Customer Reviews

Celtic Harp

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This excellent CD contains twelve traditional Irish tunes that were recorded by the incomparable Chieftains, in conjunction with the Belfast Harp Orchestra. The sounds produced are soothing, and quite enjoyable to listen to. In fact, this album was actually awarded the Best Traditional Folk Album award at the 1994 Grammies! So, if you like Irish harp music, or traditional Irish tunes, then you will love this album. My family and I highly recommend this CD to you.

I love the sound of the Celtic Harp on this CD, and it's just a shame it never caught on... especially here in America, where the search for relaxing music seems to be neverending (and usually involves the sound of a babbling brook ... how droll ... ). The sound is beautiful, and the only vocal track a real treat.

Teh Belfast Harp Orchestra along with Derek "Ding-dong" Bell (Chieftains harpist) produce some truly wonderful compositions here. I never knew the harp could be so versatile - from slow laments to marches.

I would avidly recommend this CD to any devoted listener of Celtic music. For those of you who dislike vocal music (like me), this CD only contains one such track, allowing you to enjoy purely instrumental music for the majority of the album. In short, this CD is a very impressive collection of Celtic music with many traditional elements.

`The Celtic Harp' by The Chieftains is a very nice means by which this leading Irish music group can avoid simply performing `The Irish Song' over and over again. (While I do not subscribe to the theory that there is but one Irish song, done with different instruments and different beats and different dance steps, there is an undeniable sameness, similar to the sameness in all blues songs. While blues performers escape this sameness with their innovative guitar playing, this improvisational tradition has not reached the Emerald Isle yet).

And yet, this album seems to be a bit less successful than other recent Chieftain diversions such as their `Santiago' album with Basque music, `Irish Heartbeat' with Van Morrison, and `The Long Gray Veil' starring Sting and Mick and Van and a cast of thousands.

The album is subtitled `A Tribute to Edward Bunting' with contributions from the Belfast Harp Orchestra. But, checking the back of the album shows that the Harp Orchestra appears on only four of the twelve cuts, and, to my non-Irish ears, I do not hear the harp as the featured instrument on some of the tracks.

While I am not an expert on Celtic music, I am very fond of Robin Williamson's songs and music, and I find his Irish Harp work as good or better, or at least more interesting than what I find on this album. This may have a lot to do with Williamson's more interesting lyrics and stories, but the end result is the same. This may not be the best Irish harp album on the block.

The significance of Edward Bunting is that he was an Irish composer born in 1792, so this album is done on the bicentennary of his birth.

If you are a Chieftains fan, you must have this album. If you are a harp fan, this just may not be the best exemplar of Irish harp music, in spite of the fact that it is an enjoyable `Irish' album with excellent vocals on `The Green Hills of America' by Kevin Conneff.

This is a very fine example of Irish music by The Chieftains. The reason for me to buy this CD: it is recorded at the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen (UMRK)of Frank Zappa. And the track The Green Fields Of America was a favorite of Frank. The Chieftains came to visit Frank, but he just died. Kevin Conneff was singing The Green Fields at the grave. Sad but true.

I do not claim to be an authority on Irish folk music, but if you are a fan of any sort of beautiful, haunting and memorable tunes, this cd will be one you'll play over and over again. The version of the famous "Wild Geese" is very moving and conjures images of ships sailing from the rugged coast of Ireland, perhaps never to return. "The Green Fields of America" was written during the tragic famine of the 19th century, as this ditty describes the story of a young Irishman who has decided to sail for America where a better life awaits him, yet regretting the fact he will never see his parents again. As I had some Irish ancestors who found themselves in this same situation more than 150 years ago, this song is very powerful to me. Other highlights on this album include the harp solo "Madame Cole" and also the last track, "A Lament for Limerick" which is really heartfelt and you can tell the musicians really believed in the notes they were playing. The accoustics on this album are really nice and the reverb adds a lot of atmosphere to each track. The liner notes are also very informative, providing the historical background to each song which is essential to understanding how and why the music was created. Overall, this cd is a wonderful exploration into the rich musical heritage of the Emerald Isle.

I heard so much about the Chieftans, so I thought I would pick up a cd by them. I'm really glad this was my first Chieftans cd. It's very well done, and it's got some great material on it. I recommend this!

I have been a fan of the Chieftains for many years. Cheltic music is one of my favorits, and the Chieftains are at the top of the list. Any enjoying Celtic music will put this one at the top of their list.

so i originally purchased this album as a senior in High School because i needed "something different"...
then i decided that i really liked it...
and i began painting and writing with this album in the background.
and it became a soundtrack for weekend mornings...
then it became weekday mornings as well, with tea...
now, i own many other Chieftains cd's and similar sorts, but I go back to this one consistently because I have NEVER become tired of it!