Dublin · 2020
Machnamh
Airs and Songs of Kilmainham.
- Year
- 2020
- Location
- Dublin
- Venue
- Kilmainham Gaol
- Ensemble
- National Folk Orchestra of Ireland
- Role
- Composition by Tom Doorley
Music, memory and history approached through the resonant human space of Kilmainham Gaol.
The story
Machnamh — Airs and Songs of Kilmainham approaches a building heavy with public history through the more intimate language of music.
Airs and songs create space for reflection: not an attempt to reduce history to a single interpretation, but a way of hearing the human traces held within walls, stories and memory.
The music
The project brings the expressive directness of slow air and song into a larger ensemble setting. Orchestral colour extends the emotional and architectural space around the melodic material while allowing its essential character to remain clear.
Watch / Listen
Machnamh
Performed by the Comhaltas National Folk Orchestra at Kilmainham Gaol during TradFest 2020.