Irlandiani is the debut album from the Irish baroque cellist Carina Drury. Picturing the musical life of early 18th Century Ireland, the album explores the influence of Irish traditional music on Italian baroque composers living in Ireland at the time, and how a fashion for the Italian baroque style also influenced the Irish composers of the day.
In collaboration with the renowned Irish Flute player Eimear McGeown and using a combination of historical and traditional instruments, this album explores Irish tunes from The Neal Collection – the first ever printed collection of Irish music from 1724 – side by side with cello sonatas by Francesco Geminiani and Lorenzo Bocchi, both of whom lived in Ireland in the 18th century.
Supported by Arts Council England, Irlandiani is a development of Carina's childhood curiosity of Italian baroque music and a rediscovery of her own cultural heritage;
"When I was a child going to music lessons in Dublin I learnt about the Italian baroque composer Francesco Geminiani who had spent periods of his life living in Dublin. I had no idea at the time that I would end up specialising in the baroque cello but when I did, I felt that I could hear the influence of traditional music and song in his writing. I have never learnt any traditional music before, but I always felt that I was drawn to the similarities in style and sound world between traditional and historical instruments.
My friendship with Eimear McGeown and a sense of connection to the sound world of the traditional Irish music that she plays inspired me to collaborate with her on this project. It has been so rewarding to find this connection to my cultural heritage in my own playing and within the baroque performance style that I have specialised in and love."
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Website: carinadrury.com
Record Label: pennyfiddlerecords.bandcamp.com
