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| CELTIC SOUL
Noirini Ni Riain
Deep down in my own soul now, I feel a huge humility on the one hand, and pride on the other, in just being the vehicle or medium to convey a tiny glimpse of this Celtic 'Pur Drop' to you. Yet no tradition with any present-day life of its own s |
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 | Celtic SoulNot Rated
Released: 1996 |
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Click on one of the albums below for more info.
| | Celtic SoulNot Rated
Released: 1996
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| CELTIC SOUL
Noirini Ni Riain
Deep down in my own soul now, I feel a huge humility on the one hand, and pride on the other, in just being the vehicle or medium to convey a tiny glimpse of this Celtic 'Pur Drop' to you. Yet no tradition with any present-day life of its own stands still, so that every perfomance is encapsulated in elements which are true to the performer and her contemporary experience at the time. Listening to these timeless, eternal songs in this context is something like visiting a state-of-the-art museum, ,where, under the most sophisticated technology, ageless artifacts can be viewed and reviewed over and over again.
The Greek go Janus had one head and two faces, one looking forward, the other behind (and gave his name to January, the month of possibility and transition). This mythological figure also appears in Celtic tradition, as in this two-faced tricephalic stone head from Corleck in County Cavan.
Singing, for me, and indeed the whole of life, is mirrored in this Janus image. There's the solitary side to singing, an integral part of one's own healing and growth, an inward and backward face protecting and fostering that inner voice which enable the outward voice to fly. The social, forward-looking face represents the people whom you touch along the way, and the interaction of energies from, and with, others.
In Celtic tradition there is the legendary magic cauldron, horn of pleyn and platter that could never empty. With roots in the same image is the Chalice, sacred vessel, that represents both the illuminating goal of the quests and the heroic quest itself. This little chalice of a dozen songs draws together all the strands of the private and the public on the deepest level; Firstly, the songs themselves, for year a totally private expression for me, then the recording of them in the warm, womb-like former Shaker Chapel in Enfield, New Hampshire, and the enchanted barn-studio of Paul Winter's farm in Connecticut, where I sang my heart out, every note scrutinized, and, indeed, enhanced, by a family of bats.
Ten songs are drawn from the deepest and purest well of the sean nos (old style) tradition, the innermost point of the perfect rose. At the very heart of this rose, the image of the Buddha in deep contemplation from Hindi tradition sits easily with the innate quest for truth and purity of the Celtic tradition. Consequently, two Hindi spiritual songs sit side by side naturally with the sean nos tradition, and although we could discuss, justifiably perhaps, the similarities between both traditions, no academic or philosophical theories will speak as loudly as the simple, honest admission that I just LOVE singing them!
A priest friend of mine, comparing the role of preacher and singer, said: "Always remember, whether you sing to two thousand, to twenty, or to two, once you are singing from out of you own true space, then there is the potential of affecting or moving just ONE person out there who is herself at a certain open space at that moment."
Singing out from the truest space I know, my deepest prayer is that this ONE person may be you.
Noirin |
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