''The Brendan Voyage'' was

Shaun Davey Shaun Davey (born 18 January 1948) is an Irish composer. Early years Shaun Davey was born in Belfast in 1948 and attended Rockport School in County Down. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in the history of Art in 1971. He then took a ...

's first major orchestral suite, composed for

uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...

played by

Liam O'Flynn Liam Óg O'Flynn ( ga, Liam Ó Floinn, 15 September 1945 – 14 March 2018) was an Irish uilleann piper and Irish traditional musician. In addition to a solo career and as a member of Planxty, O'Flynn recorded with: Christy Moore, Dónal Lun ...

. It depicts

Tim Severin Timothy Severin (25 September 1940 – 18 December 2020) was a British explorer, historian, and writer. Severin was noted for his work in retracing the legendary journeys of historical figures. Severin was awarded both the Founder's Medal ...

’s adventure in reconstructing

Saint Brendan Brendan of Clonfert (c. AD 484 - c.577), is one of the early Celtic Christianity, Irish monastic saints and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. He is also referred to as Brendan the Navigator, Brendan the Voyager, Brendan the Anchorite, Br ...

’s 6th century Atlantic crossing to America. It features guest musicians Paul MacAteer (drums), Garvan Gallagher (electric bass) and Tommy Hayes (bodhran). The album title is also the title of Severin's book ().

Reception

The ''Brendan Voyage Suite'' is regarded in Ireland as a groundbreaking, crossover work of cultural significance. Composed by Shawn Davey in 1980, it is the first daring musical meeting between an Irish solo uilleann piper and a classical symphony orchestra. This confrontation of two separate traditions develops into a triumphant collaboration telling the story of explorer Tim Severin's daring and epic voyage across the Atlantic in a leather boat, a replica medieval voyage which proved that it was possible that the 6th century Irish Saint, Brendan may have reached America before Columbus or the Norsemen. The voice of the medieval boat is represented by the uilleann pipes of Liam O'Flynn, the seaworld of the Atlantic by the symphony orchestra. ''Gramophone'', reviewing ''The Brendan Voyage'' in 1985, wrote that "Davey writes splendid music: simple in idiom, (expressively so), and setting the scene ideally for the particular action in hand. The terror which must at times have overtaken the participants in such a voyage is perhaps understated; the joy of it is not." and describes it as "this very well made record". Danny Saunders, writing for ''

The Living Tradition ''The Living Tradition'' was a bi-monthly music magazine published in the United Kingdom between 1993 and 2022. It specialised in traditional folk music from the UK, Ireland and beyond. The original editors were Peter and Heather Heywood. In 20 ...

'', comments "I suspect that the fame of this album together with the length of time since its first release will mean that everyone that wanted this work will already own it. If you are lucky enough to be coming to ''The Brendan Voyage'' for the first time, having read the label, you are in for a treat." The Irish public broadcaster

Raidió Teilifís Éireann Raidi (; ; also written Ragdi; born August, 1938) is a Tibetan politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to 2008, and the highest ranking Tibeta ...

(RTÉ) ran a special programme on July 8, 2010 "The Brendan Voyage - Celebrating 30 Years", which as they said was "To mark the 30th anniversary of the composition of the orchestral suite for pipes and orchestra, The Brendan Voyage". The programme included a discussion with Tim Severin, Shawn Davey, and piper Liam Ó Floinn on St Brendan's voyage and the resulting music, as well as a recorded performance (from 2006) of the suite itself, played by Ó Floinn and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra.

Tracks

# Introduction # The Brendan Theme # Jig: Water under the Keel # Journey to the Faroes # The Cliffs of Mykines # Mykines Sound # Journey to Iceland # The Gale # Labrador # Newfoundland

References

External links

Tara Music: The Brendan Voyage

Record Label Catalogue 2010

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brendan Voyage, The 1980 albums Liam O'Flynn albums Shaun Davey albums