Dalriada in concert

Press, 6 August 1981, Page 14

Dalriada in concert

music world

nevin topp

Christchurch music lovers have.a-chance of listening to a different sound when the local folk, group, Dalriada, perform a. concert at the State Trinity Centre, Worcester Street, on Sunday evening. 1 --

Dalriada are a five-piece group,?,who perform traditional 'and ancient music from Ireland, Scotland, and Northumbria. -Much of the music, dates back 300 years, and in the case of certain arranged classical pieces, to a style of music which has still not been accurately dated as to its origins. But equally as interesting as the music must be the type of instruments from which the sounds are produced.

The group’s instruments are numerous and include: the bodhran, an Irish drum dating from 1 A.D.; the fiddle. which in the eighteenth century was the most popular folk instrument of the Gaelic areas in the eighteenth century; the tin whistle, which in its original form

is as old as the bodhran; the Northumbrian small-pipes, a small.bellows-blown bagpipe, related to the Uillean pipes, which date back to. the seventeenth century; and the 10-keyed melodian, a popular nineteenth century predecessor of the accordian. < . Besides the instruments mentioned, Dalriada also use a variety of string instruments, including the banjo, mandolin, mandola, and guitar, plus the electronic keyboard, which, allows the flexibility of using sounds akin to the harpsichord, clavinet, and pipe organ.

The Northumbrian smallpipes used by Dalriada were made in Christchurch by Mr Ken Clark.

The group itself was formed ’about two years ago with the meeting of John and Paddy Harte, and Paul and Ans Yielder. John and Paddy Harte had been playing at folk clubs and festivals throughout New Zealand for many years, and Paul and Ans Yielder, who had recently arrived from Britain,

had been involved in traditional music in Ireland, Scotland, the Orkney and Shetland- Islands, and County Durham, in England.

■ The fifth member of the group, Robert Percival, was incorporated into Dalriada

after a chance meeting at a local Highland Pipers Society function where his tin whistle playing, distinctive in the assembled company, was also his first public performance.-

Although Dalriada have

bpen around for two years, the group have confined themselves to playing regularly at folk'clubs, festivals, concerts, and society even,ings. Their repertoire includes traditional . dance music, recognisable: to many as jigs, greels, and hornpipes; supplemented by< songs from the of. Ireland and the

west of. Ireland and the central and border areas of Scotland. •

The group are hoping to work towards a tour of North Island centres, and also consolidate .their material with a view to recording.

The name “Dalriada,” is taken from the name of a

western Scottish kingdom, founded in the fifth century by people originating from Ulster, who crossed the north channel in their frail seagoing craft and subdued the area which is now known as the Mull of Kintyre. The State Trinity Centre show begins at. 8 p.m., and tickets cost $3.50.