Mick O’Brien, uilleann pipes
ConTempo Quartet
Breanndán Begley, voice
IMO Quartet
“This is a serious and interesting album that does a remarkable job of incorporating Irish musical ideas into string quartet writing.” (Journal of Music)
“Irish Minimalism from Dave Flynn – with string quartets and added uilleann pipes, Flynn effectively uses drones, lilting lines & twisting melodic catches, with bawdy humour and moving poignancy in Stories from the Old World to finish.” (Classical Notes)
“… they [Mick O’Brien & Breanndan Begley] deserve special mention here in this magazine that is devoted to Irish traditional music for participating so effectively in this musical exploration of Dave Flynn’s” (Irish Music Magazine)
“If you are like me, you welcome the rightness and musicality of the hybrid, and are glad for Dave Flynn’s imaginative music.” (Gapplegate)
“A thoroughly engaging and out of the ordinary listening experience.” (Midwest Record)
“Interesting, striking, and quite engaging.” (Cinemusical)
Credits:
1–4 The Cranning (String Quartet No. 2)
Performers: ConTempo Quartet
5–7 The Cutting (Quintet No. 1 for Uilleann Pipes and String Quartet)
Performers: Mick O’Brien (uilleann pipes) and IMO Quartet (Aoife Ní Bhriain, Niamh Varian Barry, Ciara Ní Bhrian, Cormac Ó Briain).
8–10 The Keening (String Quartet No. 3)
Performers: ConTempo Quartet
11–14 Stories from the Old World
Performers: Breanndán Begley (voice), Mick O’Brien (uilleann pipes), IMO Quartet
Produced by Judith Sherman
Liner notes by John Schaefer:
With the title Irish Minimalism, composer Dave Flynn has laid down a marker.
Minimalism is associated with America, and specifically with composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass (both of whom have spent a good portion of their careers disavowing the term) however, the hallmarks of the style (repetition, gradual incremental changes that accrue over time, steady rhythms which are often drawn from popular or traditional music, and a restrained sense of harmonic movement) are all compatible with Irish traditional music.
After years spent as both a composer and performer working in the dual worlds of contemporary classical music and traditional song, Flynn has fashioned a personal musical language by recognising that the differences between those two styles are not nearly as great, and certainly not as useful, as the similarities.
Originally released in 2021.
