Un Italiano a Dublino

---

 Siamo all’inizio del secolo dei lumi quando un violinista toscano, tra i più acclamati dell’epoca, intraprende il primo di una serie di lunghi viaggi, dalla terra del sole verso le brughiere delle isole d’oltremanica: la corte britannica lo attende, la sua fama è ormai diffusa in tutta Europa. Francesco Saverio Geminiani, virtuoso concertista e prolifico didatta, nasce a Lucca il 5 dicembre 1687. Allievo di Arcangelo Corelli, da cui apprende tecniche compositive proprie del barocco italiano, ama l’arte in tutte le sue forme incarnando la sintesi dell’uomo illuminista, fervido collezionista di opere pittoriche e primo italiano affiliato alla massoneria inglese. L’Irlanda del Settecento è la terra di Turlough O’ Carolan (1670 – 1738), arpista e ispirato compositore con una nutrita produzione di air e planxty, dove troviamo in egual misura convivere elementi popolari e colti. I due artisti s’incontrano, una testimonianza certa li vede insieme a Dublino almeno in un’occasione. I confini tra traditional e art music sono fluidi e permeabili, è un’ osmosi naturale: le arcaiche melodie del popolo cantate in gaelico salgono gli scaloni dorati grazie alla loro freschezza e forza evocativa, mentre il musicista di strada assorbe nuovi metodi esecutivi. Ne sono un esempio le quattro Scottish Song tratte da “A Treatise of Good Taste in the Art of Musick” del 1749, antiche arie scozzesi trasformate da Geminiani in esecuzioni dal corretto uso di forma, armonizzazione e ornamento, dedicate al Principe di Galles. “Un Italiano a Dublino” è un viaggio musicale dove il Grace O’Malley Quartet racconta, attraverso cinque lunghe tracce, l’ambiente incontrato dall’autore toscano in Inghilterra e Irlanda. L’apertura è affidata a una delle melodie più ispirate di O’Carolan, dedicata all’eroe nazionale irlandese Owen Roe O’Neill. Proseguendo lungo il percorso, incontriamo melodie spirituali, brani gaelici e danze tradizionali, insieme alle Scottish Songs, queste ultime sempre introdotte dal frammento musicale “Auld Bob Morrice”, un motivo molto popolare dell’epoca studiato da Geminiani, che idealmente personifica il compositore come guida. La rilettura della parte barocca non si allontana dalle origini folk del progetto, al punto di assegnare la parte cembalistica alla chitarra acustica, con voluta noncuranza dell’esasperazione stilistica legata alla filologia musicale, mentre i traditional sono proposti con ampia libertà di improvvisazione con riferimento ai pochi e scarni manoscritti giunti sino a noi e alla prolifica trasmissione orale.
Francesco Saverio Geminiani moriva a Dublino il 17 settembre del 1762: pioveva e l’erba d’Irlanda era più verde del solito. Danny Boy al suo fianco, ad accompagnarlo nell’ultimo viaggio.

---

English Version

Un Italiano a Dublino

We are at the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment when a Tuscan violinist, one of the most acclaimed of that era, takes the first of a series of long journeys, from the land of the sun to the moors of the isles across the Channel: the British court is waiting for him, his fame has spread throughout Europe. Francesco Saverio Geminiani, virtuoso performer and prolific teacher, was born in Lucca on December 5, 1687. Pupil of the composer Arcangelo Corelli, from whom he learns composition techniques of Italian Baroque, he loves art in all its forms, embodying the synthesis of an enlightened man, being a fervent collector of paintings and first Italian ever to be affiliated to English Masonry. Eighteenth-century Ireland is the land of Turlough O’Carolan (1670 -1738), harper and inspired composer with a large production of planxties and airs, in which equal amounts of popular and educated elements can be found in close harmony. The two artists meet at least once in Dublin, as supported by proven evidence. The boundaries between traditional and art music are fluid and permeable, it’s a natural osmosis: popular archaic melodies sung in Gaelic climb the golden ladders thanks to their freshness and evocative strength, while the street musician absorbs new methods of execution. An example can be represented by the four Scottish Songs from “A Treatise of good Taste in the Art of Musick” of 1749, ancient airs transformed by Geminiani into executions with proper usage of form, harmonization and ornament, dedicated to the Prince of Wales. “Un Italiano a Dublino”, is a musical journey where the Grace O’ Malley Quartet recounts, through five long tracks, the environment encountered by the Tuscan author in England and Ireland. The overture is entrusted to one of the most inspired airs of O’Carolan, dedicated to the Irish national hero Owen Roe O’Neill. Along the way, we meet spiritual melodies, Gaelic tunes and traditional dances together with the Scottish Songs, the latter always introduced by a fragment extracted from “Auld Bob Morrice”, a very popular refrain studied by Geminiani, which ideally personifies the composer as a guide. The reinterpretation of the Baroque parts never strays from the folk origins of the project, to the point of assigning the harpsichord parts to an acoustic guitar, with deliberate disregard of the stylistic exasperation of musical philology, while traditional compositions are proposed with ample freedom of improvisation, based on the few and simple manuscripts passed down to us and on the prolific oral memories.
Francesco Saverio Geminiani passed away in Dublin on September 17, 1762: it was raining and the grass of Ireland was greener than usual. Danny Boy at his side, accompanying him on his last journey.

1st  Journey
Un Italiano A Dublino – Grace O’ Malley Quartet & Friends Duration: 74:48:62
01 – Lament for Owen Roe O’Neill – T.O. Carolan
02 – Auld Bob Morrice – F.S. Geminiani, Traditional Air (fragment)
03 – The Lass of Peaty’s Mill – F.S. Geminiani from Scottish Songs
04 – Galopede – Traditional Dance
05 – The Girl I left behind me –Traditional Irish
06 – An Bealach Seo ‘Tá Romham – Gaelic Song – Original Prelude by Manuela Bonfanti

2nd  Journey

07 – Auld Bob Morrice – Guitar version
08 – The Night her silent Sable more – F.S. Geminiani from Scottish Songs
09 – Molly Malone (Cockles & Mussels) – Traditional Song (dedicated to Sinead O’ Connor)
10 – Seachran Charn Tsiail – Traditional Irish Gaelic
11 – Drowsie Maggie – Traditional – Original Prelude by Fiddle A. Cavalleri
12 – Napoleon set – Napoleon crossing the Alps – The Mason’s Apron – The Pullet – Traditional Irish

3rd  Journey

13 – Dark Isle – Traditional
14 – Caoineadh na dTrí Muire – Gaelic Hymn
15 – Lost my Love – The Orange Rougue – Traditional Songs 16 – O’Malley Dance – Reel
17 – Dark Isle – Trio version

4th Journey

18 – Auld Bob Morrice – F.S. Geminiani, Traditional Air (fragment)
19 – When Pheabus bright – F.S. Geminiani from Scottish Songs
20 – Miss Lyall set – Miss Lyall- Earl Grey – Brochan Lom – Traditional Strathspey

5th Journey

21 – Auld Bob Morrice – Guitar version
22 – O Bessy Bell – F.S. Geminiani from Scottish Songs 23 – Unison Reel & Jig – Alessandro Cavalleri
24 – Danny Boy – Traditional Song

IL CONCERTO

GRACE O’MALLEY QUARTET & FRIENDS

Edoardo Caffi – Alessandro Cavalleri – Manuela Bonfanti – Giusi Pesenti – Veronika Kralova e Marco Lorenzi

Programma come da cd suddiviso in 5 viaggi/scene

totl time: 70 min.