BRAY HARP ENSEMBLE PREPARE FOR BIG NIGHT IN GLENDALOUGH
REPORTER DAVID MEDCALF SAT IN ON BRAY HARP ENSEMBLE’S REHEARSAL AS THEY PREPARE FOR A BIG NIGHT IN GLENDALOUGH LATER THIS MONTH
GERRY O’Donnell is reluctant to suggest that there is nothing else like it in all of Ireland. The chairman of Bray Comhaltas suspects that another such group might just possibly exist somewhere else on this island, maybe in Laois, even if he has never heard of it. But the reality is that the Bré Harp Ensemble is a unique musical venture and even he has to cautiously concede: ‘It is rare to have nine or ten harps in the one place at the one time.’
Of course, Bray Comhaltas promotes tin whistles – sure, everyone promotes tin whistles. They also have plenty of members capable of playing fiddles, flutes and accordions, with concertinas, bodhráns and even uileann pipes in abundance too.
The organisation reaches, celebrates and enjoys all the usual aspects of Irish traditional music with skill and gusto. They bring their music to events and concerts throughout the year, as well as visiting other branches and heading off to the Aran Islands or to Ulster on holiday. The flute choir is known to perform at worship in the church of the Holy Redeemer while junior members are delighted to entertain residents of nursing homes.
All of this, not to mention sessions and a prominent role in their town’s Saint Patrick’s Day parade, are typical signs of a healthy and busy organisation. What no one would reasonably expect is that they have such a well-developed particular affinity with the instrument which is the symbol of the country – the harp. Not only do they have a strong and growing pool of accomplished harpists but they are also beginning to produce their own original compositions for this dauntingly complex instrument.
Members of the ensemble – a chamber orchestra composed exclusively of harps – have not had much of a summer break this year as they prepare to showcase their talents at a concert on August 24. It promises to be a special evening for ensemble leader Rachel Duffy and her group as they premiere several new pieces as well as showcasing the familiar repertoire. And they will be joined on the stage at the Brocagh Centre in Glendalough by a series of distinguished solo harpists.
It may claim to be the most significant assembly of harps in all of Ireland since the convention of the year 1140 – also in Glendalough. The 12th century gathering was called so that the leading practitioners from Ireland, Wales and Scotland could set technical standards for their instrument.
The 2018 event is set to be pretty momentous too as proceedings will be immortalised on film. Documentary maker Caroline Hill, whose daughter Rosie is a member of the ensemble, has a camera crew primed to record the concert.
As rehearsals take place at Coláiste Raithín in down town Bray, Gerry O’Donnell traces the emergence of the Comhaltas in the neighbourhood since 2007.
‘Bray is a relatively young branch,’ he notes, pointing out that the organisation has been active in Roundwood for the past 37 years, without a break. Indeed, Roundwood has been important in the emergence off Bray as a significant presence in traditional music more than a decade ago.
Himself a flautist with a prominent career on stage and in the recording studio, he was teaching flute and tin whistle in Roundwood, while his daughter Claire took harp classes. They realised that many of their students were coming up the country road from Bray for lesson on the Tuesday nights.
The pressure mounted to take an initiative nearer to ththeiri own doorstep, so 11 years ago that was what happened. They found themselves on fertile ground, with 100 members signed up in jig time.
The graph has been constantly on the rise since, with membership rising to 250 and 13 teachers sharing their expertise.
The Bré Comhaltas success in spreading the harp gospel started with Claire O’Donnell, who had been inspired in turn by the Roundwood tradition. These days, she concentrates much of her energy on the classical harp, being retained by the National Symphony Orchestra, her father confirms with pride. The classical, orchestral harp, by the way, is the version with pedals while the Irish harp has levers adjusted by b hand to vary string tone. Gerry reckons that though one requires manual dexterity while the other demands fancy footwork, anyone who can master one is likely to be able to adapt to the other.
‘ The barriers are coming down,’ he insists, pointing out that many of the youngsters t who start their harp journey in Coláiste Raithín soon find their way to the Academy – the RIAM, or Royal Irish Academy of Music.
Claire’s baton as Bray harp coach in chief has been passed to Rachel Duffy, one of Claire’s former pupils and an accomplished harpist in her own right.
The new teacher specialised in the instrument during her degree studies at DIT and she is currently pursuing a PhD in music.
RACHEL is a most encouraging and soft- spoken presence in the circle of harps gathered in the hall of the school for rehearsals, where the music has been gradually taking shape.
At full strength, there are 11 of them, with the players ranging in age from twelve up to into the twenties, all learning from shared experience and adding teamwork to their solo skills.
Before they even play a note, the sight of so many harps all in the one place is impressive,
with their beautifully varnished timber frames gleaming. Each one is equipped with at least 34 strings and each one is capable of sounding out a little piece of heaven.
The harp is not a cheap choice, of course, with a four- (or maybe even five-) figure sum required to secure a decent one.
But the mentors at Bray Comhaltas do their utmost to make sure that nothing stands in the way of any youngster who look at a harp being played and declare: ‘I can do that.’
Many of the harps in the ensemble come from France but one lucky player is the owner of an Irish made instrument from the workshop of Kevin Harrington in Roundwood.
Kevin travelled specially to the e
United States to learn the art of f harp making and now turns out t his own using County Wicklow w timber.
‘ The harp is taken as normal here,’ observes Gerry. ‘Not one person who has taken it up has given up. We have a generation of harpers.’
He traces his own daughter’s ’s interest back to seeing and hea ring her father work as a musician with harpist Antoinette McKenna.
Claire – now 28 – declared at the age of nine that she wanted d to take lessons with Antoinette, e, later being taught too by Madeleine Doherty.
The notion that Irish traditio nal music has to be improvised off ff the top of the head is not the way ay of things at Bray Comhaltas.
Every student of music in the branch is expected to learn at least the basics of reading sheet music. This practice has helped to foster a willingness not only to play, but also to compose as those who attend the concert at the Brocagh Centre on August 24 will learn.
Of course the programme for the ensemble features items dating back to the era of the great O’Carolan.
This still leaves room for compositions by Gerry O’Donnell and by Rachel Duffy along with a piece written by members of the group as a collective effort.
The ensemble will be 11-strong on the night, a combination capable of producing an awesome volume of music.
‘THE harp sounds special,’ says ensemble member Anna Butler, ‘unlike any other instrument. There is this angelic sound – even when you make a mistake.’ She laughs. Everyone involved is hoping that the mistakes will be kept to a minimum on the big night, not least because their effort will be on permanent record.
Newcastle resident Caroline Hill, whose daughter Rosie will be on stage, is working on a documentary about the ensemble.
The presentation on the stage in Glendalough will be the centrepiece of the movie and she has a film crew lined up to record proceedings with the help of producer Don O’Rourke and sound man Eoin Murphy.
Caroline came up with the idea for the documentary while working with a ground-breaking artistic collective which is called No Wi-Fi.
So she and her camera have been following rehearsals and conducting interviews with the participants.
‘ Rachel is amazing, a lovely teacher, very inspiring,’ said the artist and theatre stalwart turned documentary maker, who hopes that the harp concert will become an annual event.
Caroline’s intention is to show the finished film at a local venue in Bray, possibly the Mermaid Theatre, and maybe at cine-festivals at home or abroad with a view to attracting the interest of TV executives.