pulse of which this music represents. If one were to single out the purpose inherent in the Celtic "stream," it is the opening of human hearts to the fullness of feeling so that love might increase
its force in human life.
This was the task of Druid and Christian priests, monks and nuns alike. The artist has been for some time and is now more consciously at the front line. Authenticity is the hallmark of all creativity that arises from this Celtic well-spring.
In his roster of soloists for this album, Davey has chosen well. Iarla O Lionaird is of the O Riada lineage of Cuil Aoidh. He has absorbed the sean nos tradition, integrated it and is now himself extending its range, possessing a voice beyond compare, of pure and elemental force.
Mick Lally, a man of great heart, fills out the role of narrator with grass-roots sense and a wealth of scholarship which makes his contribution intrinsic to the whole. The sum of parts includes superb harp playing by Helen Davies, Breton bombardes, a Welsh choir, Scottish orchestra, Galician musicians, pipe bands and more. There is a resonance of the balance struck between hermetic solitude and communal interchange inherent in the whole.
I would like to nominate Shaun Davey as composer of a new anthem for a united Ireland. It would ideally sound like Ymada-wiad Arthur on track 11 — a Welsh choral piece and it would remind us often that the underlying note of Celtic spirituality is one of hope and joy not of sorrow and despair.
But, it is probably Davey's setting of The Deer's Cry (otherwise known as Patrick's Breastplate) and the triumphant tribute to the sun A'Ghrian, both beautifully sung by Rita Connolly, that will have the most enduring audience appeal. Audience too is a feature of the CD. Five thousand strong at festivals in Glasgow and Brittany, it provides the heartfelt response of thunderous applause in which I, for one, would have readily joined.
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