Shaun Davey

Shaun Davey is an Irish composer.

Early years

Shaun Davey was born in Belfast in about 1949. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in the history of Art in 1971. He then took a master's degree at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. In the late 1970s, he made his first recording, "Davey and Morris," with Donal Lunny 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 bagpipes and folk tunes. "The Brendan Voyage" (1983) depicts a journey to America allegedly made by Saint Brendan. The style is similar to that of film composer John Williams. "The Pilgrim" (1984) is set in a vaguely medieval world where the Irish, the Bretons and Scots explore the seas of western Europe. It exists in two versions; the 1983 recording made at the Lorient Interceltic Festival; and an expanded version recorded mostly in the 1990s. "Granuaile" (1985) tells the story of Grace O'Malley, an Irish pirate queen in the 16th century. It has more songs than the previous works and features the voice of Rita Connolly, who would soon become his wife. Donal Lunny was again a session musician in it. Finally, "The Relief of Derry Symphony" (1990) has a more obvious symphonic structure. It is based around the 17th century Siege of Derry, showing the Protestants outside and the Catholics inside the beleaguered city. Whereas the previous three works involved uilleann piper Liam O'Flynn, this one uses a Scottish bagpipe band, who enter the auditorium from behind the audience.

Davey as film composer

Davey had a talent that was obviously suitable for films. His most famous film score has been "Waking Ned Devine" (1999), with contributions from Nollaig Casey and Arty McGlynn. His other scores include "Twelfth Night", "The Tailor of Panama" and "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe". For many people his greatest work remains "Granuaile", partly because of the abundance of melodies, and partly because of Rita Connolly's soaring soprano voice. Liam O'Flynn's solo album "Out To Another Side" (1993) had several tracks arranged by Davey. Davey, Shaun Davey, Shaun Davey, Shaun Davey, Shaun

 

<< PreviousWord BrowserNext >>
tangerang
virginia beach expressway
thomas "tommy" rivera schatz
s olympia
spokescouncil
richard howard
list of state leaders in 2005
corisco
effect of the 2004 indian ocean earthquake on hong kong
deadhorse
boy in darkness
list of bagpipers
lonhro
troy donockley
snowbird (comics)
leif larsen
everyone loves katamari damacy
public funding
big rigs: over the road racing
heinrich i walpot von bassenheim
old swan band
shetland bus
burton gillett
otto von kerpen
heinrich ii von tunna
donal lunny
college of art, architecture and planning
wedding music
greater calgary area
titus groan
chongqing proper
rufus sewell
burton w. folsom, jr.
solectron
plumbeous kite
usa freedom corps
arnold fanck
seven hills, new south wales
uva province
amarinder singh
harmonium (poetry collection)
dead ball era
klein transformation
sweetbox