No Patty Fingers in the Holy Water, Please…It’s St. Patrick’s Day!

I may not be Irish, but today, in my house we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, keeping alive our very own traditions. There’ll be no corned beef and cabbage but rather a very hearty Guinness stew followed by Irish soda bread. While the stew braises, the CDs in the background will be:

• Irish Heartbeat-Van Morrison with the Chieftains Big favorite in our house since we're both big fans of Van Morrison and the Chieftains. Favorites are "Carrickfergus" and "She Moved Through the Fair"
• Celtic Woman Some good stuff and some insufferable
• The Chieftains 4 Any Chieftains CD is a winner but this one includes the absolutely gorgeous and haunting “Mna Na Heireann” (Women of Ireland) used by Stanley Kubrick in his 1975 movie Barry Lyndon
• The Irish Isle-James Keane Traditional instrumental Irish tunes including a lovely "Carrickfergus" with harp
• Windham Hill Samplers-We play the Celtic Christmas III and IV on St. Patrick’s Day; the music transcends the season
• Gaelic Storm You might recognize this band as the Irish party band in the 1997 movie Titanic
• Herding Cats-Gaelic Storm This one has a personal meaning as my copy of the CD was given to me by the band, while I was studying music at Edinboro University in PA. I assisted the band in multiple ways when they performed at the school. In other words, I was their "roadie" for the night. I fondly recall Patrick asking me if I wanted to go to the Pub with them after the concert. Unfortunately, I had to turn him down, as I was 2 months shy of turning 21
  
  We’ll toast my Aunt Maria’s beloved Richard, who died two months before they were to be married, with the leftover Guinness from the stewmaking. And then, of course, there’ll be the annual watching of Richard’s favorite film, The Quiet Man. We'll recite the dialogue along with the movie in our pathetic Irish brogue imitations, sing along to “The Wild Colonial Boy” and tap along to the infectious "Gary Owen" theme.
  
  Favorite lines from a movie with a treasure trove of great ones:
  Mine: “Who taught ya to be playin' patty fingers in the Holy Water??”
  Aunt Maria’s: “So the I.R.A. is in this too, is it?”
  ”If it were, Red Will Danaher, not a scorched stone of your fine house would be standing".
  Richard's: "It's a nice soft night, so I think I'll join me comrades and talk a little treason."

Shining Brightly

Just finished watching the movie Shine, an inspirational biopic of the Australian pianist David Helfgott. I was reminded of how this movie had encouraged me in my own music studies when I originally saw it in 1997. Mental breakdown aside, I can relate to David inasmuch as the struggle to fulfill one’s dreams while overcoming obstacles is a universal one.

During my original viewing of the movie I was most desirous of learning the “Nulla In Mundo Pax Sincera” by Vivaldi, that is featured in the developing relationship of David and his wife, Gillian. At the time, it was too advanced a piece for me to tackle, much like David’s father telling Mr. Rosen that young David wants to play the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3. Now, having become more advanced in my musical studies and having acquired the skills necessary to master such a work, I am more motivated to take on the sacred aria as one of my new projects. Stay tuned for my progress in this regard.

Both the score and the soundtrack of the movie are very good. David Helfgott played many of the piano compositions himself, while David Hirshfelder captured the spirit of the movie with his score that blended classical music pieces with his own music. Among the classical pieces featured in the movie, David Helfgott himself played "La Campanella" from Violin Cencerto in B minor by Niccolò Paganini transcribed for piano by Franz Liszt, "Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 In C Sharp Minor" by Franz Liszt, "Flight Of The Bumble Bee" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakoff, arranged by Sergei Rachmaninoff, "Sospiro" by Franz Liszt, "Piano Concerto No 3 In D Minor, Opus 30" by Sergei Rachmaninoff and "Prelude In C Sharp Minor, Opus 3, No. 2" by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

I know that there is a great deal of controversy surrounding this movie regarding David’s life and his piano playing ability, but that is a subject for another time.

For a listing of other movies in this category check out my Movies About Music and Musicians page on my Music Classroom website.