For Monday, I chose another classic traditional piece, but this time from Ireland. I think She Moved Through the Fair is one of the first Irish folk songs that I’ve heard, thanks to Celtic Woman. Or perhaps it was Anúna… As it happens, Órla Fallon had been a member of both these groups before she embarked on a solo career. This song comes from her album Lore. I’ve shared several other versions of She Moved Through the Fair on here, for example by English folk singer Anne Briggsor by American harpist Carol Thompson. I shared more about the song itself and its origins in those posts.
For Sunday’s overdue song, I chose this classic traditional Welsh song played by harpist Delyth Jenkins, a lot of whose music I’ve shared on here before. This piece comes from an album that is a collaboration between Delyth and poet Emily Hinshelwood, which was inspired by their walk along the Pembrokeshire coast. It contains Emily Hinshelwood’s poems, illustrated and interspersed by Delyth Jenkins’ harp music.
As I said, this is a very popular traditional tune that is well-known in Wales and has been recorded by lots of different Welsh artists. I shared two versions of it before, also by Welsh harpist, one sung and played by Bethan Nia, and the other played on the triple harp by Llio Rhydderch. In the post where I share Bethan Nia’s version, you can also read more about this song and see an English translation of it.
For today – a beautiful traditional Welsh waltz from Gwen Màiri’s album Mentro, not the first song from this album that I’m sharing on here as it’s all round beautiful. For those unfamiliar with her, Gwen is a harpist and folk singer of Welsh and Scottish heritage, who grew up in Scotland in a Welsh-speaking home, so the sound of her music is influenced by the traditional music of both these countries.
The name of this tune comes from the kingdom of Rheged, a part of the Hen Ogledd, or the Old North in English, which was an early medieval region of Britain covering what is currently the north of England and southern Scotland, where the Brythonic language – the ancestor of Welsh – was used. You might recall that I mentioned Rheged on here earlier this year, when sharing an old Welsh poem set to music by Ffynnon, though apart from the name these two pieces don’t have much else in common.
As I have mentioned before when sharing songs from Mentro, on this album, Gwen Màiri is accompanied by two other musicians – Jordan Price Williams (who is part of the band Vrï), and Gwilym Bowen Rhys whom in this particular piece we can hear playing the mandolin and who I guess doesn’t really need an introduction on here as his solo music, along with that of the bands in which he has played, has appeared many times on my blog.
I really love the happy, idyllic feel of this tune.
For today I chose a song by Welsh singer and songwriter Georgia Ruth, a lot of whose music I’e already shared on here over the years. It comes from her 2012 EP titled In Luna. I like the intriguing lyrics of this song and all the wordplay involved, and, as is pretty much always the case with Georgia Ruth’s music in my opinion, it sounds great as a whole. .
For today, I have for you this sweet and joyful harp piece by Anne Crosby Gaudet. While I’ve only discovered Anne’s music at the beginning of this year, I have already shared quite a few of her songs on here so I suppose all of my readers know who she is, but, just in case someone does not, she is from Canada and aside from being a harpist, she also teaches others how to play this beautiful instrument, and the music that she composes for the harp is suited for learners at various stages of proficiency.
I guess I could say that recently I’ve sort of re-discovered Inge Bremnes’ music. I’ve liked it ever since I first heard of him, so pretty much from the start, because he was one of the first Norwegian artists that I discovered and liked, and I got into Norwegian music (starting from mostly indie pop and some electronic music) around 2016-2017, which as far as I recall was the time when he debuted. So I didn’t really speak Norwegian then yet and actually, my whole getting into the Norwegian music was kind of accidental and hilarious, and I guess I haven’t even written on here before how it happened. Of course I was already listening to lots of all kinds of Swedish stuff given that I was learning the language intensively, and at one point when I transitioned with my music listening from Last.fm to Spotify, I guess Spotify must have gotten the languages confused and I started seeing lots of Norwegian music on my homepage and in the recommendations, which I originally thought was really weird, but quite quickly I thought that, actually, a lot of it is good stuff so who cares if it is in Swedish or Norwegian? 😀 And actually there’s quite a lot of mutual exchange of music between the Scandinavian countries, way more than for example we here in Poland have with other Slavic countries, at least since the fall of communism. But then generally Scandinavia exports a LOT more of its music than Slavic countries tend to do so it’s not hugely surprising.
So anyway, I’ve known and liked Inge Bremnes’ music for years, it appeals to me sonically and I like his vocals, and now that I have some idea about the language I can see that he is also a very talented lyricist. But recently I’ve felt particularly drawn to it and have been listening to it a lot. It somehow seems to fit my life and brainstate at the moment or something and it resonates with me more than before. Also it’s just a really nice soundtrack for the autumn months, in my opinion, as it’s kind sophisticatedly chill and warm.
As for Inge Bremnes himself, he is from the north of Norway, and comes from quite a famous family. His father is musician Ola Bremnes, whose siblings are musicians Lars and Kari Bremnes (I’ve shared a song by kari – “E Du Nord” – several years ago). Inge’s grandfather – Ole H. Bremnes – was a poet. I think his sister Kaja also does something artistic. And I believe this list of VIP’s in his family is not exhaustive.
It took me some time to decide which song by Inge I want to share with you all on here. Finally I decided on this one. I just generally love its vibe, it has beautiful lyrics, and I think I’ve already mentioned several times on here that I am oddly drawn to sea-themed songs.
I was able to write a translation of it, with not much problem at all, though there still can be some mistakes. And I learned one cool new Norwegian phrase from this song. “Å kaste flyndre” means “to skip stones” in Norwegian.
A small point of light in a defined periphery
Which put the brakes on our established paradise
We should have been prepared
We had made plans ahead
Had to set the date for
When we should say everything that should be said
We didn’t see the flood creeping slowly towards land
Saw sharp shells and smooth stones
Being buried under water
I so wish I
Could see the day flow
A fantasy we live
Was not enough to live
I had hoped that I
Would be able to suppress
That the water would recede, but
I was not enough to live
All that was dangerous lay beneath colourful depths
We skipped stones, but the stone wouldn’t float
Six hours of breathing out crept so calmly upwards with the wind
But we stayed long enough to see the sea breathe in
Another Norwegian song for today, but quite different than yesterday’s one. Unnveig Aaserud Stokke, who goes by the stage name of Unnveig Aas, is a singer and songwriter originally from a town in Vestfold in the south east of Norway. Aside from being a musician though, Unnveig is also a writer. I’d say her music is a mix of folk, pop, country and Americana. To me, her music feels very genuine and authentic, and this is something that I always appreciate. This song is from her 2015 EP titled Love, although I’m sharing a live performance of it.
Today, I’d like to introduce you to to another Norwegian pop singer – or perhaps some of you are already familiar with her. – She seems to be quite successful in Norway, and had lived/made music in other countries during her career, but I guess she’s not as popular elsewhere as she is in her home country, as I donn’t think I’ve ever heard of her outside of the context of the Norwegian music scene, hence I’m sharing a song by her as I think her music may appear to a broad audience. Una is in her twenties and lives in Oslo. She writes her own songs, and I believe produces at least some of them herself as well. While generally her music is classified as pop, it also has strong R&B influences, and sometimes soul as well. While I’m not a huge fan of the latter two genres, I think some of her songs are quite nice to listen to. This song, as you’ll be able to hear, explores the theme of a fairly intense, if perhaps slightly one-sided, romantic relationship that’s been going on since the singer’s/lyrical subject’s teenage years.
For today, I chose this beautiful and introspective composition by Catrin Finch, from her album Tides. Catrin Finch is best known as a harpist, but, like a lot of harpists, she also plays the piano and I think I’ve already shared one piece where she plays the latter instrument. So is the case with this one, as you’ll hear.
For today – a simple, relaxing harp piece. It is played by Maria Duhova Trevor, a harpist originally from Slovakia, but based in the United States, whose music I was introduced to only a couple months ago. This piece was composed and originally performed by another harpist – Sarajane Williams. –
Today I want to share with you a piece by Llio Rhydderch, who is a triple harp player from North Wales. I’ve already shared quite a lot of music by her on here. This piece comes from Carn Ingli, an album on which she is accompanied by Tomos Williams on trumpet and Mark O’Connor on drums. I believe that the title of this piece refers to the Coity Castle – a ruined castle in Glamorgan. –
For today I chose a short but really evocative piece from Rachel Newton, from her album West. This album includes four harp pieces composed by Rachel which are woven into this album, and for which the common theme is Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands. I’ve already shared two of them on here – Suilven and Ben Mor Coigach. This is the third one, named after a summit whose name means John’s mountain in Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic).
Today I’d like to share with you another piece by Dutch-Korean harpist Lavinia Meijer. This is a composition by Ludovico Einaudi. Certainly not the first of his compositions arranged for harp that I’m sharing on here, as previously I’ve shared some of his pieces played by Lavinia Meijer as well as Floraleda Sacchi.
For today, I’d like to share with you a really pleasant tune played by Celtic harpist Anne Roos. It is a traditional English tune that was published by John Playford in the 17th century in his book The Dancing Master, which is a collection of English country dances. Although Anne Roos plays it’s slower than the actual dance. And I like many of them ever since I’ve become acquainted with them because they have really beautiful Baroque tunes, and this one is no exception. As you may guess, it is named after the ancient Epping Forest in England, which is known for the very old trees that grow in it, and it’s said to have been used by the Tudors for hunting.
Today I’d like to share with you a really beautiful lullaby, one of many that American Celtic harpist and singer Margie Butler has recorded. In this one, she is accompanied by fiddler Florie Brown, who also, like Margie Butler, has been part of the Celtic music group Golden Bough, and Hungarian cimbalom player Kálmán Balogh who specialises in the music of the Roma.
It doesn’t seem to be available on YouTube, so I’m sharing it on Spotify along with a SongWhip link, but if you click through SongWhip to YouTube, the link is actually to a different lullaby by Margie Butler and Florie Brown, one that, by the way, I’ve shared on here before. No idea if the links to other streaming services are right.
For today, I chose an incredibly lovely piece of music from harpist Ralf Kleemann, who plays the Celtic harp. I was introduced to his music relatively recently and liked it a lot right away. Generally I find male harpists very interesting, if for no other reason then at least because they’re quite rare and the female harpist stereotype is so huge. I guess not so huge among Celtic harpists and harpers as it is among classical harpists, but still. I really like how whimsical this piece feels. Just as the name Musette, which I think is really adorable in my opinion.
Today, I’d like to share with you a set of two Irish jigs, played by harpist Lynn Saoirse. I don’t know much about the first one, but I know that The Blarney Pilgrim was composed in the 19th century by Daniel McHourigan. Its name comes from the famous Blarney Stone, which is built into the wall of the Blarney Castle near Cork, and which is surrounded by loads of different legends which all have only one thing in common, namely they claim that if you kiss that stone, you will be gifted with eloquence. Which isn’t all that easy to do because of its location. Hence a lot of people made pilgrimages to the castle to kiss the stone, and as far as I’m aware it’s still a popular place with tourists.
Honestly, I still can’t get over and sort of believe on any deeper level that Jack Vreeswijk has passed away earlier this year. As you might recall from my blog, he died on April 3 due to colon cancer which had come back for the second time, but I only found out about his death in July. It still feels insanely surreal and incomprehensible, and if it feels this way to me – a random peep from the other side of the sea who’s never actually met him or anything – I can only imagine how hard and possibly even more surreal it must feel to his family and friends. So I would really like to share his song today, which is not only sung by him, but was also written just for him. Vaggvisa is a song written by Cornelis Vreeswijk – Jack’s father – for Jack, when he was very little. So he’d basically always had the luxury of having his very own, personal lullaby. Unlike what you might think though, based on that little fact, his relationship with his dad wasn’t great most of the time, and as far as I’m aware there were a lot of ambivalent feelings involved. I really love it, despite it’s rather bittersweet, if not downright depressing, and has such a simple yet at the same time quite haunting melody. I’ve already shared it before in the original version by Cornelis, as well as a more neutral, as in not personalised, version, sung by Sarah Riedel and Nikolai Dunger. Both those versions, along with a translation by Bibiel, can be found here. I like how Jack gives this song a slightly yet distinctly different flavour. I’m sharing a live version of it, which comes from Lotta på Liseberg, a Swedish sing-along show.
And for today, I’ve got a celestial, very interesting-sounding piece by Mary Lattimore. As you might have guessed already, it was inspired by the homecoming of astronaut Scott Kelly.
For yesterday’s overdue song, I chose this really lovely, delightfully long and quite dreamy instrumental piece by harpist Pamela Bruner. I’d never shared anything else by her on here before and I’ve first heard her music relatively recently. Pamela plays the Celtic harp and is also a singer.
My Inner MishMash 