"Irish music is this Dublin
composer’s passion and main inspiration, and at times he has the quartet’s two
violinists digging into their instruments with the kind of power and grittiness
you hear from Celtic fiddlers at their most raucous." - Alan
Kozinn, (The NewYork Times)
String Quartet No.2 - The Cranning (2004/2005) - 15'
Studio recording by Con Tempo Quartet, from the Compilation CD Contemporary Music from Ireland Vol. 7.
| flynn_the_cranning_score.pdf |
| cranning_notation_guide.pdf |
Programme Note
I ‘SLIP’
II ‘SLIDE’
III ‘THE BAMAKO HIGHLAND’
IV ‘CRAN’
This piece is heavily influenced by the traditional music of my native Ireland. There are no traditional Irish melodies in the piece; however throughout the works four movements one will hear specific techniques, modes, rhythms and feelings common to traditional Irish music.
The unique style of Donegal traditional music has a particularly strong influence on the piece. Donegal fiddlers often use a very attacking bowing technique, which creates a heavy, aggressive sound. This aggressiveness characterises much of the piece and is my way of demonstrating that there’s a lot more to Irish music than the saccharine ‘Celtic’ arrangements that have become synonymous with Irish music.
The title ‘The Cranning’ refers to an ornamentation technique of the Uilleann Pipes, an instrument unique to Ireland. Cranning is used extensively in movement IV where the musicians repeatedly ‘cran’ on low D notes in polymetric cycles.
There are influences other than Irish traditional music in the piece; one will find references to African, Balkan, Classical, Jazz and Rock music at various points but overall an Irish sound is dominant, particularly towards the end where the only notes used are the notes of Uilleann Pipe harmony regulators, A, B, C, D, F# and G.After I won the 2004 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival Composers Prize for the first movement 'Slip' I was commissioned by Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival to extend the work into a full string quartet. The finished quartet was premiered by The Smith Quartet at the 2005 Festival.
II ‘SLIDE’
III ‘THE BAMAKO HIGHLAND’
IV ‘CRAN’
This piece is heavily influenced by the traditional music of my native Ireland. There are no traditional Irish melodies in the piece; however throughout the works four movements one will hear specific techniques, modes, rhythms and feelings common to traditional Irish music.
The unique style of Donegal traditional music has a particularly strong influence on the piece. Donegal fiddlers often use a very attacking bowing technique, which creates a heavy, aggressive sound. This aggressiveness characterises much of the piece and is my way of demonstrating that there’s a lot more to Irish music than the saccharine ‘Celtic’ arrangements that have become synonymous with Irish music.
The title ‘The Cranning’ refers to an ornamentation technique of the Uilleann Pipes, an instrument unique to Ireland. Cranning is used extensively in movement IV where the musicians repeatedly ‘cran’ on low D notes in polymetric cycles.
There are influences other than Irish traditional music in the piece; one will find references to African, Balkan, Classical, Jazz and Rock music at various points but overall an Irish sound is dominant, particularly towards the end where the only notes used are the notes of Uilleann Pipe harmony regulators, A, B, C, D, F# and G.After I won the 2004 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival Composers Prize for the first movement 'Slip' I was commissioned by Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival to extend the work into a full string quartet. The finished quartet was premiered by The Smith Quartet at the 2005 Festival.
