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PEADAR Ó RIADA - Onóir

PEADAR Ó RIADA - Onóir
Gael Linn CEFCD213

Peadar Ó Riada has released a series of intriguingly diverse recordings featuring solo instrumental excursions and bigger productions for himself and Cór Chúil Aodha. Onóir is a large-scale collection of music, song and spoken word in honour of the centenary of the 1916 Rising. It includes arrangements for both Peadar Ó Riada himself, the band Téada, the two choirs he has founded - Cór Chúil Aodha itself and the female choir, Cór Ban Chúil Aodha - piper Mick O’Brien, and young harpist Oisín Morrison. Onóir showcases new compositions and one setting of the epic poem, Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire (or the Lament for Art O’Leary) written originally in 1733 by his wife Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill and regarded as one of the world’s great love poems. This is given a suitably impassioned reading by Cór Ban Chúil Aodha, while the male choir contributes its now standard setting of Mo Ghile Mear - its distinctly robust vocal sound excelling in these places.

The album is more than a historical document as it includes new tunes composed in the traditional idiom and for the tune enthusiast this is where the solid gold lies. Téada and guest musicians, piper Mick O’Brien and young harpist Oisín Morrison, play tunes written in traditional jig, reel and polka sets that would fit perfectly in session repertoires. Peadar Ó Riada’s place in Irish music as a major composer and assimilator of traditional forms to create exciting new vistas on a living tradition remains undimmed – Onóir is a magnificent achievement.

www.peadaroriada.ie

John O’Regan


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This album was reviewed in Issue 117 of The Living Tradition magazine.