Download Well-Known Harp Players

Well-Known Harp Players
Derek Bell, (1935 – 2002) was a Northern Irish harpist,
pianist, oboist, musicologist and composer best known for his accompaniment work
on various instruments with The Chieftains (a highly-successful Irish traditional group
founded in 1962). On St. Patrick’s Day in 1972 Bell gave a performance on radio of
the music of Turlough O’Carolan. At that time O’Carolan's music was virtually
unknown, though today almost every album of harp music contains one of his
compositions. Working with Bell on the project were several members of The
Chieftains. Bell became friends with the leader of The Chieftains, Paddy
Moloney and became a full-time member of the group in 1975.
Michael Rooney from Monaghan is widely regarded as one of the
finest exponents of the Irish harp. He is a music graduate of Queen's University,
Belfast. He is a well known composer of traditional Irish music in Ireland, and many
of his compositions can be heard on his CD 'Ocras'. He is senior All-Ireland
Champion on the harp and winner of the prestigious Granard and Keadue harp
competitions on several occasions. He recorded with The Chieftains on their
Grammy award winning CD entitled 'The Celtic Harp' and toured the US with the
group. In 2006 he published a book entitled 'Harp Tunes', which contains twentythree of his own compositions.
Paul Dooley is one of the very few Irish people who now play the
Irish harp in its historical form and style - using a metal-strung harp, playing with the
fingernails and damping unwanted string resonance with the fingertips. The design of
his harp is based on the historical Trinity College (Brian Boru) Harp, although his
harp is slightly larger in size. Paul was born in Quebec of Irish parents and came to
live in Ireland in 1980. He started his performing career on the wire-strung Irish harp
in 1986 and his first solo recording 'Rip the Calico' was released in 1990. His
repertory is mostly Irish traditional dance music, including jigs and reels.
Hugh O’Donnell
Loftus Jones
After reading this resource:
1. Read the biography of Derek Bell.
2. Watch the Chieftains video.
3. Listen to some Derek Bell tunes on the web-site link.
4. Listen to the Michael Rooney RTE interview' watch the video of him
performing and study the Hugh O'Donnell notation file.
5. Watch the Paul Dooley video and study the Loftus Jones notation file.
Questions
1. What group was Derek Bell a member of?
2. What is the time signature of Hugh O'Donnell?
3. What is the tonality of Hugh O'Donnell?
4. What is the time signature of Loftus Jones?
5. What is the tonality of Loftus Jones?
6. Give a brief musical description of the tune Loftus Jones (around 50 words)
7. Give a brief musical description of the tune Hugh O'Donnell (around 50
words)
8. What is your favourite piece from all the music heard in this module? Explain
your answer in about 50 words.
9. What kind of harp does Michael Rooney play?
10. What kind of harp does Paul Dooley play?