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Track 7: Celtic Ireland Raiders and invaders bring more struggle and uncertainty. Battles, destruction and rebuilding with new alien influences. It must have felt confusing at times. The music tries to convey this feeling uncertainty with a hint of positive change since the Vikings after all did establish towns and brought with them some good ideas. Track 8: Christian Ireland Christianity and new foreign influences threaten the old ways. The music tries to convey this feeling of strong religious practice, an influx of new ideas from one of the centres of civilisation, Rome. However, there must have been a sense of loss as many of the old beliefs would have been deemed as superstitious nonsense and thus discarded. Track 9: Viking Ireland Normans' arrival always struck as a time of strong social laws and order. The influences in the architecture and art must have been at times overwhelming. Track 10: Norman Ireland New settlers and new ideas and beliefs must have brought about friction. Track 11: Changing Ireland The Famine was a time of great struggle and incredible sorrow. It would have been unbearable for the poor ordinary folk. The impact of this time is evident to this day. It felt right to compose for this period in time first then adapt the theme to the entire project, even the past because this period I felt changed the way people saw their past. The Famine piece (main theme) is given several times grouped into the various basic instruments used in the composition. In these separate groups/ files, you can listen to the slow strings alone playing the main melody, or the 2nd string section playing harmonies together with the wood section (also isolated onto separate track). The solo oboe moves between the main melody at the intro. to create a new melody and then second harmony. Because the instrumentation, orchestration and performance of the entire score were done electronically, there is always the possibility of loosing a lot of the emotional content. It is also known that music that is electronically performed can often sound lifeless and detached. The Famine piece needed raw unrestrained emotion. The various parts of the Famine theme therefore had very little editing after its performance was recorded. Timing tools like 'quantising' were avoided leaving the piece's performance with an almost uncertain, hesitant and pensive feel. The reason for this approach was to convey a sense of falling apart without knowing why or how. Where are we going and what can we do? Try listening to the separate instrument sections provided to get an idea of this uncertain and hesitant feeling in the performance then listen to the whole piece again. The feeling is still there but each section is pulling the other along. Track 12 Our Ireland Struggle and perseverance. Emigration to a new land. A sense of adventure and new dreams. Track 13 Building new roots in a new land. There would have been lots of hardship and struggle to start up decent lives. Track 14 Our Ireland The 20th century (and beginning of 21st century) was a time of great discovery, large-scale destruction and rebuilding. A time of great advance and communication. The music was never used in the original project. It is a simple techno dance piece, which uses sections of the main theme's melody. The use of more obvious synthetic sounds in the orchestration is to convey technological progress, the beginning of cosmopolitan societies and the virtual world becoming a reality. back to top | previous page |
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