WHERE DRAGONS DANCE, the 13th album from Magical Strings, is the newest step in the musical journey of Celtic harps, hammered dulcimers, violin, cello, and more. This CD takes the listener on a full-hearted dance through many musical traditions and moods of remembrance, joy, awe, and hope.
Rhythms and styles from around the world come together to create music that is at once fresh and ancient. From the sonically seductive title track to ripping Irish reels; from haunting airs to gripping world sounds, each composition captures a time, place, and feeling, as the Bouldings find the spirit of home everywhere they travel.


Introduction:
Our human journey may be imagined artistically as a spirited dance amidst the opposing forces of life. Are we not urged to face the darkness with the light of our inner sun, and transform the dragon lurking below the surface? Our souls seek nourishment to aid us along this path. The Celtic spirit provides this as a greeting ground of past, present and future, harmonizing our own elemental and mystical roots. We are all companions in this dance of life. Ultimately, through our strengths and weaknesses, joys and sorrows, this delicate journey toward human freedom is founded in the redeeming power of love.

1} Where Dragons Dance Philip Boulding
This image refers to the redemption of evil, seeing it not as a force that can destroyed, but one requiring a dynamic balancing of opposing extremes. The dragon is constantly testing us, that we may one day develop the strength, wisdom and love to heal him.

Where Dragons Dance

The Bards of ancient times sought to espouse
The mystical three moods, meant to arouse
First joy, and then deep sorrow; thus repose—
Yet how about a fourth? One might propose
Bewilderment! --for these perplexing times,
To guide us through the contradicting lines
Of paradox; of love, and peace, and hate,
And war, and conflict driving mankind’s fate…

If Muses could but seek to part the veil
Of hidden worlds, that shroud the serpent’s tail
Entwined in every striving human heart,
Then love’s redeeming power might impart
A vision of a future world to be,
Where dragons dance, and all is harmony!

©Philip Boulding
November 2001

2} Bells of Ballinskelligs Philip and Pam Boulding
Sitting on the ruins of a stone wall surrounding Ballinskelligs Abbey, we gazed across the bay while gentle waves lapped at our feet. We imagined a bell ringing forth from the tower in ancient times, calling to the village folk to come celebrate with dance the arrival of summer.


3} A Poet’s Love Philip Boulding
During a joyful sojourn on Maui, this melody sprung forth from my valiha, with Pam nearby listening to the rolling waves upon the golden shores. This bamboo harp, with roots in the Afro-Polynesian culture of Madagascar, seemed to create a link between these distant island cultures as the arrangement grew into a dialogue between three kinds of harps, in a style reminiscent of the Hawaiian slack-key guitar.

4} The Humours of Scariff Finbar Dwyer/ Traditional Irish
Two lively Irish reels begin with “Kylebrack Rambler,” followed by a tune given to me by the Irish harper Grainne Hambly. We had a great time recording this live in-studio as a family quartet—Tom and Jarrod give it an extra kick with Irish pipes and percussion.

5} Doherty’s Reels Traditional Irish
Three of these four reels come from the masterful pipe playing of Liam O’Flynn, their titles lost to memory. Some were attributed to Doherty. The second of the first two whistle reels comes from the brilliant playing of Mary Bergin, called “Lomanach Cross”, referring to a place in Co. Cork, Ireland.

6} Planxty Noelle/ Slip Jigs Philip Boulding/ Traditional Irish
The spirit of Irish harper Turlough O’Carolan imbued this “Planxty” I wrote in honor of our patron Noelle Campbell Sharp, who arranged our residency at Cil Riallaig on Ballinskelligs Bay. We were given a refurbished old stone cottage on a bluff overlooking the sea, amidst the ruins of a pre-famine village. Our sole task was to compose and create in this breathtaking landscape. The last two slip jigs are “Give us a Drink of Water” and “The Lietrim Quick Step.”

7} Blasket Aire/ Mike Rafferty’s Philip Boulding/ Traditional Irish
Standing on a bluff overlooking the Blasket Islands, after having just missed the last boat, I heard this haunting melody calling to us as we imagined life in earlier times on these stark but fiercely beautiful islands, home to a host of famous writers. The medley of three reels that follows were all learned from the playing of Irish piper Tommy Keanne, and has long been one of our family’s favorites: “Mike Rafferty’s”, “Snow on the Hills’, and “The Life of Man”.

8} The Summer River Rourke/Nichols
Thanks to our eldest son Geoffrey who first brought this Welsh air to our attention, “Afon Yr Haf” appears on the CD “HYN” by the group Carreg Lafar.


9} Circle Jigs Philip and Pam Boulding/ Traditional Irish
Four jigs open with “Port Sean Seosamh” and “Put the leg On Her” followed by a third for which I have never had a name. Our own “Circle jig” completes the medley as an expression of the gathering pace of family life in preparation for our Yuletide concerts.



10} Fire Spirits Philip Boulding
While walking the woods and pastures of Magic Hill my valiha accompanied me in the bright summer sun, and again later by the leaping flames of the bonfire. My imagination wandered from the dancing flames to the solar flares that blaze millions of miles into space, influencing the flight of a butterfly upon our fragile earth.

11} Cossack Lullaby/ Gandii Mod Traditional Russian and Mongolian
This haunting Russian melody is followed by a traditional Mongolian air, which we performed with SAGA Haruhiko in Sapporo on our first tour of Japan. SAGA is an accomplished throat singer and player of the horse-head fiddle; a captivating instrument from Mongolia that is played like a cello with a range comparable to a viola. Brittany simulates its sound with a mute on her violin.

12} Molly St. George/ Calliope Jigs Traditional Irish
Our friend Randall Bays gave us two of the tunes in this medley, which appear on his CD “The Salmon’s Leap”. “Molly St. George” is an air composed by the Irish harper Thomas Connellan. Born in 1640, he was a generation ahead of O’Carolan. The first jig, “Cailleach An Airgid,” is followed by Randall’s captivating “Shaskeen Jig” which he transformed from the original reel, then concludes with “Calliope House”, a traditional Scottish jig. Pam layered the final touch of a calliope-like sound with the harmonium.

13} The Unseen Journey Philip Boulding
What began as a tribute to our friend and mentor Derek Bell (1935-2002), founding member of the Chieftains who died unexpectedly last October, became a requiem for many in these turbulent times.

Lament for All the World’s Deceased

The light of blessing ever must we shine
Upon all soul’s deceased, now living free
To contemplate this weary world and see
The complex weaving ways of the Divine.

As nations clash with nations and lament
Their fallen heroes, and their loved ones lost,
How shall we justify this solemn cost
Of lives cast out by further war’s foment?

If cast aside we must this mortal frame,
‘Tis nobler for the spirit if it be
Through acts of peace, not war, thus setting free
The soul’s impassioned furies, there to tame.

Alas—with circle broken, we surmise
The forming of a spiral—Earth, arise!

Philip Boulding - November 2002


14} Lullaby Brenin, Philip, and Brittany Boulding
A cello melody came from our son Brenin spontaneously one evening while we were rehearsing for our Celtic Yuletide concerts. As the theme developed, our daughter Brittany added her beautiful violin line. I dedicate this to Brenin’s daughter Rowan and often refer to this tune as “Gentle the Light that was Born.”