Bill Whelan: Orchestral Works

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Release Date: 20th Apr 2018
Catalogue No: CD155
Label: RTÉ Lyric
Length: 78 minutes

Whelan: Linen and Lace

Work length22:54

$5.00

$6.50

James Galway (flute)
RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra
David Brophy
Recorded: 23-24 January 2016 and 11-12 September 2017
Recording Venue: National Concert Hall, Dublin

I. Belfast

Track length9:50

$2.00

$2.60

II. Limerick

Track length9:10

$2.00

$2.60

III. Two Cities

Track length3:54

$1.00

$1.30

Whelan: Inishlacken

Work length17:26

$4.00

$5.20

Helena Wood (violin), Zoe Conway (fiddle)
RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra
David Brophy
Recorded: 23-24 January 2016 and 11-12 September 2017
Recording Venue: National Concert Hall, Dublin

I. The Curragh

Track length7:01

$2.00

$2.60

II. The Island Terns

Track length5:36

$1.00

$1.30

III. Evening Céilí

Track length4:49

$1.00

$1.30

Whelan: Riverdance: A Symphonic Suite

Work length38:00

$11.00

$14.30

RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra
David Brophy
Recorded: 23-24 January 2016 and 11-12 September 2017
Recording Venue: National Concert Hall, Dublin

I. Cloudsong

Track length2:05

$1.00

$1.30

II. Reel Around the Sun

Track length4:08

$1.00

$1.30

III. Caoineadh Cú Chulainn

Track length4:37

$1.00

$1.30

IV. The Countess Cathleen - Women of Sidhe

Track length3:32

$1.00

$1.30

V. Firedance

Track length4:36

$1.00

$1.30

VI. Slip into Spring

Track length1:39

$1.00

$1.30

VII. Macedonian Morning

Track length3:13

$1.00

$1.30

VIII. Marta's Dance - The Russian Dervish

Track length3:19

$1.00

$1.30

IX. Lift the Wings

Track length3:38

$1.00

$1.30

X. Andalucía

Track length2:09

$1.00

$1.30

XI. Cloudsong - Riverdance

Track length5:04

$1.00

$1.30

About
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About

Bill Whelan created the music for Riverdance in 1994 as an interval act for RTÉ’s hosting of the Eurovision. It was one of those seismic moments of culture in which his use of traditional idioms in a completely new composition reframed the way Irish music and dance was viewed not just by people outside of the country but also at home. The show has been seen by over 24 million people in more than 450 venues worldwide. This premiere recording of three of Whelan’s major compositions, performed by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Brophy, again reveals his ability to create original and accessible new music, this time in an orchestral context.

He wrote Linen and Lace, a flute concerto for Sir James Galway as a work that musically unites their respective home cities of Belfast (linen) and Limerick (lace). In three sections, the first two begin briefly with melodies associated with that city but then quickly move into a virtuosic celebration of powerful human force intrinsic to any true sense of place: flute, harp and orchestra variously duet, brass fanfares and marches conjure the industrial life and energy of Belfast and Limerick before the work concludes with a solo flute cadenza.

Inishlacken is a concerto for two violins (one in the classical style played by Helena Wood and one traditional played by Zoe Conway), named after a deserted island off the Galway coast. This first movement imagines a trip in a currach out to Inishlacken before a beautifully evocative middle section in which the two violins mimic the whirling flight of restless seabirds as they wheel and swirl around the island. Finally, evening on Inislacken is conjured in memory of the departed inhabitants as the quiet sunset is replaced by the music and dance.

The third work on the CD is Whelan’s symphonic setting of the music of Riverdance. He has kept the rhythmic energy and melodies that make the work so popular but presents all the themes in a way that is playable by the majestic sweep of a full orchestra, without the traditional musicians.

Bill Whelan: Orchestral Works

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