My wonderful Blogville neighbours Katherine and David have just this weekend celebrated eight years together and yesterday Katherine posted their wedding song, Two Trees, which you can find here (it's worth it).
I had not heard that song before, but it starts with an instrumental section played on the uilleann pipes and - as always happens when I hear them - I gasped and was totally transfixed.
I don't know what it is - something atavistic; some long-buried folk memory perhaps - but the uilleann pipes pull at something deep in my soul and they pull hard!
I adore them above all other instruments.
Here is one of my own favourite pieces, from Kathryn Tickell's glorious album "Debatable Lands".
This is called "Our Kate" and features Kathryn on Northumbrian pipes and Troy Donockley on the Uilleann pipes.
A piano joins them after a little while and the two pipes split into harmony and I go straight to Heaven with tears streaming down my face.
Every time.
Happy Anniversary, Katherine and David.
29 comments:
OMG, I am so verklempt! David sends along his thanks as do I.
And per usual, your musical taste is superb....as is your choice in blog friends hee hee!
Ravishing - in a robustly romantic kinda way, if you get my drift. Actually, uilleann pipes do much the same thing for me as the Armenian duduk. Now, if only I could find words to express what this "something" is...
Thanks, Dive - and congratulations Katherine and David! Love and best wishes to you all.
Uilleann pipes are amazing, haunting and beautiful. It is even more amazing to watch someone play them! How do they do that?
Congrats to David and Katherine!
Beautiful music!
Happy Anniversary Katherine and David!
I could listen to them all night.
If I could express it - it's like listening to a memory.
Hee hee, Katherine; verklempt is such an expressive word.
Yes, I do have the knack of choosing the right neighbours in Blogville.
I must say your mountain hideaway weekend sounds awesome. So romantic.
Love to you both.
A wonderful and alliterative description, Lucio.
The duduk, eh? Cool! There is definitely a "something" about traditional folk instruments that tugs at the heart.
Neetzy: Those things are stupidly tricky to play. But what an amazing sound.
Shazza: Cheers!
Petrea: that's a lovely description. There is definitely something atavistic about uilleann pipes for me; as if something in my ancestry is stirred by them.
"Like listening to a memory" does it for me, Petrea.
Congratulations Katherine and David..may your happiness continue as years go on together....
Did not know you liked the pipes Dive, your dad loved this kind of music....
Lucio: Me, too.
Mum: I know. You miss so much being a Country fan.
Hee hee … OW!
Not quite my taste in music, but hey congratulations Kate and David!
Ah, Lynn; how can the skirl not tug at your heartstrings?
And on St.Patrick's Day, too!
Hae ye no soul, lassie?
Ah, sort of makes your heart sit back and remember things past.
Thanks, everyone! Would be nice to be hiding back at that cabin. The tumultuous world is impeding on my happiness.
Finally figured out the difference between bagpipes and Uilleann pipes. And yes, they sound is like some memory lost. Inexplicable.
I cannot listen to the pipes either without tears streaming down my face. I do believe it is an ancient connection of which I will someday share. I have been a long time Loreena fan, 15 plus years. She is amazingly thorough in her research of these Celtic folk songs as well as the ancient poems she puts to music. I find it funny that she is Canadian and she sounds so European.
Maria: it sure does.
Katherine: There are so many pipes; Gaelic, Celtic, English, Scottish, Breton, Arabic, Indian, Chinese … lots.
I do like Northumbrian pipes (Kathryn Tickell's weapon of choice) as they are quite soft and reedy, but it's the gut-wrenching blarty-farty squirly rasp of the Uilleann pipes that calls to me the most.
Ah, Prudence; I should have known you'd be a fan with your exquisite musical taste.
Loreena reminds me of the Transatlantic Sessions, a series of TV programmes from many years back where the finest folk musicians from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland were joined by those from the US and Canada and by such fine singing folk as Emmylou Harris and Mary Margaret O'Hara and they all sat around informally and jammed old songs they loved.
It was wonderful stuff.
Well, that's just beautiful. I think I'll listen to it again.
Happy anniversary Katherine and David! I hope your trip is relaxing and lovely.
I like music like this if I'm watching a movie or say...getting a facial(not that I get many of those, mind you), but just sitting around the house staring at my computer it didn't seem quite right. I think if I were outdoors at a festival or certainly a wedding, this would also be quite enjoyable.
Now I feel shallow.
Oh wait! It' IS St. Patty's Day!! Then perfect! Put a corned beef up to boil. I'm ready! :)
Katherine all my best wishes to you and David for many more years of wedded bliss!
Dive thanks for this lovely song. I've never heard anything quite like this before, and will now search out more of it.
Dive, thanks for introducing me to another kind of pipes. I'd never heard of the Uilleann pipes, and even tho I've checked out the Wikipedia entry, I'm not sure how to pronounce the name. They're really beautiful.
Katherine and David, Happy Anniversary from Rhode Island. What beautiful music you gave us.
Robyn: I really think you should. I just did and it's still lovely.
Shan: I'd never really given much thought until now about "music to get a facial to". This would be no good for me as it always brings a tear to my eye, which would only annoy the … er … whatever you call a person who gives facials …
What's with all this talk of corned beef on St.Patrick's Day? That must be a Colonial thing. The Irish eat potatoes, oysters, Guinness, Jameson's Whiskey and poteen and not in that order.
Corned beef?
Odd …
Katie: I just realised, we had a Katherine, a Kathryn and a Kate in today's post so we kinda need you here, too.
Ah, hunting down Uilleann pipe music when you're not already addicted. I envy you that first experience.
Lupine Lady: Most folk over here have no idea how to pronounce them either. I pronounce Uilleann the same way as Paddy from the Chieftains but Michael (a huge authority on Irish folk music) pronounces the word quite differently. It's no use me trying to put the different versions down phonetically either … I just tried and it looked too silly.
Besides which, the Irish have a peculiarly quaint way of spelling that involves trying to force as many extra "G"s, H"s, "C"s and other miscellaneous consonants as they can into words that have none of them in to begin with.
I blame the poteen.
I don't really know Dive, it just doesn't do it for me. It's.....noisy. Eek sorry. If it were quieter, more softly played I would like it more, but that's just not possible I suppose.
What I mean is I don't hear any light or shade there.......it's all strident and constant.
I'd like to thank the latest Dive-inians who have wished David and me a happy anniversary! What a lovely way to keep re-living this past weekend knowing others know about this special day.
Ah, melody and harmony - and very atavistic. I recently bought a 4 CD collection called "Celtic Voices" which I confess I've not yet loaded onto my computer.
Two trees was quite lovely - what a fabulous choice for a wedding dance. Happy Anniversary Kate & David!
We just had our 5th wedding anniversary but it was a rather "toned down" affair, if you'll pardon the pun. :(
On the corned beef issue I have to comment.
Corned Beef and cabbage is definitely a colonial invention. It was invented by Irish immigrants looking for a cut of meat similar to the bacon of the old country which they used to flavor their spuds. American bacon is much fattier than the UK and Ireland's. The early immigrants found the texture and flavor of the corned beef (procured from Jewish delicatessens) similar. My father adamantly refuses to eat "corned beef and cabbage". He will eat ham with his spuds and cabbage. (I must confess to liking the corned beef).
Lynn: Has your soul been eaten by spiders in the night? The uilleann pipes make a beautiful sound.
Plus, they have the added bonus of being played on your lap and have a bellows operated by your elbow, so you can play them and still be free to lounge around, drink beer and gossip; the perfect Irish folk instrument!
Katherine: It's lovely to have such good neighbours here in Blogville.
Mme: Atavistic is such a great word.
I'm so sorry your anniversary got spoiled this year. Time will help.
How is the old codger, by the way? I miss hearing from him.
Hugs.
xx
Neetzy: many thanks for clearing that one up for me.
Hoorah for your dad! Tradition is a good thing to keep.
I didn't have any Guinness yesterday as it's the middle of a working week, but I did bake a great big potato until the skin got dark and crispy. The humble potato can be quite delicious.
I've not had corned beef for years. When I was a kid and we had just finished postwar food rationing, things like meat and fruit were not available and the Yanks sent us lots of corned beef and Spam, which we had to slice really thinly and make a tin go a long way. Because of the unfortunate connections with the poverty and austerity of those days I tend not to eat it any more. Perhaps I should buy some and take a trip down memory lane.
Just do yourself a favor and get a good cut. A round is leaner than a brisket. The canned stuff sounds about as tasty as the Spam.
I'll have to hunt around; my local organic butcher doesn't sell stuff like that and would throw a fit if I asked for it. Hee hee.
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