“A meadow”, the composer has said, “is a simple place, with elements that are there quite naturally; it’s not a spectacular garden, but if you look closely there are many different types of plants and tiny flowers. It is a place of infinite variation.”

This is how the music goes, weaving a meadow, weaving through a meadow, in stray fragments of tune that will be repeated until they dissolve or give way to something else, through chord sequences that move slowly but inexorably. Listeners are drawn into this gentle but alert music by three outstanding Irish string players: Mia Cooper on violin, Joachim Roewer on viola and Bill Butt on cello. There is no hurry, no need to hurry. To quote Linda Catlin Smith again, “I like to sit with things for a while, to dwell in the material, to have a chance to listen.” This is the kind of experience she provides in Meadow.

On the cover of the album is a striking image by the Irish artist Alice Maher.
The cd will be available online and physical from Proper Music from 11 December 2020

Future releases will present music by the Irish composer Valentyn Silvestrov and the Swiss master of unexpected simplicity Jürg Frey, with whom the Louth Contemporary Music Society has over several years developed a close relationship.

Funded by the Arts Council and financially supported by Create Louth

Reviews:

Ian Power review Meadow in Tempo:
Meadow contains not a single gimmick, trick, conceit or ‘A ha’; it is music that never encourages you to do anything other than continue listening to it, and I did, over and over. It is my favourite release of 2020, and I may not have adequately fulfilled the descriptive function of a review, but I will fulfil the teaser function: run, don’t walk and go and listen to this for yourself. You really must.