''The Chieftains in China'' is an album released by the
Irish musical group
The Chieftains in 1985. In 1983, the Chieftains were the first Irish musicians to visit China and the first ever Western musical group to play on the
Great Wall of China.
The album was the result of this trip and was recorded in China and Hong Kong by Brian Masterson of Windmill Lane Studios.
Background
In 1980, diplomats from the
Chinese Embassy in London attended
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
for "The Sense of Ireland" festival, where the Chieftains were performing. The diplomats had enjoyed the performance so much that they invited the band to visit China on a musical tour. As China had no embassy in Ireland at the time this was problematic.
[
When full diplomatic relations between Ireland and China were established in 1981, Moloney planned the trip with Chinese ambassadors and sent copies of Irish music to various Chinese orchestras. The Chieftains were one of the first groups from the West to visit China and became the first ever Western group to play on the Great Wall of China. While in China the group performed with various Chinese folk orchestras, as well as more impromptu performances with local musicians.][
''The Chieftains in China'' is a compilation of the songs played while the Chieftains visited China. It was released two years after the tour.]
Track listing
# "Full of Joy" - 2:32
# "In a Suzhow Garden" - 3:33
# "If I Had Maggie in the Wood" - 3:24
# "The Reason for My Sorrow" - 3:40
# "The Chieftains in China" - 11:49
# "Planxty Irwin
Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitars ...
" - 2:56
# "Off the Great Wall" - 5:23
# "A Tribute to O'Carolan" - 10:54
# "The Wind from the South" - 3:23
# "China to Hong Kong" - 4:20
Legacy
The final concert The Chieftains performed was filmed by Chinese television and broadcast to 700 million people. Leading Chinese politicians attended the performance and Chieftains biographer John Glatt
John Glatt is a British American author of biographies and true crime books. Glatt was born in London and moved to New York in 1981.
Bibliography
* ''Rage and Roll: Bill Graham and the Selling of Rock'', Carol Publishing Corporation, 1993
* ''Lo ...
wrote that the tour cemented diplomatic relations between Ireland and China.[
Sun Sheng, the vice chairman of the Musician's Association of China said of the visit, "I think through The Chieftains' music, I have seen the images of the Irish people. Music knows no boundaries for it is a unique and comprehensive language."][
The Chieftains returned to Ireland with a large collection of Chinese instruments that they planned to learn and incorporate into their music. Moloney told RTÉ Radio that he planned to use some of the ]Chinese music
Music of China refers to the music of the Chinese people, which may be the music of the Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, ma ...
in film scores that he was composing.[
]
Personnel
*Paddy Moloney
Paddy Moloney ( ga, Pádraig Ó Maoldomhnaigh; 1 August 1938 – 12 October 2021) was an Irish musician, composer, and record producer. He co-founded and led the Irish musical group the Chieftains, playing on all of their 44 albums. He was parti ...
– Uilleann pipes, tin whistle
* Seán Keane – fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
*Martin Fay
Martin Joseph Fay (19 September 1936 – 14 November 2012) was an Irish fiddler and bones player, and a former member of The Chieftains.
He was born in Cabra, Dublin, Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scot ...
– fiddle, bones
* Derek Bell – neo Irish harp, tiompán
* Kevin Conneff – bodhrán, Chinese gong, and vocals
* Matt Molloy - flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
*Pearse Dunne - Mixing
*Pat Liddy
Pat Liddy (Irish: Pádraig Ó Lideadha, born 1944 in Dublin) is an Irish artist, historian, writer, illustrator, broadcaster, mapmaker, and environmental lobbyist. The author and illustrator of over seven books on the city, as well as others on Ir ...
- Photography
*Brian Masterson - Engineer
*Mick O'Gorman - Assistant Engineer
*Bill Somerville - Large Mixing
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chieftains in China
1985 albums
The Chieftains albums