Masters of the Irish Harp

If you have an Irish passport, there’s a harp on it. If you’ve coins from Ireland in your pocket, there are harps on those too. Then there are the pubs, the beer, and the tea towels: the harp is a powerful symbol of Ireland.

The power of the sound of the harp is a focus on Lyric RTE fm’ s collection Masters of the Irish Harp. There are sixteen cuts on the album, with music which ranges from Bach to O’Carolan, from newly composed works to those which come from ancient sources.

It is a varied and wonderful range of players represented on Masters of the Irish Harp as well.
You’ve met a number of them here along the music road, while others may be new to you. It goes from Grainne to Grainne in terms of players, opening with Grainne Hambly’s sparkling take on The Geese in the Bog and closing with Grainne Yeats’ reflective Carolan’s Farewell to Music. Both harps and harpers range across background, from concert harp to clarsach, from classically trained players to those from traditional background, and many who cross borders among those fields. Some of the pieces are newly recorded for this project, while others are selected from the artists’ previously released recordings. It is a well chosen and well sequenced collection, with appeal for those who know the Irish harp and its players well and for for those who are new to the sound of the Irish harp.

It’s certainly worth listening all the way through and as sequenced. That said, notable tracks include Maire ni Chathasaigh’s Reel for a Water Diviner, Cormac de Barra’s Monaghan Jig, Michelle Mulcahy’s Green Mountain set, and Siobhan Armstrong's Da Mihi Manum.

follow this link to listen to excerpts from the tracks Masters of the Irish Harp and follow the link below which is called Elsafty Armstrong Browne to see a video of Siobhan Armstrong playing the wire strung Irish harp

you may also wish to see

Music Road: Scotland on the harp: Corrina Hewat
Music Road: harps and Celtic Connections
Music Road: Elsafty Armstrong Browne