Máire Breatnach Online

IRISH TIMES, May 2006	"...the fiddler relaxed into her stop-start emphatic breaks, octave jumps, heavy and light bow calculated to the last millimetre."

OSTSEE ANZEIGER Sept. 2001	It was one of those evenings of music that make up for everything.... For one thing, there was the genuinely brilliant music, masterly and credibly presented, a joy both to the ear and to the heart for friends of celtic sounds... The Irish folk trio also succeeded completely in mesmerising the audience in Remter, and spiriting them with their music into the real and mythological worlds of Ireland... Every facet of emotional experience could be found in the virtuoso violin playing of the Irish fiddler... Máire Breatnach evokes in her playing a rare emotional depth, such as is only to be found in Irish music...

SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG 15.07.2002	...although the melodies are often melancholy, they carry within them the potential to trigger a smile... likewise, even in the happiest moments, a bitter sweet nuance can be heard... Kießling and Loefke provided Máire Breatnach with a carpet of sounds such as might have been woven by Irish fairies and elves, and the fiddler danced exuberantly upon it...when Breatnach´s gentle alto voice began to sing a solo, the capacity audience was transfixed, and not a pin could be heard to drop, such was the intensity of their concentration and their eagerness to capture every single note...and indeed no one could withstand the might and power of the Irish soundworld...The trio guided the listeners on an inner journey, their music resonating at the deepest emotional level..

OSTSEE ANZEIGER Sept. 2001	Es war einer jener Musik-Abende, die für vieles entschädigen... Da war zum einen die wirklich brillante Musik,meisterhaft und glaubwürdig vorgetragen, ein Ohren - und Herzensschmaus für Freunde keltischer ... Klänge. Daneben gelang es dem Irish-Folk-Trio ... die Gäste im Remter regelrecht zu verzaubern und musikalisch in die reale und mythologische Welt Irlands zu entführen... Dem virtuosen Violinenspiel der irischen Geigerin gelang es dabei, alle Facetten emotionaler Bewegung aufzugreifen... Máire Breatnach erreicht in ihrem Spiel eine seltene emotionale Tiefe, die so kompakt wohl nur in der irischen Musik zu erfahren ist...

SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG 15.07.2002	...So melancholisch die Melodien oft sind, tragen sie auch immer die Bereitschaft zu Lächeln in sich, ebenso wie in den fröhlichsten Momenten....ein zartbitterer Unterton zu hören ist.... Kießling und Loefke legten Máire Breatnach einen Teppich aus Klängen, wie von irischen Feen und Elfen gewebt, zu Füssen, und die Geigerin bewegte sich virtuos darauf...wenn Breatnach mit ihrer weichen Altstimme anhob, ohne Begleitung zu singen, erstarrten die zahlreichen Zuhörer im vollen Saal, um ja nur kein Geräusch zu machen, keinen Ton zu verpassen...Und tatsächlich konnte sich niemand der ungeheuren Suggestionskraft der irischen Klänge entziehen. Auf innere Reisen schickte das Trio die Zuhörer mit zutiefst emotionaler Musik...

	Norland Wind Concert in Braunfels 13th November 2004 "Begeisterten Applaus erntete auch die für Gesang und Geige zuständige Máire Breatnach mit drei kürzeren Soli auf der Geige - einer "Slow Aire" und zwei schnellen Tänzen die zweifellos jedem in die Beine gingen."

folkworld.de Jennifer Byrne	MAIRE BREATNACH 'AISLINGÍ CEOIL" Label: Cala Music, no. mbcala 102cd; 2002 Máire Breatnach really needs no introduction - the woman is nothing if not prolific in output. She is probably best known for her fiddle playing, and has been a mainstay of many of Ireland's leading line-ups in recent years, including the Sharon Shannon and Mary Black bands. Máire's talent as a vocalist first came to my attention through the Gael Linn project "Éist", which saw the release of two fine compilation albums, sung entirely as gaeilge. Máire performed the title track, a self-penned duet with Brian Kennedy. It is a re-working of this song, "Éist", which opens "Aislingí Ceoil"; a quiet, unassuming record of expressive and highly lyrical songs, each song linked to the next by delicate threads of dreams and visions. "Aislingí" (dreams) are an important recurrence in Irish poetry, so this link to a deep history, as well as Máire's graceful use of gaeilge throughout, leaves the listener with a feeling that they are dipping into something truly special here. There are too many highpoints to mention. The oft re-hashed "An Chúilfhionn" is lovingly interpreted with very simple, unobtrusive piano accompaniment. The beauty of the melody and vocals stand for themselves, and the result is simultaneously fragile and gripping. Máire's own composition "Aisling Samhna" is surprisingly tense and ghostly in its harmonies and all the more effective for that. This is thoughtful listening music, an album to sit down and savour. Treat yourself.

irlandjournal XIII, 5.02 Page 25:	"Ein offenes Kaminfeuer, aber Kerzenlicht tut es wohl auch, um daheim eine adäquate Atmosphäre für die musikalische Wolkenreise zu inszenieren... Ähnliche Intentionen inspirierten auch die ehemalige Riverdance-Fiddlerin Máire Breatnach zu ihrer wünderschönen CD Dreams & Visions in Irish Song. Alle Lieder sind in irischer Sprache, was - obwohl die meisten von uns sie im wortwörtlichen Sinne leider nicht verstehen können - dem intendierten traumhaften Charakter entgegenkommt. Im übertragenen Sinne verstehen kann diese Lieder aber doch ein jeder, der offen dafür ist, sich von Máire Breatnachs Anmerkungen ein wenig einpendeln zu lassen auf die Aussagekraft ihrer Musik. Einige der Stücke sind Eigenkompositionen aus ihrer Feder, die jedoch unüberhörbar in der Tradition verwurzelt sind. Sollte jemand im Verlauf der vergangenen drei Jahre "The Calm after the Storm" des Saxophonisten Keith Donald immer und immer wieder in den Player bugsiert haben und ebenso so lange vergeblich auf eine weitere CD in der gleichen Stimmungslage gewartet haben... hier ist sie! Sweet dreams wünscht allen Axel Schuldes "

Süddeutsche Zeitung 15.7.2002	Mythen, Märchen und Erinnerung - Die Musik der Riverdance-Geigerin Máire Breatnach glänzt durch ihre emotionale Suggestionskraft Georgenberg. ~ Vielleicht gibt es doch eine kollektive Erinnerung. Vor etwa 2400 Jahren hatten sich die Kelten in ganz Europa ausgebreitet. Während sich bei uns ihre Hinterlassenschaften nur noch in archäologischen Tiefen finden, ist ihr Erbe in Irland in Sprache und Kunst noch präsent. Das Gut Georgenberg, selbst einst keltische Kultstätte, wie der Hausherr Hermann Weil bei einer Führung durch die kleine Kirche seines Anwesens in der Konzertpause erzählte, war am vergangenen Donnerstag Abend Schauplatz eines begeisternden Konzertes mit irischer Musik, gälischen Texten und keltischer Instrumentierung. Die Geigerin und Komponistin Máire Breatnach aus Dublin präsentierte die Musik ihrer Heimat, zusammen mit Thomas Loefke an der keltischen Harfe und Matthias Kiessling an Gitarre und Keyboard. Obwohl alle Lieder der berühmten Riverdance-Geigerin Eigenkompositionen waren, sind sie doch ihren irischen Wurzeln zutiefst verbunden. Mythen und Märchen, Liebe und Leid voll überbordener Trauer beschworen die Musiker. "Es war einmal ein König", erzählt Breatnach, "der glaubte, 'Inis Sui', die Insel der Glückseligkeit , gefunden zu haben". Und natürlich ist es ein traueriges Lied. Ebenso die Geschichte von dem Liebespaar, dem nur ein paar schöne Jahre vergönnt sind: ein bewegendes Lied vom Glück, das seine Endlichkeit schon in sich trägt. So melancholisch die Melodien oft sind, tragen sie auch immer die Bereitschaft zu Lächeln in sich, ebenso wie in den fröhlichsten Momenten, den Jigs - irische Tänze aus denen die Riverdance-Musik entstanden ist - ein zartbitterer Unterton zu hören ist. Kiessling und Loefke legten Máire Breatnach einen Teppich aus Klängen, wie von irischen Feen und Elfen gewebt, zu Füssen, und die Geigerin bewegte sich virtuos darauf. Mal von quecksilbriger Quirligkeit, mal lächelnd bedächtig, war die Geige immer das dominierende Instrument. Und wenn Breatnach mit ihrer weichen Altstimme anhob ohne Begleitung zu singen, erstarrten die zahlreichen Zuhörer im vollen Saal, um nur ja kein Geräusch zu machen, keinen Ton zu verpassen. "Musik für die Seele" hatte der Organisator des Abends, Rudolf Worm, dem Publikum versprochen. Und tatsächlich konnte sich niemand der ungeheuren Suggestionskraft der irischen Klänge entziehen. Auf innere Reisen schickte das Trio die Zuhörer mit zutiefst emotionalen Musik. Und in die kollektive Erinnerung an eine gesamteuropäische, urgeschichtliche Vergangenheit. SUZANNE VIKTOR

Münchner Merkur 15.7. 2002	Rundum-Erlebnis für Auge und Ohr - Keltische Klänge in Georgenberg Georgenberg - Malerisch liegt es vor dem bewaldeten Hügel, das Gut Georgenberg, in dem die "Máire Breatnach Band" zu Gast war. Rudolf Worm, der Vorstand des ASV Glonn und sein Tennisverein, der dieses Jahr sein 70-jähriges Bestehen feiert, hatte zusammen mit dem Kultur- und Verschönerungsverein dieses Ensemble, das vorwiegend keltische und irische Musik spielt, eingeladen. Welcher Ort wäre für eine solche Veranstaltung besser geeignet als das Gut Georgenberg, war doch der Hügel, an dessen Fuss es steht, eine keltische Kultstätte. Seit Hermann Weil das Gut erworben und mit viel Gespür und Sachverstand renoviert und wiederbelebt hat, ist die Tenne für Veranstaltungen geöffnet. Die Besucher konnten sich in der ausverkauften Kulturscheune den melancholischen Klängen der irischen Musik hingeben, die die drei Musiker so authentisch und virtuos vortrugen. Máire Breatnach ist eine hervorragende Geigerin, ihr Violinton klingt so edel, dass es für diese Art zu musizieren fast zu konzertant erscheint. Doch an diese Qualität gewöhnt sich das Ohr schnell, und vor allem gerne. Thomas Loefke begleitete sie auf der irischen Harfe, ein Instrument, das in der Form den Volks- und Konzertharfen gleicht, aber etwas kleiner, und vor allem ohne Pedale ist. Matthias Kiessling spielte die Gitarre in dem Trio oder auch einmal Keyboard, das er jedoch ganz dezent einsetzte. Vom ersten Augenblick an konnte die kleine, zierliche Máire Breatnach das Publikum begeistern. Programm gab es keines, die Künstler kündigten ihre Lieder selbst an, und erzählten dazu die passenden Geschichten. So sang Máire in gälischer Sprache von "Tír na mBan", ein Lied über die "Erde der Frauen" und "Tír na nÓg", die "Erde der Jugend". Nicht nur alte Volkslieder hatten die drei Kuunstler im Programm, auch neue Kompositionen wie "Atlantic Driftwood" von Thomas Loefke. Seine Songs sind aber ganz der Tradition verhaftet, tragen sogar gälische Titel, wie "Tor Mór" (ein Lied über den Vogelfelsen auf Tory Island). Bei "Peigín Leitir Móir" durfte das Publikum mitklatschen, und das machte es ganz gekonnt. Es teilte sich in zwei Gruppen und klatschte in Synkopen. Manche Lieder sang Máire Breatnach a capella, und ihre Stimme, mit dem fast kindlich, unschuldigen Klanf, konnte begeistern. Als sie den "West Ocean Waltz" spielten, forderte Máire das Publikum auf zu tanzen, aber das hörte lieber gebannt dem gekonnten Violinspiel zu. In der Pause sperrte Hermann Weil in die kleine Kirche von Gut Georgenberg auf und erzählte den Besuchern, die es hören wollten, die wechselvolle Geschichte des Gutes, der Kirche und ihrer aufwändigen Renovierung. Selbst der alte Ziehbrunnen, den Weil wieder frei gelegt hatte, konnte besichtigt werden. So hatte der interessierte Besucher an diesem Sommerabend ein "Rundumerlebnis" für Auge und Ohr. Johanna W. von Schutter

Ostseeanzeiger 5.9.2001	Irische Folkmusik im Remter: Lebensgefühl von der Grünen Insel Stralsund - Es war einer jener gelungen Musik-Abende, die für vieles entschädigen. Da war zum einen die wirklich brillante Musik, meisterhaft und glaubwürdig vorgetragen. Ein Ohren- und Herzensschmaus für Freunde keltischer, sprich irischer Klänge. Daneben gelang es dem Irish-Folk-Trio Máire Breatnach, Thomas Loefke und Matthias Kiessling aber, die rund 150 Gäste im Remter regelrecht zu verzaubern und musikalisch in die reale und mythologische Welt Irlands zu entführen. In vielen Eigenkompositionen und traditionellen Tanzliedern wurde die Seele der Grünen Insel offenbar. Vorbereitet durch unaufdringliche, feinfühlige Einfürhrungen erzählten die Instrumente weiter an den Geschichten von wahren und sagenhaften Begebenheiten. Dem virtuosen Violinenspiel der irischen Geigerin gelang es dabei, alle Facetten emotionaler Bewegung aufzugreifen. Von übersprudelnder Lebensfreude, Schwung, Elan und innigem Feuer, wie sie in den Tänzen der Insel Ausdruck finden, bis hin zu herzzerreissender Wehmut, Trauer und Weltschmerz. Handelten die Lieder von Trennung und Tod klagte, weinte, schluchzte ihre Geige, um aus anderem Anlass vor Freude hell zu lachen, zu sprudeln, zu jauchzen. Máire Breatnach erreicht in ihrem Spiel eine seltene emotionale Tiefe, die so kompakt wohl nur in der irischen Musik zu erfahren ist. Sagen zumindest ihre begeisterten Liebhaber. Auch ihre wenigen Gesangsstücke, ohne instrumentale Begleitung vermitteln diese Intensität. So überrascht es nicht, dass die in Irland sehr berühmte Musikerin zur ersten Riverdance-Besetzung gehörte und mit Stars wie Nigel Kennedy, Mike Oldfield oder auch Sinead O'Connor zusammenarbeitete. In einigen ihrer Tanzlieder schien es am Freitag in der Tat so, als würde die Chorusline der grossen irischen Bühnenshows geisterhaft durch den Remter steppen. Wie unverzichtbare organische Bestandteile der meist tragenden Violine klangen Harfe und Keyboard von Thomas Loefke und Matthias Kiessling. Mit seiner "Celtic Harp" hat ersterer schon zahlreiche Preise gewonnen und in Irland hohe Anerkennung gefunden. Seine Kompositionen versuchen Charme und Sensitivität der Menschen auf der Grünen Insel einzufangen, was ihm noch ausdrucksstärker als in seinen leisen, einfühlsamen Einführungen im sprudelnden Harfenspiel gelingt. Bernd Hinkeldey

(Issue 9, Oct/Nov 2000) Angels Candles SOURCE Magazine (Ireland)	In July of last year, Máire Breatnach re-released her acclaimed debut album, "Coinnle na nAingeal", or "Angels' Candles". This is a completely new recording of the work, and all tracks have been reworked and rearranged since their initial release in 1993. The album deals with mythical themes of folklore, storytelling and spiritual wisdom. Not only are all titles composed, arranged and produced by Máire, she also plays fiddle, viola, keyboards and even sings on a few tracks. Máire is joined on the album by some recognisable names - Liam O Maonlai (bodhran and backing vocals), Mairtin O'Connor (accordion) and Keith Donald (clarinet). Breatnach is a classically-trained musician who grew up in a household steeped in traditional music, and it is this contrast that defines her music. The inclusion of a primarily classical instrument,the viola, on a majority of tracks in "Coinnle na nAingeal" transports this music into a genre all of its own. Her classical training also gives Breatnach a depth and warmth of tone in her fiddle playing that is unmatched (for my money) in trad circles. Normally one or two tracks stand out as highlights on an album, but not on this one - it's great from start to finish. At turns it moved me to tears, to contemplation and even to dance. There's plenty here for trad fans, but this is contemporary Celtic music. Beautiful! Kay Lynch

(X,6/99) Angels Candles irland journal (Germany)	Es ist ja ziemlich in Mode gekommen, alte Aufnahmen nochmals neu einzuspielen. Selten aber nur erreichen die Neuaufnahmen den Reiz der Originale... Die erfreuliche Ausnahme von der Regel ist Angels' Candles von Máire Breatnach - in der urspruenglichen Version eines der schoensten alben des Jahres 1993! Damit verhaelt es sich wie mit einem guten Wein. Diese ohnehin schoen wunderbare Musik ist ueber die Jahre gereift und hat noch mehr an Glanz und Tiefe gewonnen. Was wir im Heft 1-94 ueber das Original sagten, gilt fuer die neue Version nun erst recht: "Schiere Spielfreude und wunderbare Melodien machen diese CD zu einem Muss fuer alle, die auch nur im entferntesten an irishcher Musik Gefallen finden!" Wer uebrigens Freude an wirklich gut gemachten Musiker - Home-pages hat, der sollte Máire Breatnach mal unter "www.mairebreatnach.com" besuchen. Davon koennen sich viele ihrer Kollegen durchaus eine Scheibe abschneiden, den diese Seite ist nicht nur von der Optik her sehr schoen aufgemacht, sondern auch hoechst informativ.

(X,6/99) Angels Candles irland journal (Germany)	"It has become rather fashionable of late to re-record older albums afresh. Seldom, however, do the new recordings achieve the charm of the originals....The welcome exception to the rule is 'Angels' Candles' by Máire Breatnach - in the original version, one of the finest albums of 1993! Its case is comparable to that of a good wine. This music, already wonderful anyway, has matured over the years and gained even more in brilliance and depth. What we said in Issue 1-94 about the original is all the more valid now for the new version: 'Sheer joy of playing and wonderful melodies make this CD a must for all who, even if only at the furthest remove, find pleasure in Irish music!' Incidentally, those who enjoy genuinely well-designed music home-pages should visit Máire's website at www.mairebreatnach.com . Many of her colleagues could well take a leaf out of her book in this regard, as this site is not only very well-constructed from a visual point of view, but is also highly informative."

(Vol. 40 #2) Angels' Candles/ Coinnle na nAingeal, 1999. Sing Out! R Weir	Máire Breatnach has recorded with everyone from Mary Black and Sharon Shannon to the Irish National Symphony Orchestra, but, until now, has never made a solo album. Enter Angels' Candles, a dreamy delight. The title and first seven cuts are inspired by traditional Irish tales told to children about the constellations in the evening sky. Each cluster of stars is associated with a hero such as Etain, Bran and Midir. Breatnach endows each piece with equal doses of majesty, as befits the legends. While she is best known as a fiddler, she is also an accomplished keyboardist and a decent singer, as she demonstrates on two cuts. For the most part though, she spins her tales musically rather than in verse. Her mix and presentation are mindful of some of Johnny Cunningham's best projects. On 'The Swans at Coole', for example, her fiddle is soulful and melancholy as befits a piece inspired by the story of the children of Lir who were turned to swans by a wicked stepmother. But she quickly switches moods. 'Beta Carnival' is uptempo and raucous, made all the more so by Breatnach's fiddle duels with Sharon Shannon's accordion - shades of Silly Wizard and the Cunninghams trying to exhaust one another. 'Hallowe'en Jig' also puts me in mind of the sort of thing Silly Wizard used to do, but Breatnach has a style all her own, one that's marked by versatility. She's equally at home with a lively polka set anchored by Tommy Hayes' dumbeq ('Roundabout/Parallel') or with a sensitive lament for a dead friend ('Cuimhne'). From start to finish this is a fine piece of work.

(10/99) Angels' Candles/ Coinnle na nAingeal, 1999. Irish Music (Ireland) Jim Kelly	Máire Breatnach is a fiddle player who has played with Mary Black, Mike Scott, Sharon Shannon, Nigel Kennedy, The National Symphony Orchestra and a whole lot more of the bigger names in the music business. "Angels' Candles" is a 14-track album which allows her to speak with her own musical voice for the first time. And a right good voice it is, but it is not quite accurate to say "for the first time" because this is a re-recording of the fourteen tracks that were on her first album issued in 1992. Some of the top musicians supported Máire on the first recording and Mairtin O'Connor, Niall O Callanain and Liam O Maonlai are there again. It is fascinating to listen to how her style and approach have developed over the years in between. The freshness and youthful eagerness of the original recording is succeeded by a more considered and complex performance on this latest album. Sometimes naivete and freshness win out, but overall the new recording is a great leap forward. These tunes, all of which are written by Breatnach, have obviously haunted her since she first put them down at the start of the nineties, and the soulful search for resolution gives the latest recording a strength and depth perhaps missing in her earlier effort. Some of the tunes are nothing short of brilliant, from the opening "Mystic Slipjigs" through the title track to the finisher, which is a set of three joyful slides most appropriately called "Hop, Skip, Jump".

(22/08/99) Angels' Candles/ Coinnle na nAingeal, 1999. Sunday Tribune (Ireland) Fintan Vallely	This is a welcome re-recording of a timeless themed 1992 album by a classical-edge viola and fiddle player. With a wonderful ethos which is now in our subconscious, 'Mystics' slipjigs have yet more satisfying complexity, 'Éist' draws in Liam O' Maonlai and like most tracks uses Conor Byrne's flute. Courageous to re-record and here it confirms original worth and like tradition, illustrates the point that successful re-interpretation is as productive as composition.

(16/07/93) Angels' Candles The Irish Times (Ireland) Nuala O' Connor	Máire Breatnach brings many gifts and accomplishments to this, her first solo album. She is well known as a player of fiddle, viola and keyboards, not so widely known as a writer of tunes. In addition to her considerable talent and skill, all amply evident on Angels Candles, this recording reveals a musician creatively engaged by mysteries, myths, fables and the world of children. These preoccupations provide her with rich material for the 14 tracks on this loosely thematic album. Her signature sound of fiddle and keyboards is everywhere, but mostly she plays in the company of musicians with whom she has been associated over the years: Sharon Shannon, Steve Cooney, Trevor Hutchinson, Cormac Breatnach and others. Musically she is drawn towards a melody and there are many memorably beautifully tunes on the album. The sparkling set of polkas on track nine is taken at quite a sedate pace, while on the slides Hop, Skip and Jump and the Goban/Hallowee'en Jig the dance imperative is more to the fore.

(07/93) Angels Candles Tonder Festival Music Programme (Denmark)	Den bedste irske plade i '93? En af de bedst kendte irske violinspillere, bl.a.. er kendt for sit samspil med Sharon Shannon, har her udgivet en meget smuk irsk rent instrumentalplade med. Holder du auf Sharon Shannon, vil denne plade bestemt ogsa falde i din smag! Forresten medvirker Sharon og hendes band ogsa pa Máire's plade, i selskab med Liam O' Maonlai (Hothouse Flowers).

(Summer/93) Angels Candles Evening Echo (Ireland) Folk File with Paul Dromey	Angels Candles is a thematic album, astonishing in both concept and scope. In a year when the standard of Irish produced albums has never been so high, it is going to be very difficult to surpass Angels Candles for creativity, musicianship and sheer quality. It is quite simply a class apart.

(25/08/93) Angels Candles Hot Press (Ireland) Oliver P. Sweeney	(10 out of 12) In her collaborations with the likes of Mary Black, Sharon Shannon and The Fallen Angels, Máire Breatnach has always invested their work with something extra special. Her wonderful work with Cormac Breatnach and Niall O' Callanain in the group Meristem never reaped its expected or deserved rewards, but having listened several times to her solo debut, it can only be a matter of time before she is much more widely known and appreciated. Angels Candles takes its title from a poem by Máire Mhac an tSaoi, one of Ireland's finest contemporary poets, and sweeps through a wide stylistic arc, from slipjigs to waltzs, through clan marches and polkas. Excellence is the unifying thread in all this diversity, be it her strong vocals in Éist, shared with Liam O' Maonlai and Colm O' Maonlai, or the evocative fiddle and keyboard work of The Swans at Coole, her interpretation of the Yeatsian legend. Máire's musical and compositional skill has won her many friends, among them the likes of Sharon Shannon, Stephen Cooney and Trevor Hutchinson who join her on many tracks. It is, though, a measure of her musical strength that they complement but never dominate what she does. Angels Candles is an album blending the best of traditional and contemporary music, and is chock full of musical ideas, all of which work very well. One of the brightest, shiniest albums of the year, it signals Máire Breatnach's ascent into the major league.

(05/94) Angels Candles Folk Roots (UK) Bob Walton	Máire Breatnach is both a versatile composer and a multi-instrumnetalist; classically trained, but brought up in a traditional music environment. Angels Candles is her first proper album and she not only composed all the tunes, but plays keyboards, fiddle, and viola, and sings on a couple of tracks. She is sensitively helped by some other splendid musicians (such as Mairtin O' Connor, Sharon Shannon and Steve Cooney). Half the tracks are loosely based on children's bedtime stories, the others conjure up more contemporary images. But in some ways this is fairly irrelevant: what you have here are some utterly splendid contemporary tunes, firmly rooted in traditional music, evocatively played by some great musicians. Listen to the wonderful slow 'A West Ocean Waltz' and 'Dreamer' (both new tunes that you have somehow always known), or Sharon Shannon's fairground accordion on 'Beta/Carnival'. Or the wonderful viola playing on 'Cuimhne'. Actually, all the tracks are great and the album is a gem.

(V,1/94) Angels Candles irland journal (Germany)	Wer aufmerksam die Credits auf den Platten studiert, wird in letzer Zeit des ofteren auf den Namen Máire Breatnach gestossen sein, bei Mary Black, bei Sharon Shannon und kurzlich erst bei Christy Moore. Nun hat sie ihr erstes Album unter eigenem Namen eingespielt - und was fur ein Einstand dies geworden ist! Dass Máire eine begnadete Fiddlerin und Keyboard-Spielerin ist, hat sich in Kennerkreisen ja mittlerweile rumgesprochen, dass sie aber auch eine der wunderschonsten Stimmen auf der Instel hat, offenbart erst Angels Candles. Den Preis der CD allein schon wert ist das gemeinsam mit Colm O' Maonlai und Liam O' Maonlai gesungene Lied 'Éist'. Im Blindtest wurde sicher auch mancher Experte schworen, dass es sich um traditionelle Weisen handelt, die mit viel Respekt, Fingerspitzengefuhl und Konnerschaft in moderne Gewander gehullt wurden. Aber weit gefehlt: Samtliche Melodien hier wurden von Máire selbst komponiert. Staunenswert. Zu Máire Breatnachs Band gesellten sich fur diese Aufnahmen viele Freundinnen und Freunde, denen es horbar allerhochstes Vergnugen bereitet hat, sich bei der beliebten Sessionmusikerin einmal zu revanchieren: Mairtin O' Connor, Trevor Hutchinson, Stephen Cooney, Sharon Shannon, Ronan Browne und Tommy Hayes, um nur einige zu nennen. Schiere Spielfreude und wunderbare Melodien machen diese CD zu einem Muss fur alle, die auch nur im entferntesten an irischer Musik Gefallen finden. Wilkommen ganz oben auf dem Treppchen, Máire!

(??/??/??) Angels Candles The Living Tradition John O' Regan	...The arrangements are woven together like fine cloth and Angels Candles is the lovingly woven tapestry of personal Celtic influenced music and songs. Richly satisfying and intensely moving this is an album to drink deep from and gain the insight of Máire Breatnach's attachment to the Celtic tradition and her pioneering spirit that soars over every note, phoenix like in its beauty...

(Issue No. 17) Angels Candles Rock 'n' Reel (USA) John O' Regan	Ms Breatnach has been a mainstay of both the Mary Black and Sharon Shannon bands of late and both have been enriched by her many talents. Her debut solo album Angels Candles proves her to be a talented tunesmith in the Celtic tradition. With musicians of the calibre of Sharon Shannon, Steve Cooney, Cormac Breatnach and Tommy Hayes along, it is a richly varied brew. Her vocals are ethereal and haunting as on 'Éist' and 'Aishling Samha' where they evoke a sense of mystery. Her fluency in the Irish language makes the influence it hangs over her work more attractive and personal. The arrangements are woven together like fine cloth and Angels Candles is the lovingly woven tapestry of personal Celtic influenced music and songs. Richly satisfying and intensely moving this is an album to drink deep from and gain the insight of Máire Breatnach's attachment to the Celtic tradition and her pioneering spirit.

(??/??/93) Angels Candles Fiddlestix (Australia) John O' Regan	Angels Candles was a collection of self-penned tunes in the traditional idiom with some classical and New Age influences with some very melodic songs. Her own talents extended to fiddle, viola, keyboards and vocals. With such other musicians as Colm O' Maonlai, (younger brother of Hot House Flower Liam O' Maonlai) on vocals and Steve Cooney (ex-Redgum, Little River Band) on guitar, and on bass ex-Waterboy Trevor Hutchinson. Máires multi-instrumental abilities are well served on the slip jigs, polkas and airs that highlight her talents on thealbum. Máire Breatnach is a new Irish music based in tradition but looking to other influences, making use of them in a personal style that's unmistakably hers. Angels Candles is a work of genius that begs to be heard by every discerning fan of Celtic music in all its forms.

(Aug/Sep 95 Issue No. 65) Branohm - The Voyage of Bran Angels' Candles Dirty Linen (USA) Jim Lee (Simi Valley, CA)	Composer and fiddle player Máire Breatnach's The Voyage of Bran is another story album, but this time the music is more traditionally based and much easier to listen to. The tunes range from classically-inspired mood pieces to straight traditional tunes, with only two vocal selections, both in Gaelic. Overall, an interesting and listenable blend of old and new. Breatnach's first solo recording, Angels' Candles, has also just been released in the States and in many ways I prefer it to her second. This is a collection of very beautiful, light, airy melodies that I've yet to tire of listening to. Recommended.

(31/03/94) Branohm - The Voyage of Bran The Irish Times (Ireland) Nuala O' Connor	Branohm tells, or retells, the old story of the "vision voyage" of Bran, and is at the same time an exploration in sound, as was Angels Candles, Máire Breatnach's debut album released last year. Mainly instrumental, this album reaffirms her status as a composer of original and markedly melodic tunes. The eponymous Bran embarks, on track one, on a sea of sweet melody played by Breatnach on viola, fiddle and keyboards. On Inis Sui, a delicate frieze of percussion involving wind chimes, bells of all kinds, rippling harp, and flat set pipes, combines with fiddle, making for a beguiling off-beat jig tune. Branohm, detailing the departure of Bran, capers into life on Tommy Hayes's spoons percussion, materialising into a set of reels driven by Steve Cooney's bass and Sharon Shannon's box playing. Mythic, dreamtime landscape is invoked on one of the two song tracks, An tIolar Firean, where little flurries of piano runs are set against Liam O' Maonlai's resonant vocals and Breatnach's high sweet tones. On the final track, Ohm Ripples, saxophone and low whistle, backed by keyboards, electric bouzouki and hand drums, meet at that fertile point in the Irish soundscape where tradition connects with innovation.

(29/05/96) Branohm - The Voyage of Bran Hot Press (Ireland) Siobhan Long	(10 out of 12) The Voyage - Branohm is that much-maligned rarity these days - a concept album with a story worth telling. While others use it as an excuse for substituting vinyl for the couch, (thereby swelling their coffers, and engaging in some public cerebral cleansing at one and the same time - some cheek), Breatnach's got an altogether agenda. And a far healthier psychic state too, by the sounds of it. The voyage of Bran is a sceal worth telling, full of mythological larger-than-lifeness that keeps all the best heroes in good shape. He hears the voice of a strange woman call in the dead of night and so he embarks on a monumental voyage across the sea - and so begins a saga that'd put Lynn Stalmaster's gang to to the pin of their collars to match. Wine, women, song. Just your common or garden Irish mythological tale, but it puts Hello! in the ha'penny place. When it comes to penning original melodies and airs, Máire Breatnach's possessed of a fine and refined sensibility that sees her drawing from the tradition and melding it seamlessly with the present to create her own distinctive time-tunes that lull and linger long after the last note's dead and gone. 'Bran', our eponymous hero may be familiar to anyone who's seen Máire shine brilliantly during last year's Bringing It All Back Home tour. It's the viola that possesses and seduces. A lonesome, mournful sound that ebbs and flows from one bar to the next, telling it's own tale without a need for lyrics to usher it along. 'Inis Sui' is its more buoyant relation, thanks to Ronan Browne's uilleann pipes and Tommy Hayes' exotic percussion. Fiddles mesh with harp and bass to lay the bones of the tale bare, decoration coming courtesy of a mighty range of instruments (check out Hayes' djimbe and Gob!) and chords (fresh from the larynxes of Breatnach and Liam O' Maonlai)... ...Branohm is a beauteous piece of writing, lovingly caressed into life by a talent not short of a sense of history to hang it on. Waltzes shimmy with airs, reels and laments to create one helluva picaresque adventure.

(29/05/96) Branohm - The Voyage of Bran Baby Sue Music Review (USA)	Jesus Christ, this is one BEAUTIFUL collection of tunes. These original pieces are intricate, stirring and very emotional. Máire Breatnach is an Irish violinist who has played with such artists as Mary Black, Donovan and Sinead O' Connor (but don't hold that against her!) Máires tunes are definitely classically influenced. The title of the disc is taken from a pre-Christian mythic Irish tale of the same name. If you're looking for that inspirational instrumental disc to put on while you lounge on your big fluffy sofa and while the afternoon away, this would be just PERFECT as background music. This woman's stuff is a KNOCKOUT.

(17/03/96) Branohm - The Voyage of Bran Lexington Herald-Leader (USA)	Using an eight-century Irish tale as inspiration, composer Breatnach (another Waterboys veteran) uses strong traditional melodies, with pipes, harp and fiddle along with lusher, more modern passages that employ keyboards and saxophone. The results make for a strikingly original Celtic serenade.

(??/??/??) Branohm - The Voyage of Bran The Irish Times (Ireland)	"...as near perfect an acoustic zone as can be found this side of the celestial divide."

(??/??/??) Branohm - The Voyage of Bran Belfast Telegraph (Northern Ireland)	"Breathtaking...magnificent."

(??/??/??) Branohm - The Voyage of Bran Musica Celta published by RBA Realizaciones Editoriales SL.	El papel de Máire Breatnach como compositora perteneciente a la ultima hornanda de renovadores irlandeses es prometedor por partida doble, ya que no solo como violinista representa un caso singular, sine que, en general, como interprete de otros instrumentos, se aparta de todas las corrientes establecidas. La linea de las composiciones que incluye su disco The Voyage of Bran (1996) se demarca de cualquier escuela, enseñanza o estilo para experimentar por su cuenta y riesgo en el territorio mas amplio de la musica. Cadencias cameristicas, dibujos tradicionales y atmosferas etereas se situan en el centro de todos los puntos de vista que mantienen enfrentados a puristas y renovadores en Irlanda. Y, entre otros, ayudan al empeño la acordeonista Sharon Shannon, el contrabajista Trevor Hutchinson, el guitarrista Mark Kelly y el percusionista Tommy Hayes.

(10/05/96) Celtic Lovers The Irish Times (Ireland) Nuala O' Connor	Like Branohm - The Voyage of Bran, Máire Breatnach's third album takes us on a restorative jaunt through Irish mythology, with it's great lovers as its theme. Each partner of the chosen couples is given a piece of music (unlike her previous two albums, no vocal material is included) more or less within the traditional idioms of dance music and song airs. While the music of Celtic Lovers could be easily accessed without any knowledge of Irish myths and sagas, the glosses she provides in the sleeve notes on the stories of the various couples add considerably to the appreciation of the work. Musically the album is a coherent whole, at the centre of which a formidable musical intelligence is partnered by a player of the highest order of accomplishment, accompanied by a first division squad of musicians. From the opening enchantments of Mannan's polkas, to the blandishments of Grainne's slip jigs, to the tender evocations of lost love on Fand's air, the melodies and rhythms hold the listener spellbound.

(29/05/96) Celtic Lovers Hot Press (Ireland) Oliver P. Sweeney	(10 out of 12) True Romance - One of the more encouraging developments in Irish music of late is the tendancy for trad musicians to write their own material, thus extending the bounds of their musical experience. No stranger to composition, Máire Breatnach's growth in stature and confidence as a composer is there with albums like Angels Candles and Branohm for all to see. Celtic Lovers - twelve separate but integrated pieces around the theme of lovers in Irish myth and history - is perhaps the clearest indication yet that Máire can stand up and be counted alongside Bill Whelan, Shaun Davey and Micheal O' Suilleabhain as a real innovator. What strikes one most forcibly is the seamless nature of the whole affair. Very short gaps between the tracks allow the work to flow beautifully: key and tempo changesrelate innately to the story being told in the music, which should, if possible, be listened to while reading the album booklet. The strength of this album lies not only in the power of the individual compositions, a power which is immediatley evident, but in the arranging skills applied by herself and her cohort of musicians. Her own performances on violin, viola and keyboards are augmented by the likes of Mairtin O' Connor, Niall O' Callanain, Cormac Breatnach and several others, all of whom add immeasurably to the album's overall effect. To single out for mention any individual track would be grossly unfair, such is the pervasive strength of this work, but one thing is for sure. Celtic Lovers will, if there's any justice propel Máire Breatnach to heights maybe undreamed of.