Repost: Steve Tilston: Swans At Coole (1990) / Silently The Snow Falls (1989)

Absolutely gorgeous guitar instrumentals, complemented by flute, violin, cello etc.

Swans at Coole is easily Tilston's most ambitious work - and among the most stunning music i've discovered recently.

The 23 minute Rhapsody passes through different moods and colours - emanating from a simple four-note motif, which is played in the beginning and repeated about half-way through and again in the end. This has the largest ensemble of all the tracks on the album. Flute, cello, two violins, Uilleann pipes and bodhran are all grouped in different variations, providing plenty of variety throughout the 20 minutes.

In the middle of it all, Tilston's guitar shifts easily between "folk", "classical" and "modern", overcoming all such classifications. Actually the whole piece lives happily in the nowhere land between folk music - both traditional and original - and classical - or rather romantic - music.
Touching on both worlds, this rhapsody stands in the tradition of such British composers of the early 20th century as Ralph Vaughan Williams or Frederick Delius, who used folk-motifs in their "classical" rhapsodies.

On the shorter tracks, Tilston often uses overdubbing to combine his guitar with the arpeggione. This bowed guitar is so obscure, i included a short definition. This is actually the complete (!) wikipedia article:

"The arpeggione is a six-stringed musical instrument, fretted and tuned like a guitar, but bowed like a cello, and thus similar to the bass viola da gamba. The body shape of the instrument, is however more similar to a medieval fiddle than either the guitar or the bass viol.

It enjoyed a brief vogue, perhaps a decade, after its invention around 1823, by the Viennese guitar maker Johann Georg Stauffer (1778-1853). The only notable piece extant for the instrument is a sonata with piano accompaniment by Franz Schubert, D.821, not published until 1871, when the arpeggione was long defunct. This sonata is now commonly played on the cello, and many other instruments have received transcriptions as well.

More recently Nicolas Deletaille has reintroduced the instrument not only by playing the Schubert Sonata, but also by encouraging composers to write new music for arpeggione." 


Tilston's guitar playing is virtuosic throughout, but the technique always serves the music. And the music is gorgeous - from the dancing, deeply interwoven guitar, banjo and violin on The Wind That Shakes the Barley to the solemn guitar and arpeggione "duet" of Lullabye.  

This is oop for quite a while now - and highly recommended!


Silently The Snow Falls is a collection of christmas carols and songs - "songs" meaning, that there's several original compositions and only a few "traditionals" such as "Silent Night".
This Stefan Grossman-production combines recordings of three different artists, Steve Tilston, Peter Finger and Seth Austen.

Yep, it's a little late for a christmas album, but the four Steve Tilston tracks here fit perfectly with the music on "Swans at Coole". Both recordings used the same personnel, with Steve Tilston on guitars and mandolin, Tony Hinnigan on cello, Maggie Boyle on flute and Tommy Keane playing Uilleann pipes. Especially the 9 minute long The Three Ships Suite is very much in the vein of the music on "Swans..."

Peter Finger has never been a favourite of mine, but his four tracks here are far less "flashy" as other recordings of him that i've heard. They do indeed suit the contemplative christmas mood perfectly. But they may as well be played all around the year, as these are original pieces with only a vague bond to christmas. Well, all save Silently the Snow Falls which references "Silent Night".

Seth Austen recorded a few albums for Kicking Mule. His portion here is not much more than 7 minutes, yet all of it is glorious. Angels on High, a guitar-dulcimer duet, positively derives it's title from the way it makes the listener feel - high as an angel. The standards, Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming and O Holy Night - both played with superb technique - are pure joy.


Steve Tilston: Swans at Coole
Run River Records (UK) RRA 011, 1990

1 Rhapsody 23.54
2 The Wind That Shakes the Barley / The Ladies Pantalettes reels (trad.) 2.36
3 Planxty Corcoron (O'Carolan) 2.38
4 The Monaghan Jig (trad.) 3.05
5 Prelude 5.23
6 Ernie Clarke's Lament 3.20
7 Lullaby 5.02

All tracks written by Steve Tilston except as noted

The personnel for "Rhapsody" is:
Steve Tilston, guitar, mandolin
Maggie Boyle, flute, whistle, percussion
Tony Hinnigan, cello
Stuart Gordon, 1st violin
Paul Boyle, 2nd violin
Tommy Keane, Uilleann pipes, whistle
Mike Taylor, bodhrán
Kevin Boyle, banjo

On the other tracks the personnel is:
Steve Tilston, guitar on all tracks, arpeggione on 4-6
Maggie Boyle, flute on 4 and 5
Stuart Gordon, violin on 2, 3, 5
Kevin Boyle, banjo on 2


Steve Tilston, Peter Finger, Seth Austen: Silently the Snow Falls
Shanachie Records 95007, 1989

1. Steve Tilston: Christmas Eve (Steve Tilston) 3.10
2. Seth Austen: Angels on High (Seth Austen, MacNeil) 1.55
3. Steve Tilston: Silent Night (Gruber, Mohr) 3.00
4. Seth Austen: Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming (trad.) 2.57
5. Steve Tilston: The Three Ships Suite (Steve Tilston) 9.25
6. Peter Finger: Between the Ox and the Little Donkey (Peter Finger) 2.40
7. Peter Finger: Silently the Snow Falls (Peter Finger) 4.19
8. Steve Tilston: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (Mendelssohn, Wesley) (2.48)
9. Peter Finger: Early in the Morning (Peter Finger) 2.25
10. Peter Finger: Through the Forest of Thorn (Peter Finger) 3.02
11. Seth Austen: O Holy Night (Adam, Dwight) 2.28

Personnel:
Tracks 1,3,5,8:
Steve Tilston, guitars, mandolin; Tony Hinnigan, cello; Maggie Boyle, flute; Tommy Keane, Uilleann pipes;
recorded at Heartbeat Sound, London, England, engineered by Michael Klein;

Tracks 2,4,11:
Seth Austen, guitar; Madeline MacNeil, hammered dulcimer (track 2 only);
recorded at Bias Studio, Springfield, VA, engineered by Bill McElroy;

Tracks 6,7,9,10:
Peter Finger, guitar; Roland Schmitt, saxophone, flute;
recorded at Finger Studio, Osnabrück, Germany, engineered by Peter Finger;

Produced by Stefan Grossman