February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
He is now a member of Fidil, formed by O Maonaigh and O’Donnell, who in 2008 released their first duet album, “Fidil,” and were quickly recognized as one of the most compelling, if counterintuitive, duos to emerge recently in Irish traditional music.
“The only instruments used in the making of this recording were fiddles,” states a liner note in their new CD, “Fidil 3.” The absence of guitar or piano backing for Fidil flies in the face of tradition within tradition. Even Sligo fiddling virtuoso Michael Coleman had a guitar or piano — not always optimally — on his recordings.
Yet these three fiddlers are evidently fearless, relying only on their talent and wits to keep their music from getting stuck in unison or lockstep playing. Their arrangements are imaginatively conceived and deftly executed, with the fiddles alternating between lower and higher register bowing, sawing, droning, and tangy slices of pizzicato. They have mastered their instruments completely, giving them the confidence to harmonize in intriguing ways.
Their approach to the descriptive piece “The Hunt of the Hound and the Hare” is not unusual. The Chieftains did something similar on “The Foxhunt” from their 1969 album “The Chieftains 2,” and that descriptive piece, more often called “The Fox Chase,” has been an uilleann pipes showcase since at least the early 19th century. Fidil conjures the various stages of the hunt with atmospheric vividness, including a squeal, simulated with dissonant bowstrokes, signaling the hare has finally met its fate. (Animal rights advocates would understandably cringe.) The bleat of Paddy Moloney’s uilleann pipes and the Chieftains’ larger instrumental mix are here supplanted by three fiddles. It’s not a matter of less is more; it’s a matter of doing more with less.
Fidil took their cue for the descriptive piece from Donegal fiddler Mickey Doherty (1891-1967), who recorded it as “The Hounds After the Hare” for the Irish Folklore Commission in January 1949 in the Blue Stack Mountains. Virtually all of “Fidil 3,” in fact, draws tunes and inspiration from such revered Donegal fiddlers as John Doherty (Mickey’s brother), Vincent Campbell, Con Cassidy, and James Byrne, as well as such younger masters as Tommy Peoples and Derry-born but Donegal-steeped Dermot McLaughlin.
The skill, precision, and Scottish-tinged snap of the Donegal fiddling style permeate “Fidil 3.” Some of the tunes will be familiar to fans of Altan, who previously recorded “Hudi Gallagher’s March,” “Dinkie Dorrian’s,” and “Old Cuffe Street” on the albums “The Red Crow,” “Horse with a Heart,” and “Altan,” respectively. But Fidil’s brio and freshness forestall any slide into sameness. Their medleys of “Wellington’s Advance / Hudi Gallagher’s March,” “John Doherty’s / The Tullaghan Lassies / Old Cuffe Street,” and “The Royal Artillery Band / Staten Island / Dinkie Dorrian’s” are shining examples of how new vigor can be brought to venerable melodies. Even hoary session reels such as “Farewell to Erin” and “Pigeon on the Gate” are injected with Fidil finesse.
Further elevating the appeal of “Fidil 3” are comparably lustrous selections of highlands (halfway in tempo between a strathspey and a reel), a pairing of “McConnell’s” barndance with “Francie Mooney’s German,” “Francie Dearg’s” hornpipe, and two James Scott Skinner tunes, “Hector the Hero” and “The Postman’s Knock.”
The only track not equal to the full accomplishment of the rest of the album is “Alec McConnell’s Waltz.” It’s competently played, but the extra measure of grace and glide in the waltzes performed by, say, fiddlers Manus and Seamus McGuire is lacking here.
“Fidil 3” is a superior effort from a trio of undeniable range, vision, and chops. Ciaran O Maonaigh, Aidan O’Donnell, and Damien McGeehan are recalibrating how the sound of the fiddle is received and perceived in Irish traditional music, and are charting new territory for the instrument in the process. This is expansion through reduction, compelling the listener to ponder a rich, rewarding sonic palette produced by three fiddles and nothing else. Enchantment inevitably follows.
To acquire “Fidil 3,” a self-issued CD, visit www.fidilmusic.com.