Making waves with The Mighty Ocean
A piece of music which Máirtín O’Connor composed for an international Whale and Dolphin Conference, held in Galway almost a decade ago provided the creative spark for his latest work, The Mighty Ocean, which will premiere on TG4 this Sunday, April 25, at 9.30pm.
Leo Hallissey, the founder of Conamara Bog and Sea Week and one of the organisers of that 2012 conference, commissioned the renowned composer and accordion player to write the original piece.
Then, when Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture was being programmed, Máirtín expanded on that original work. The result is a suite that fuses traditional Irish sounds with influences from other genres as he invites listeners to contemplate what humanity is doing to our oceans and earth. “But it also offers hope,” says this warm, witty man who is not naturally given to gloom.
Máirtín, who was reared in Galway City and lives in Annaghdown, has been a trailblazer in Irish music for many decades. He began playing accordion at the age of nine and through the years has been a key member of groups including De Dannan and Arcady, as well as being in the original Riverdance orchestra in the mid-1990s. He’s an extraordinary composer and collaborator too. Among those he’s worked with across musical genres are Galway’s Ensemble in Residence, the ConTempo Quartet. His relationship with the classically trained quartet from Romania goes back nearly two decades and led to the release of the 2007 album, Spiccato Junction. That album also featured guitarist, mandocello and keyboard player Garry Ó Briain and fiddler Cathal Hayden. All are now involved in the Mighty Ocean.
The former manager of De Dannan and the Saw Doctors, Ollie Jennings was involved in developing this commission for Galway 2020 and, as Máirtín explains, it was originally intended as part of a concert to be performed at the city’s Town Hall Theatre last Summer. He’d intended having a vocal element, to be provided by singer Mary McPartlan, his great friend. Sadly, she died a year ago and there’s sorrow in Máirtín’s voice as he recalls Mary and other friends, including Joe Burke, who passed away during Covid.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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