Customer Reviews

Celtic Harp, Vol. 4: O'Carolan's Dream

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This album and its predecessor show Ball in his prime as a harpist. I tend to prefer the previous one because I think the tunes have more variety; this album is almost entirely Irish material, and, while it's well chosen and balanced, it's a more gently rolling landscape by contrast with his other albums' peaks and valleys. Still, the performances and arrangements are superb, and the album is thoroughly listenable even if you're not a big Irish music fan.

The celtic harp and the music played on it are always very beautiful to hear. All of the tracks on this CD are lovely to hear and well played by Patrick Ball. A wonderful CD which I would highly recommend to all who enjoy gentle Irish harp music. Patrick Ball is a renouned player of the celtic harp, and especially for his playing of the music of Turlough O'Carolan's collection of Irish harp music. Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738)was a blind Irish harpist who, as a traveling musician, performed in the houses of the nobility in Ireland in the early 1700's. He memorized several hundred harp melodies which, even then, were slowly being forgotten. He played them for his friend Charles McCabe who traveled with him and who wrote the scores for the music so it is preserved to this day. This music is truly an international treasure. Of interest is the fact that the celtic harp is played with the fingernails, rather than the fingers, giving a distinctive and overall gentle tone.