Shaun Davey
Encyclopedia
Early years
Shaun Davey was born in BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
in 1948. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
in the history of Art in 1971. He then took a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
at the Courtauld Institute of Art
Courtauld Institute of Art
The Courtauld Institute of Art is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art. The Courtauld is one of the premier centres for the teaching of art history in the world; it was the only History of Art department in the UK to be awarded a top...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In the late 1970s, he made his first recording, "Davey and Morris," with Donal Lunny
Dónal Lunny
Dónal Lunny is an Irish folk musician. Lunny has been at the forefront of the evolution of traditional Irish music for more than thirty-five years and has participated within the renaissance of traditional Irish music in that time period...
and others. He worked as a composer of advertising jingles, including "The Pride of the Herd" for the National Dairy Council.
Symphonic folk music
Davey's reputation is built on four large-scale concert works based on Irish history, all using uilleann pipes and folk tunes.- "The Brendan VoyageThe Brendan VoyageShaun Davey's first major orchestral suite which was composed for uilleann pipes played by Liam O'Flynn, depicting Tim Severin’s adventure in reconstructing Saint Brendan’s 6th century Atlantic crossing to America...
" (1983) depicts the journey taken by explorer Tim SeverinTim SeverinTim Severin is a British explorer, historian and writer. Severin is noted for his work in retracing the legendary journeys of historical figures. Severin was awarded both the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society and the Livingstone Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society...
, in 1978, from IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
across the Atlantic to Newfoundland in a leatherLeatherLeather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
currachCurrachA Currach is a type of Irish boat with a wooden frame, over which animal skins or hides were once stretched, though now canvas is more usual. It is sometimes anglicised as "Curragh". The construction and design of the currach is unique to the west coasts of Ireland and Scotland, with variations in...
. Severin's journey was a recreation of the one allegedly made by Saint BrendanBrendanSaint Brendan of Clonfert or Bréanainn of Clonfert called "the Navigator", "the Voyager", or "the Bold" is one of the early Irish monastic saints. He is chiefly renowned for his legendary quest to the "Isle of the Blessed," also called St. Brendan's Island. The Voyage of St...
. The style is similar to that of film composer John Williams. The work uses the traditional uilleann pipesUilleann pipesThe uilleann pipes or //; ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland, their current name, earlier known in English as "union pipes", is a part translation of the Irish-language term píobaí uilleann , from their method of inflation.The bag of the uilleann pipes is inflated by means of a...
to represent the small currachCurrachA Currach is a type of Irish boat with a wooden frame, over which animal skins or hides were once stretched, though now canvas is more usual. It is sometimes anglicised as "Curragh". The construction and design of the currach is unique to the west coasts of Ireland and Scotland, with variations in...
, while the rest of the orchestraOrchestraAn orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
represents the conditions, islands and wildlife encountered by the boat. - "The PilgrimThe Pilgrim (1983 album)In 1983, following the hugely successful performance of Shaun Davey's work The Brendan Voyage the previous year, The Festival Interceltique de Lorient commissioned Shaun to compose The Lorient Festival Suite for orchestra and Celtic soloists representing the seven Celtic countries or regions and...
" (1983) is set in a vaguely medieval world where the Irish, the BretonsBrittanyBrittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
and ScotsScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
explore the seas of western EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. It exists in two versions: the 1983 recording made at the Lorient Interceltic Festival, and an expanded version recorded mostly in the 1990s. - "GranuaileGranuaile (album)Granuaile is a blend of Classical and Irish Folk Music written by Shaun Davey for singer Rita Connolly. It is based on the life and times of the 16th century Irish pirate queen Gráinne O'Mally, who was also known as Granuaile...
" (1985) tells the story of Gráinne O'Malley, an Irish pirate queen in the 16th century. It has more songs than the previous works and features the voice of Rita ConnollyRita ConnollyRita Connolly is a Dublin-born singer who has lived and worked in Ireland. She is primarily known for her work with composer Shaun Davey Shaun Davey who wrote a song cycle for her called 'Granuaile' based on the 16th century pirate queen Gráinne O'Malley as well as including her in other of his...
(who married Davey soon after). Donal Lunny again contributed as a session musician. It is a homophonic piece of music set in the re mode.It was also played by a chamber orchestra - "The Relief of Derry Symphony" (1990) has a more obvious symphonic structure. It is based around the 17th century Siege of DerrySiege of DerryThe Siege of Derry took place in Ireland from 18 April to 28 July 1689, during the Williamite War in Ireland. The city, a Williamite stronghold, was besieged by a Jacobite army until it was relieved by Royal Navy ships...
, showing the Protestants inside and the CatholicCatholicThe word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
s outside the beleaguered city. Whereas the previous three works involved uilleann piper Liam O'FlynnLiam O'FlynnLiam O'Flynn is a master uilleann piper and prominent Irish folk musician. In addition to an impressive solo career and his work with the Irish traditional group Planxty, O'Flynn has recorded with many prominent international musical artists, including Mark Knopfler, the Everly Brothers, Enya,...
, this one uses a Scottish bagpipe band, who enter the auditorium from behind the audience.
Recent Recordings
May We Never Have To Say Goodbye, released by the Tara Music labelTara Music label
Tara Music have been regarded for many years as one of the leading traditional Irish music recording companies. The label was set up by Jack Fitzgerald and John Cook back in the early 1970s....
, is a collaboration between Shaun Davey, the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and a number of world-renowned artists. The album takes its name from the anthem specially composed for the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Croke Park, June 2003. Performed by Rita Connolly, Ronan Tynan and no less than six Dublin choirs. It is presented along with a range of spectacular music from Shaun Davey's unique and exhilarating suite, featuring traditional soloists, singers, choir, pipe band, and orchestra, together with spectacular percussion. This release also includes previously unrecorded pieces from 'The Pilgrim', 'Waking Ned' (Fill to me the Parting Glass), ‘Music of the Spheres’, a magical piece from the Royal Shakespeare Company production of 'Pericles'.
Beal Tuinne - Live at St. James' church Dingle (TARA4022) is a collection of songs comoosed by Shaun with lyrics based on the poems of the late Kerry Poet Caoimhín Ó Cinnéide. Shaun is joined on this recording by his wife Rita Connolly
Rita Connolly
Rita Connolly is a Dublin-born singer who has lived and worked in Ireland. She is primarily known for her work with composer Shaun Davey Shaun Davey who wrote a song cycle for her called 'Granuaile' based on the 16th century pirate queen Gráinne O'Malley as well as including her in other of his...
and Dingle based musicians, Seamus Begley, Eilís Kennedy, Lawrence Courtney, Eoin Ó Beaglaoí, Daithí Ó Sé and Jim Murray.
Voices from the Merry Cemetery (TARA4023) is a unique suite of songs again composed by Shaun but this time based on grave inscriptions from the cemetery of the village of Sapânta on Romania’s border with Ukraine known as the Merry Cemetery. For this (live) recording Shaun has again teamed up with Rita Connolly
Rita Connolly
Rita Connolly is a Dublin-born singer who has lived and worked in Ireland. She is primarily known for her work with composer Shaun Davey Shaun Davey who wrote a song cycle for her called 'Granuaile' based on the 16th century pirate queen Gráinne O'Malley as well as including her in other of his...
on vocals and piper Liam O'Flynn
Liam O'Flynn
Liam O'Flynn is a master uilleann piper and prominent Irish folk musician. In addition to an impressive solo career and his work with the Irish traditional group Planxty, O'Flynn has recorded with many prominent international musical artists, including Mark Knopfler, the Everly Brothers, Enya,...
as well as the Romanian Men’s Choir of the Theology Faculty, Sibiu, directed by Pr. Dr. Sorin Dobre and sections from the Romanian State Philharmonia, conducted by David Brophy.
Davey as film composer
Davey has a talent that is obviously suitable for films. His most famous film scoreFilm score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
has been Waking Ned
Waking Ned
Waking Ned is a 1998 comedy film by English writer and director Kirk Jones. It stars Ian Bannen, David Kelly and Fionnula Flanagan. Kelly was nominated for a Screen Actors' Guild award for his role as Michael O'Sullivan. The film is set in Ireland but was filmed on location in the Isle of Man...
(1998), with contributions from Nollaig Casey
Nollaig Casey
Nollaig Casey is an Irish fiddle player ,and has an international reputation as one of Ireland's finest fiddle players. By the time she was eleven years old she could play violin, piano, tin whistle and uilleann pipes. During her teenage years she learned to play in both the classical and...
and Arty McGlynn
Arty McGlynn
Arty McGlynn is an Irish guitarist born in Omagh, County Tyrone. In addition to his solo work, he has collaborated with different notable groups such as Patrick Street, Planxty, Four Men and a Dog, De Dannan and the Van Morrison Band. He played guitar on the critically acclaimed 1989 Van Morrison...
. His other scores include Twelfth Night, The Tailor of Panama and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis. Published in 1950 and set circa 1940, it is the first-published book of The Chronicles of Narnia and is the best known book of the series. Although it was written and published first, it is second in the series'...
. Television work includes the theme to Ballykissangel
Ballykissangel
Ballykissangel is a BBC television drama set in Ireland, produced in-house by BBC Northern Ireland. The original story revolved around a young English Roman Catholic priest as he became part of a rural community. It ran for six series, which were first broadcast on BBC One in the UK from 1996 to 2001...
. In 2000, Richard Nelson's play "James Joyce's The Dead" (a dramatisation of a short story) was performed on Broadway, with incidental music by Shaun Davey for which he received a Toni
Toni
Toni is a given name. In English, it is often female, the male version being Tony. In Finnish, it is a male name, a form of Anttoni. In Bulgarian, Toni [Тони] may refer to either a male or a female. Tony and Toni have no separate equivalents in Bulgarian since the Cyrillic alphabet has one letter...
nomination.
For many people his greatest work remains "Granuaile", partly because of the abundance of melodies, and partly because of Rita Connolly
Rita Connolly
Rita Connolly is a Dublin-born singer who has lived and worked in Ireland. She is primarily known for her work with composer Shaun Davey Shaun Davey who wrote a song cycle for her called 'Granuaile' based on the 16th century pirate queen Gráinne O'Malley as well as including her in other of his...
's soaring soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
voice. Liam O'Flynn's solo album "Out To An Other Side
Out To An Other Side
As is the case with a number of Liam's albums the title Out To An Other Side come from the writing of Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney with whom Liam has performed live on numerous occasions...
" (1993) had several tracks arranged by Davey. Shaun's arrangement of St. Patricks Breastplate titled 'The Deer's Cry', first used on the soundtrack of the TV documentary 'Who Bombed Birmingham' and later included on his album The Pilgrim
The Pilgrim (1983 album)
In 1983, following the hugely successful performance of Shaun Davey's work The Brendan Voyage the previous year, The Festival Interceltique de Lorient commissioned Shaun to compose The Lorient Festival Suite for orchestra and Celtic soloists representing the seven Celtic countries or regions and...
, is probably his most requested song.