Another take of Port na bPúcai. Recorded in St Finn Barre's Cathedral in Cork city 2023.

Port Na bPúcai II - organ

Another very long and windy piano improvisation from Summer 2022 in a cottage in Sligo. 
Many moods and guises and twists. Some bits borrowed but mostly just me making things up :)

would love to split into smaller tracks but it all kind of flows into itself.... project for another day to make some more recordings.. 

Sligo Piano Improv

More Whale song, this time leading into one of my favorite slow airs: Amhran na Leabhar.

This is from a concert in the Public theatre of Trinity College Dublin on 23rd July 2024.

Two Whales Pass by a Ship at Sea was written in 2019 specifically for the newly restored organ of the Public Theatre. The music takes advantage of this
instrument’s unusual capability of assigning different stop combinations to the
bass and treble portions of one keyboard, and of creating unusual tone qualities by
causing pipes to be only partially supplied with wind. It seeks to put the mind of
the listener far out at sea in a vessel whose course coincides with that of two blue
whales.
Amhran na Leabhar is a strikingly unusual and poignant air written by the poet
and teacher Tomás Rua Ó Súilleabháin. It tells a sad tale. When relocating from
Derrynane to Portmagee in the early 1800s, Ó Súilleabháin travelled by land
whilst his collection of precious books was sent by boat. In a disastrous turn of
events, the boat carrying his invaluable possessions struck a rock and sank.
Amhran na Leabhar (‘song of the books’) is Ó Súilleabháin’s lament for his perished library. He was a famous man of knowledge, versed in the soon-to-be-
extinct Brehon law (Gaelic Ireland’s ancient legal code) that was still taught in hedge schools across the Ivearagh peninsula. In an age when books in and of themselves were of immense value, and Gaelic literature was increasingly discarded and ostracised, this ill-fated boat voyage must have been regretted
deeply by the song’s author.

Whale Song/ Amhran na Leabhar

This is a version of Amhran na Leabhar performed at a concert in Kildare Cathedral on 16th July 2024 together with the venerable Vina player Karaikudi S Subramanian. It is a gentle approach and the opening is a kind of improvised free raga.

Amhran Na Leabhar Indian Style

another live improvisation from a concert in Kildare Cathedral on 16th July 2024. I begin with my whale song then quickly move  away spiralling through different textures and harmonies for many minutes, enjoying the sounds of the lovely organ in Kildare Cathedral. Things were partially planned and also left up to the heat of the moment to decide. Some times cheesy, some times happy, some times sad, always elastic and ecstatic. I'm just loving playing with sound.

Free organ Improvisation

Amhran na leabhar performed at St Brigid's Cathedral Kildare 2024.

Amhran na leabhar #3

more Amhran an leabhar in Kildare cathedral

Amhran na leabhar # 4

Second half of a recent concert in the CobbleStone with Cellist Risteárd Ó hAodha and Lara Gallagher on Sax/Voice/Electronics.

Not the best audio unfortunately.

Cobblestone trio concert

Autumn 2025 . Organ improvisation at St Philips Church Dublin.  Ambient and slow. I'm taking a cue and some inspiration here from Kali Malone, whose music always seems to me as an invitation to slow down and enjoy the organs more gentle side.

Organ Improvisation # V (a la kali)

Autumn 2025. Meandering melodies over a pedal drone loosely unfolding like a raga. Recorded in St. Philips Church, Dublin.

Organ Improvisation VI (a la Raga)

Dug this out from Covid days on the farm.

Rainy Days II

Dug this out from 2020! Recorded in the Public Theatre in Trinity College Dublin.  Which has a crazy acoustic. More long meandering moodiness. Dark and heavy. Leaning into the dissonance and more unusual sounds of the organ.

Organ Improvisation # VII

Two whales pass by a ship at sea.
 (Piece for the newly restored organ in the Exam Hall in Trinity College Dublin.)

Give a moment to think of every Blue whale that's ever been killed. 

They are of the most majestic, alluring beautiful creatures we share this planet with. They are the largest animals known to have lived, weighing up to 200 tonnes and measuring up to thirty meters long. The species was almost made extinct in the mid 20 th century due to commercial whaling. (In one whaling season alone in 1931 an estimated 29,000 were killed.) Since receiving worldwide protection in 1967 the slaughter has abated somewhat and some populations are showing a slow but steady sign of recovery. There are
between 10,000 to 25,000 alive today.  Thy are still regarded as threatened due to a variety of factors such as climate change and its effect on ocean currents, temperature and food but also including whaling.

Whale song

Another long windy piano improvisation. Made on a sunny sunday morning of quarantine. Kind of like a morning prayer or meditation. Definitely inspired by Joanna Brouk's 'The Space Between' which is a stunning track. ...... . Long unfolding melodic elaborations over a drone like accompaniment. Indian Raga style with out the complex rhythm!

The Space Above

Four improvisations on the organ from a few days ago :)

Organ improvisation IV

Organist/Pianist/Composer based in Kildare, Ireland. :)

GreeneBearKeys75

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