| Title: |
"Back to the Hills" |
| Artist: |
Queen Mab |
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| 1. |
An Phis Fluich |
(2:26) |
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(trad. Irish) |
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Also called "The Choice Wife," or "O'Farrell's
Welcome to Limerick," this slip jig is a favorite among uillean pipers. |
| 2. |
The Mist Covered Mountains of Home |
(4:08) |
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(trad. Scottish) |
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This evocative air brings with it the colors
and textures of a highland landscape. |
| 3. |
The Mare & The Stallion |
(3:35) |
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(Mark A Schlenz) |
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Mark says he made LIP this pair of jigs to
suggest the universal and eternal interdependency of polar opposites, or
some such post-dualistic philosophical speculation. Jim says the truth is
in the bass line. |
| 4. |
Walk With Me |
(3:04) |
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(Mark A. Schlenz) |
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Mark composed this an, in memory of his father. |
| 5. |
John of Dreams |
(4:26) |
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(trad English) |
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A favorite lullaby in soothing tones; its
melody echoes the theme from Tchaikovsky's beautiful "Pathetique" Symphony. |
| 6. |
The Butterfly Jig |
(4:26) |
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(trad. Irish) |
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We hope you enjoy the gentle metamorphosis
of this traditional slip jig. |
| 7. |
Ge do theid mi do n'leabaidh, 's beag mo shund ris 'a chadal |
(3:10) |
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(trad. Scottish) |
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Or, "Though I go to my bed, little sleep do
I get." An old air from Perthshire found in MacDonald's Collection of Highland
Vocal Airs, 1784. |
| 8. |
Pour Mon Couer/Lauda |
(3:10) |
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(Medieval French/Italian) |
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A melody from a love song popular in twelfth
century France, followed by Our improvisational interpretation of a fourteenth
century Italian hymn. |
| 9. |
Back to the Hills |
(3:34) |
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(J. S. Skinner) |
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Late nineteenth -century Scottish violinist
and composer James Scott Skinner (1843-1927) penned this haunting reverie. |
| 10. |
The Morning Dew/Toss the Feathers |
(2:11) |
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(trad. Irish) |
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A tribute to the fiddling of Kevin Burke,
of course, but also to the fine playing of County Clare's Patrick Lynch
who taught us that Irish dance music is "music that really does its work." |
| 11. |
Lord Mayo |
(3:10) |
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(D. Murphy, 17th C. Irish) |
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According to Vide Walker's Irish Bards, David
Murphy, harper to Lord Mayo, had somehow offended his benefactor. After
he composed this fine air, he hid in the Lord's hall on a Christmas eve
and performed it in an effort to regain favor. This version on viols and
zither borrows a shimmering background and drone from the violin traditions
of India. |
| 12. |
Fairly Shot of Her |
(3:37) |
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(trad. Irish) |
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Two versions of a jig, the first a favorite
from a 1989 recording, Clannad 2. The second may have filtered through Scotland
and the Shetland fiddling tradition before emerging at a quicker pace. |
| 13. |
The Fairy Queen |
(2:12) |
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(O'Carolan) |
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Jane proffers her own interpretation of this
thoughtful piece attributed to Turlough O'Carolan ( 1670-1738), last of
the great Irish harper-composers. Probably early in his career, O'Carolan
adapted and expanded on an older melody in the ancient style called "Ciste
no Star," according to Edward Bunting's notes to his 1840 collection The
Ancient Music of Ireland. Perhaps the young Turlough, in his world of blind
darkness, had the Fairy Mab as his muse? |
| 14. |
Medb's Return/Musical Priest/Sleepy Maggie |
(3:13) |
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(Mark A. Schlenz/trad. Irish/trad. Scottish) |
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The opening melody arrived fully formed on
the violin in the recording studio. Fortunately John O'Connor captured the
muse's brief visit, and we have added the honorary composition to Queen
Mab's repertoire. A pair of traditional reels in a suitably minor key finishes
out the medley just for the fun of it. |
| 15. |
Farewell, Farewell |
(3:44) |
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(trad. English/lyrics by Richard Thompson) |
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Contemporary songwriter Thompson adds the
voice of his own muse to the fine old melody "Willie of Winsbury." Patty
learned this version from the work of Irish singer Mary Black. |
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Total Running Time
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(52:00) |
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QUEEN MAB
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Jane Freeburg, celtic harp
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Mark Schlenz, violin, viola, zither, low D Whistle
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Patty Ingham, vocals, recorder, bodhran
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Jim Connolly, double bass
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Special Guests
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Jeffrey Lidke, tabla (1, 8)
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Christopher Barnes, cello (5, 15)
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Engineered & mixed by John O'Connor, April-October,
1994
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Produced by Jane Freeburg and Mark Schlenz
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Design by Lucy Brown
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Front cover photograph "Anabaglish," the farm where
Jane's great, great grandfather once lived in Wigtownshire, Scotland,
hand-tinted by Peggy Lindt
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Queen Mab photos by Jeff Brouws
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For recordings and booking information:
Queen Mab 464 Terrace Road
Santa Barbara, California 93109
(805) 963-9807
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© & (p) 1994 Companion Press
All Rights Reserved.
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ABOUT QUEEN MAB
Does Queen Mab of the Faeries still reign? In 1595 the wild
fairy queen appears in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (Act
1, scene 6) its "the Faeries' midwife" who night by night
rides in her tiny chariot through mens' dreams, and makes
them "dream of love." Throughout the seventeenth century she
and the spirit folk of rural belief appeared in Poetry, song,
and scholarly works as well is after dark and in forests.
During the eighteenth century Queen Mab still ruled imaginations,
somewhat tamed, as it Mother Goose-like character in collections
of English childrens' stories In 1 83 1 Romantic poet Percy
Bysshe Shelley completed a very long poem called Queen Mab,
in which she returns as an anarchistic intermediary between
the divine and human, teaching the soul revolutionary lessons
of the past. Queen Medb (or Maeve) of Connaught, a legendary
ruler of Western Ireland from the time of heroes, has her
own set of tales, probably woven into this history as well.
Haunting timeless melodies of the Isles, the Fairy Queen's
voice still stirs human hearts. Mab~ reign endures: proceed
with dignity and play music of beauty and truth.
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