Irish Herald March 2004
Gráinne Hambly is one of the key "players" in the current renaissance of Irish harp music.
Having played Irish traditional music from an early age on tin whistle and concertina, and later moving to harp, she later graduated from Queen's University Belfast in music, and is now in high demand at summer schools and festivals in Ireland and abroad.
This captivating solo harp CD shows Gráinne's absolute mastery of the Irish harp. It's an utter joy to listen to her turn out dance tunes, slow airs, and pieces from the 17th and 18th century harp repertoire.
One of the older tunes is the lovely, seldom-heard "Celia Connellan," composed by Thomas Connellan some 300 years ago. Also among the gems is a version of the well-known air "An raibh tú ar an Carraig?" collected over 200 years ago from Daniel Black, a blind harper and singer from County Derry.
Another old tune as rare as it is beautiful (An rud is annamh is iontach) is "Kitty Magennis," composed by Turlough O' Carolan.
Among the more modern tunes is the absolutely magical "Rectory Reel," composed in 1995 by Belfast uilleann piper Patrick Davey.
In Giraldus Cambrensis' "Topography of Ireland," written after his first trip to Ireland in 1183, the only good thing he had to say about the "wild and inhospitable" Irish was that they were "incomparably more skilled" in music than any other people, including those in his native Wales and England. Although the ancient Irish harp tradition that Cambrensis was referring to did eventually die out in the 1800s, this stunning CD makes it clear that even music can be re-born.
Paul Carr
The Irish Herald
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