Willie
Clancy
The Gold Ring
RTE 276
Willie
Clancy
The Gold Ring
RTE 276
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Track
Listing:
Total duration 2 hour 40 minuntes Click on underlined titles to hear MP3 sound bites |
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We are delighted to announce our release of this classic 2 CD set.
WILLIE
CLANCY: THE GOLD RING
UILLEANN PIPING FROM CO. CLARE
Release date: 4th December 2009
The
Irish Echo
Best archival releases of 2009
2. “The Gold Ring” by
Willie Clancy (2 CD’s; RTE):
65 tracks from the Miltown Malbay
uilleann piper (1918-73), an iconic figure in Irish music.
WILLIE CLANCY: THE GOLD RING is a 2 CD set featuring 65
tracks of Irish traditional music played on the uilleann pipes by one of the
most celebrated masters of the instrument. The tracks were selected by RTÉ
radio presenter and producer Peter Browne and come from the RTÉ Libraries
and Archives as well a number of other organisations and private collectors.
This double CD is a most comprehensive collection of Willie Clancy’s piping
from a period of over twenty years. It brings together recordings from many
different places, times and sources and provides the opportunity to hear over
2 ½ hours of his playing.
He was one of the finest uilleann pipers and hearing the beauty of his playing
with his distinctive skills and repertoire will leave no lover of Irish traditional
music unmoved. The CDs are accompanied by a 32 page illustrated booklet giving
a history on Willie Clancy’s life, influences on his music, his learning
of the pipes and also a detailed history on the various tunes. This release
will be regarded as one of the most important of recent times in the world of
traditional music.
2 CD Set Newly Issued By RTÉ
RTÉ is also issuing a double CD of Willie Clancy's piping with rare and valuable tracks from the RTÉ Sound Archive as well as some tracks given by other music organisations and private collectors. It spans his entire playing career and represents a valuable contribution by RTÉ to the world of traditional music. It will be of benefit to fans of traditional music, learners and lovers alike.
This double CD is titled The Gold Ring and it will be on sale from Dec 4th nationwide.
This newly issued double CD from RTÉ, Willie Clancy - The Gold Ring, is a comprehensive collection of Willie Clancy's piping from a period of over twenty five years. It brings together recordings from many different places, times and sources and provides the opportunity to hear over two and a half hours of the finest of his playing.
Willie Clancy's name is held in very high regard in the world of Irish traditional music and these recordings can tell us why. There is inspiration here for the players of today and the future, there are tunes to be enjoyed and learned, techniques to be studied, skills to be absorbed and best of all, there is attractive music at which we can all marvel.
Willie Clancy was an open minded, avid listener and a deep thinker about traditional music. Many influences can be heard in his playing which came from other musicians and singers whose styles and tunes made an impression on him. At the same time, his playing was highly personal and individual. It had depth, emotion, passion, humour, inventiveness, taste, technique and tradition in abundance.
His influence
on individual pipers and other musicians and on ways of interpreting and playing
traditional Irish music can certainly be heard today, long after his passing,
and this comprehensive set of recordings is a valuable tribute to the memory
of one of our great traditional musicians.
Willie Clancy
Willie Clancy
was, without doubt, one of the finest uilleann pipers we have known and hearing
the beauty of his playing with his distinctive skills and repertoire will leave
no lover of Irish traditional music unmoved.
RTÉ Radio 1 has rebroadcast Lashings of Music, a documentary programme on the life and times of one of the country's most famous uilleann pipers, Willie Clancy. He grew up in the town of Miltown Malbay in West Co. Clare and having spent his early years there he went first to Dublin and then to London where he spent some years in the 1950s before returning to Co. Clare.
He was one of the most famous aand accomplished players of the uilleann pipes and his music was and still is very influential. He died at the age of 54 and a major festival of traditional music Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy has been held annually in Miltown Malbay in his memory ever since.
The documentary
Lashings of Music tells the story of his life through the memories of friends,
relatives and fellow musicians with many interesting contributions. It is presented
and produced by Peter Browne who, as it happens, knew Willie Clancy and learned
some music from him.
Also available from Copperplate
RTE 280 Music & Song from The Willie Clancy Summer
School
Tony Kearns Music & Light book of photographs
from the Willie Clancy Summer School
Press
Reviews
The Chicago Irish News.
The RTE Masters Series
is on board with Willie Clancy The Gold Ring. An awful lot of people would tell
you Willie was the best uilleann pipes player of all time.
Hard to argue. Surely an immortal. Two cd's here with a staggering 65 cuts.
Definitive. Important. He passed in 1973, but his musical legacy is so vital
to the tradition and Miltown Malbay, his home town, we can't go into it here,
and might not try it is any format. The all-time master? Well, if not he, who?
If you love real, true genius piping, here it is. Alpha and Omega. Bill
Margeson