4th November 2007 -
Review, 'PERFECT STATE' - Sunday Business Post.
Classical CD: Perfect State: The Music of Ciaran Farrell As a teenager Ciaran Farrell was into Black Sabbath and AC/DC and all that head-banging stuff, but he strayed into jazz and at the age of 22 flipped altogether and took up serious music, studying classical guitar and completing his degree in Trinity College in composition. This then led to classes with Ennio Morricone in Italy. Today, Farrell has become one of Ireland's most interesting composers of contemporary music -much of it the result of TV and film commissions - and his style, melodic and rhythmic, is a fusion of the different influences he has experienced. In his first CD, Perfect State, the Dublin-born Farrell displays an impressive range of styles and emotions which together can be lumped under the New Music headline. The major piece, Hopkins on Skellig Michael, is an eight-part suite that is remindful of the music of Shaun Davey - but with less of the Celtic thing. There's great playing here by the RTE Concert Orchestra. The Shannon Suite is an intriguing piece on the history of the river, with superb playing by Gerard McChrystal on soprano sax and Australian Craig Ogdon on guitar. The three-part Around and About is a tribute to the artists' sanctuary of Annamakerrig in Co Monaghan which was left to the state by Sir Tyrone Guthrie. Farrell's musical aim is to create modern music that appeals to an audience that is ''as familiar with the music of U2 as with the symphonies of Beethoven." That's a tall order, but this is a damn good try.
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About CiaránCiarán Farrell is a full time composer living and working in Ireland. On graduating from Trinity College Dublin he was dubbed by then head of department, Hormoz Farhat, as being, '...one of the most promising composition students I have had in a teaching career spanning some thirty five years.' Read more |
