Jerry O'Sullivan: O'Sullivan Meets O'Farrell

JERRY O'SULLIVAN: O'SULLIVAN MEETS O'FARRELL

Jerry O'Sullivan: uilleann pipes

On this delightful new CD, New York piper Jerry O'Sullivan brings to life some of the music contained in the famous O'Farrell collections published in London in the early 1800s. As O'Sullivan points out in his introduction, tune collections of the time often contained a very diverse selection of tunes, and this one is no exception. While one finds some of the standard jigs, hornpipes, and reels which are common fare among traditional players, there are also O'Carolan harp tunes, Scottish tunes, strathspeys in particular, English country dance tunes, Welsh airs, quick-steps, rondos and minuets, and a few unusual pieces like those of incidental music for the pantomime "Oscar and Malvina," in which O'Farrell is known to have played pipes on the Covent Garden stage. O'Sullivan's selection of pieces brings out this variety most successfully, and, while some pieces require virtuosic playing, musicality always prevails over gimmickry. Throughout, O'Sullivan's piping is clean and crisp, with tasteful regulator work styled according to what is known of 19th-century piping practice. And it looks like O'Sullivan intends to bring out at least another CD which would be devoted to the more Baroque-like pieces from O'Farrell's collections. Can't wait to hear that one as well.

Rating: ****

Price: $17.99