by Kevin T McEneaney
At the Amenia Town Hall Auditorium last Sunday, a quintet of musicians performed a Santa’s sack of Celtic tunes. Celtic folk music is dancing music that originated in early Europe. The Lombards (Germanic in origin) in northeastern Italy were fond of this music and held annual prize competitions in the sixth century that attracted musicians from all over Europe.
The inherent returning refrains project an aura of cyclic time that emotionally feels like eternal time. This music has been around for at least 2,000 years. (The origins of Celtic culture are lost in time.) Since the 1960s, this cheerful dance music has had a major revival. The music can accommodate all emotions from joy to pathos. The harp was once a dominant instrument, yet now strings remain the principal instrument today.
Beginning with Vivaldi, Bach, and Joseph Haydn, Celtic musical themes have been incorporated into Classical music in various ways. There is even Celtic Rock music. Most tunes run from three to seven minutes: jigs, reels, slip jigs (in 9/8 time), also hornpipe dances. The charm of Celtic music resides in its spontaneity and informality.
That ambiance was in full bloom last Sunday afternoon as Joseph Sobol, who has five CD collections (I highly recommend Citternalia), led a dynamic quintet as he played guitar and twelve-string cittern; he also sang in good voice with eloquent diction, accompanied by the lovely voice of Claudine Langille. Claudine, praised by the Boston Globe, performed on mandolin and tenor banjo. Her band in Vermont is called Gypsy Reel.
David Paton, virtuoso on hammer dulcimer and English concertina, also joined in with voice on many songs; he has an album on the Folkways label and is a descendant of the Folk-Legacy family label in Connecticut.
Lou Quinn, Jr. is also an accomplished classical violinist and a member of the Danbury Symphony Orchestra. He grew up in a musical family in Queens, NY. Lou’s father played with Michael Coleman, the most famous Irish fiddler of his era. Ambrose Verdibello is a versatile fiddler and guitarist, whose repertoire ranges from Irish to old-time to jazz. He currently plays with the Strawberry Hill Fiddlers.
They performed with fierce, blended-ensemble unison, and collectivized rhythm. There were traditional tunes like “Music in the Glen, “The Galway Rambler,” “The Shaskeen,” “The Last Farewell,” “The Fisherman’s Island,” and “Arthur Darlin’s” which is a favorite of mine and where Lou excelled. They also wove in Christmas seasonal songs: a wassailing song, “The Holly Tree,” the comic “The Field Mice Christmas Song,” “The Star of Bethlehem,” the comic “Mrs. Fogarty’s Christmas Cake where Ambrose was resonantly jubilant,” and “An Old Time Country Christmas” where Dave was superb.
This was a two-hour concert in two sets that concluded with an ebullient performance of “Joy to the World.” They made that joy contagious, and everyone departed with a bubble of joy in their legs. This was their second Christmas Concert performance in Amenia, and we hope this tradition will continue to delight adults and children alike!
