NSO: The Music of Bill Whelan

Gavin Maloney, conductor 
Julieanne Forrest, violin 
Athena Tergis, fiddle
Séamus Ó Flatharta, whistle, harp, voice and bodhrán 
Caoimhe Uí Fhlatharta, fiddle and voice
Bill Whelan, piano
Tara Howley, uilleann pipes

Inishlacken
Stolen Hearts
Hymn to a Broken Marriage
Timedance
Riverdance Symphonic Suite

A rich array of orchestral works by Grammy Award-winning composer Bill Whelan including two Eurovision-related pieces: Riverdance and Timedance. 

The thrilling Riverdance Symphonic Suite sets aside the traditional instruments and songs of the stage show in favour of the majestic sweep of a full symphony orchestra. Timedance, composed by Whelan and Donal Lunny for the 1981 Eurovision interval act is performed by orchestra and traditional soloists.

Whelan’s melodic, rhythmic and dramatic music is a melting pot of influences. The ‘beautiful intertwining’ (Irish Times) of violin and fiddle in Inishlacken evokes the richness of life and nature on a deserted island off the Galway coast; a new version for orchestra of Stolen Hearts featuring Séamus and Caoimhe Uí Fhlatharta has its world premiere. Hymn to a Broken Marriage, which will be performed by Whelan, movingly sets to music Paul Durcan’s elegiac poem to lost love. Timedance highlights Whelan’s uniquely vivid ability to treat classical and traditional music as equals.

Presented by NCH