A couple of years ago, while taking a class on Irish orality taught by renowned sean nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird, I received an email asking me if I was interested in writing a set of art songs based on Irish poetry. It was a beautiful coincidence and of course, I was delighted! The Irish Song Project lead by Dáirine Ní Mheadhra and Pauline Ashwood commissioned a total of 50 songs from Irish and international composers with the aim of increasing the number of art songs in the Irish language. For various complex political and historical reasons, Irish tends to be associated with oral folk traditions while the classical world, even in Ireland, is dominated by English. The project was funded by the Irish Arts Council. All the scores and recordings are now available for use free of charge on a website hosted by the Irish Contemporary Music Centre. The texts are accompanied by IPA and word-for-ward translations, as well as poetry readings.
Because of my interest in lamentation traditions, I chose excerpts from three keening texts to set for soprano and piano. “Eileen’s Lament” is based on excerpts from the most famous of Irish laments composed by Eibhlín (Eileen) Dubh Ní Chonaill upon the death of her young husband, Art Ó Laoghaire. What I chose to focus on are the young widow’s ruminations about her husband’s erotic appeal, the luxurious life they shared, as well as his quick temper, which she sometimes had to navigate. “Mother’s Lament” draws on excerpts from a larger lament composed by the mother of Diarmaid MacCarthy upon his death, which also includes several verses lamenting her daughter Máire, who was severely abused by her husband. “Joking Lament” is a setting of several verses from a mock lament, written from the point of view of a woman who is ecstatic at the death of her abusive and miserly husband.
The scores and recordings can be found here and are available for use according to the Creative Commons license.