Patrick Ball - Celtic Harp 1: Music of Turlough O'Carolan (1983)

Patrick Ball - Celtic Harp 1: Music of Turlough O'Carolan (1983)
EAC Rip | APE, image+cue, log / 219 mb | MP3 CBR 320Kbps / 105 mb | 15 tracks | Covers
Celtic / Irish Folk | Fortuna Records 17005-2 | RAR 3% Rec. | Time: 42:37 | FileSonic, FileServe

Lovers of folk, classical and new age music have all described this album as enchanting. It features the bell-like tones and spacious resonance of the traditional wirestrung Celtic harp. Patrick Ball plays 17 instrumental pieces, of which all but two were composed by Turlough O'Carolan...Carolan's music blends the richness of Italian Baroque influences with the lilting charm of the music of his native Ireland. AllMusic




The lilting, crystalline tone of the Celtic harp must be one of the most joyful sounds in mankind's history. The harp originated a thousand years ago in ancient Ireland; it shone through the age of the bards and brought hope during long years of occupation and oppression. As it is a challenging instrument to play well, nearly two centuries ago the wire-strung Celtic harp was abandoned in favor of the easier to play, more subdued gut-strung neo-Irish harp. Patrick Ball would not let that sweet voice fall silent. He brings to audiences world-wide the ancient Celtic harp that "has always been loved and celebrated by the Irish people for its mystical power to enchant them, to draw them into realms beyond thought, and to refresh their spirit." That is exactly what Patrick Ball accomplishes in these five sparkling recordings. Listeners are enchanted by his performances. They are drawn to the emotional portrait that Patrick paints with each piece, romantic, melancholy or jubilant. Although Patrick is a delightful storyteller with words, these instrumental works tell their own stories, requiring nothing more than Patrick's fingernails deftly plucking the brass strings of his beautifully crafted harp. The harp he plays is a re-creation of the ancient Celtic instrument, lovingly crafted by master harp builder Jay Witcher of Houlton, Maine, who has made it his life's work to allow the sound of the great instrument to live again. Patrick Ball pays his greatest tribute to the legendary Turlough O'Carolan, a blind, itinerant harper who wandered the Irish countryside at the turn of the eighteenth century, playing for wealthy landowners. O'Carolan was witty, a prolific composer and a genius on the Celtic harp. It is little wonder that Patrick Ball has included O'Carolan's brilliant tunes in each of his first four volumes. Amazon




The melodic sounds of the wire-strung Irish harp have been revived by San Francisco-born harper Patrick Ball. Performing on a harp based on an ancient Celtic instrument and built by master harp builder Jay Wircher of Houlton, Maine, Ball has become one of the leading interpreters of the music of Turlough O'Carolan, an 18th-century Irish harpist and composer. Although Irish music is the heart of Ball's repertoire, his albums and performances have also included traditional songs from Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, Brittany, Belgium and England.

The son of an attorney, Ball was encouraged to follow in his father's footsteps. Although he studied piano and guitar as a youngster, he continued to study law at college. His attention, however, became increasingly distracted by a growing interest in the work of Irish poets, songwriters and novelists. When his father died, Ball was freed from his obligation to become a lawyer. Leaving school, he traveled to Ireland to experience the country's oral tradition. While there, he became fascinated with the Irish harp.

After returning to the United States, Ball enrolled at Dominican College in California, where he earned a master's degree in history. Upon his graduation, however, he discovered that there were few jobs available in the field of Irish history. Hitchhiking around the United States, he landed at the Penland School of Crafts in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. He remained at the school for two years, working as a groundsman.

Following a second trip to Ireland, Ball returned to California and sought out a maker of the wire-strung Celtic harp. After teaching himself to play, he launched his career as a musician.

Inspired by the storytelling tradition of Ireland and the Appalachian Mountain region of the United States, Ball has consistently grown as a tale weaver. His spoken-word debut, Storyteller/Gwilan's Harp and Other Celtic Tales, received a prestigious National Association of Independent Record Distributors' award as the best independently released spoken-word recording of 1995. Two years later, Ball provided musical accompaniment for Cher's narration of the children's tale, The Ugly Duckling. In 1997, Ball released the double CD Finnegan's Wake, featuring his reading from James Joyce's 1939 novel accompanied by his Irish harp. Ball's latest project is a solo theater piece, O'Carolan's Farewell to Music. The play was premiered in November/December 1997 at the Studio Theater in Sarasota, Florida and the Theatre Company in Wilmington, Delaware. Craig Harris, AllMusic

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