John Spillane Shares Opening Track From Upcoming Folk Opera 'Fíoruisce - The Legend of the Lough'

John Spillane will share his most artistically ambitious work to date: Fíoruisce - The Legend of the Lough, on Friday 13th September 2024. The concept album, to be released on double CD and digital, features John alongside a stellar cast of collaborators: Ríoghnach Connolly, Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, Niamh Farrell, Nell Ní Chróinín, and more. 

Now, Spillane shares the opening track from the 2-hour folk opera, ‘Réamhcheol/Overture’, featuring Niamh Farrell and Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin on vocals. Accompanying the release is a striking video directed and edited by Aldoc Productions, starring Nigel Grufferty.

Speaking about the piece, John says: “It's hugely exciting to soon be releasing my Gaelic Folk Opera "Fíoruisce - The Legend of the Lough" and this opening track of the work is the perfect way to do it. Featuring the stunning vocals of Niamh Farrell and Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, this song sets the scene for the great drama to come later in the fairytale. We had a great day shooting the video at the Lough itself. I love working with Al, he puts so much care into his craft and the results are always beautiful. There was a nice community feeling on the day, not only did we get the naomhóg from Pádraig Ó Duinnín and the fabulous costumes from Geata Arts, we were also joined by the regulars of the Lough who cheered us on from behind the scenes.”

 

ABOUT THE ALBUM

Fíoruisce - The Legend of the Lough is a three-act Gaelic folk opera composed by John Spillane. It is a macaronic or bilingual work. The work is an imagined re-Gaelicisation of the Victorian Cork fairytale Fior-usga collected by Thomas Crofton Croker in the 1800s and published in his book Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1828). The story is a surreal tale culminating in a drowned kingdom, which as lore tells us, becomes The Lough in Cork city as we know it today. They say, you can see the tops of the underworld towers on a clear day and hear the music of their big party on Midsummer’s night. 

Enter this world through Spillane’s hugely ambitious concept album recorded at Wavefield Recordings, Clonakilty, which features the voices of some of the most talented folk and sean nós singers of the age including Ríoghnach Connolly, Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, Niamh Farrell, Nell Ní Chróinín, John Spillane himself of course, and more.

Described by Spillane as his "magnum opus," this project draws on his lifelong dedication to storytelling, the Irish language, and music. The text is inspired by the wonderful richness of the literary and oral Gaelic storytelling tradition. The influences of an t-Athair Peadar Ó Laoghaire and the stories concerning the Fiannaíocht are evident in this work. Other inspirations include Seán Ó Tuama’s work through Compántas Chorcaí, an Irish theatre production company, his inspiring lectures on poetry at UCC and his An Duanaire 1600 - 1900 Poems of the Dispossessed. Other inspirations include the poem Sprid an Locha by Torna, a deep love of The Lough, and a fascination with the older Gaelic story that shines tantalisingly under the original Victorian Thomas Croker fairytale.

Using these elements, Spillane crafts an Irish-speaking ancient world. The album weaves common threads of Irish mythology, depicting scenes of war, curses, lullabies, lamentations, shapeshifting tricksters, scenes of love, a great fleadh, and eventually the climax - the drowning of the kingdom.

Fíoruisce - The Legend of the Lough, a folk opera by John Spillane, will be available on CD and digital, Friday, 13th September 2024. Pre-order HERE.

Photo credit: Clare Keogh

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