Irish traditional band active 1960-1969
Ceoltoiri Chualann
(
pronounced
[?coːl??t??oː??iː ?xu?l??n??]
) was an
Irish
traditional band, led by
Sean O Riada
, which included many of the founding members of
The Chieftains
. Ceoltoiri is the
Irish
word for musicians, and
Cualann
is the name of an area just outside Dublin where O Riada lived. O Riada's work with Ceoltoiri Chualann is credited with revitalizing the use of the
bodhran
as a
percussion instrument
in
Celtic music
.
In 1960 O Riada was looking for musicians to perform music for the play "The Song of the Anvil" by
Bryan MacMahon
.
Paddy Moloney
, at the age of 20, was called to participate in the project, along with his friend
Sean Potts
on
tin whistle
,
Sonny Brogan
on accordion and John Kelly on fiddle.
[1]
They rehearsed weekly in O Riada's house in Galloping Green, on the outskirts of Dublin.
[2]
Following its success, O Riada had the idea of forming Ceoltoiri Chualann, a band to play traditional Irish songs with accompaniment and traditional dance tunes and slow airs, arranged with instruments: harpsichord, bodhran, piano, fiddle, accordions, flute, pipes and whistles. The idea of actually arranging folk music, or dance music, had been done on at least one or two 78rpm recordings in the past, but they were folk tunes done in a classical way, highly orchestrated.
[3]
Another aim was to revitalize the work of blind
harpist
and composer
Turlough O'Carolan
.
[4]
The band was launched during the
Dublin Theatre Festival
in September 1960, at the Shelbourne Hotel, at an event called
Reacaireacht an Riadaigh
(O Riada's Recital). Included in the program were traditional singers, writer
Sean O Riordain
and poet
Sean O Tuama
. In March of the following year O Riada recorded the first of a series of radio programmes for which he retained the name
Reacaireacht an Riadaigh
, and included music played by Ceoltoiri Chualann.
[5]
Soon after the band's formation, Peadar Mercier and
Sean Keane
joined.
Ceoltoiri Chualann continued to play until 1969. Their music was featured in the 1968 documentary,
The Village
, by Mark McCarty (director) and Paul Hockings (anthropologist).
[6]
During 1969 they recorded two albums,
O Riada
and
O Riada Sa Gaiety
. The latter of those two albums was not released until after 1971, when Sean O Riada died.
Select discography
[
edit
]
- An Poc ar Buile EP
: Sean O Riada with
Sean O Se
and Ceoltoiri Chualann
GL
2 (196?).
[7]
- Neili EP
: Sean O Riada with Sean O Se and Ceoltoiri Chualann GL3 (196?).
- Mo Chailin Ban EP
: Sean O Riada with Sean O Se and Ceoltoiri Chualann GL5 (196?).
- Reacaireacht an Riadaigh
:
Gael-Linn
CEF 010 (LP, 1961).
- The Playboy of the Western World
: Gael-Linn CEF 012 (LP, 1962).
- Ceol na nUasal
: Gael-Linn CEF 015 (LP, 1967).
- Ding Dong
: Gael-Linn CEF 016 (LP, 1967).
- An Poc ar Buile (single)
: Sean O Riada with Sean O Se and Ceoltoiri Chualann CES 011
- Do Bhi Bean Uasal
: Sean O Riada with Sean O Se and Ceoltoiri Chualann CES 012
- O Riada sa Gaiety with Sean O Se and Ceoltoiri Chualann
: (LP, 1971) currently available as
Gael-Linn ORIADACD01
.
- O Riada's Farewell
:
Claddagh Records
CC 12 (LP, 1972).
- Port na bPucai
(O Riada solo, but with trad. material, previously unreleased recordings):
Gael-Linn ORIADACD07
(CD, 2014)
References
[
edit
]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Sean O Se; with Patricia Ahern (2015)
"An Poc ar Buile": the life & times of Sean O Se
. Wilton, Cork: the Collins Press
ISBN
9781848892538
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