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Set 7: Homage to Brian Keenan.
These are tunes named for the Belfast man who between 1986 and 1990 spent four and a half years in darkness as a hostage in captivity following his kidnap while a teacher in Beirut, Lebanon. As details of the process of his release and return to Ireland were incrementally broadcast on radio, the sense of elation generated came to be reflected in these three tunes which I was exploring at the time. ‘Syrian Sky’ is a slow-air treatment of the two reels which follow. Its format evokes the open-metre feel of Arabic oboe and bagpipes music, implying abandon, and light itself, then suggesting caution, doubt perhaps, before moving to confidence and elation. ‘Trip to Damascus’ is in reel form, tuning in to disbelief, then the slow glow of ecstasy Keenan is assumed to have felt while still in the land of his captors, but being driven into liberty. ‘Farewell to Lebanon’ is a reel about leaving that all behind, still with an Arabic feel, but in an Irish mode, if at the top end of the common scales. Much of these sentiments are found in Keenan’s autobiographical account of his and John McCarthy’s captivity, An Evil Cradling. The darkness aspect of Brian’s isolation gave him an empathy with the harper Carolan, based on the experience of having once being able to see, and then having that shut off; this became the subject of his subsequent, remarkable, fact-based novel on Carolan - 'Turlough'.

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from Merrijig Creek, track released January 1, 2021
Fintan (flute and whistle) and Brian tambourines and idiophones.

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Fintan Vallely image

Fintan Vallely Dublin, Ireland

Performer on flute, Ireland and world-wide since 1967
Workshop teacher on flute - Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy since 1986, Cruinniú na Bhfliúit Ballyvourney, and Tocane, France; and Friday Harbor, Minneapolis and Catskills, USA.
• Five CD albums of solo and group music
• Written /edited 16 books
• Hundreds of reviews
• Three major conferences organised
• Scores of conference papers and articles ... more

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