from Zoё Conway Compositions
I composed the music to this beautiful Máirtín Ó Direáin poem as part of a collaboration with my husband John Mc Intyre on guitar, renowned Scots Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis and her husband, bouzouki player, Eamon Doorley. We took Irish language poetry and Scots Gaelic poetry and made songs out of them for an album entitled ‘Allt’ – a amazing project to undertake! This was one of my contributions, but this one in particular seemed to resonate with many people across the world, and is now my most well known piece! The metre, the sentiment of the poem and the powerful use of Irish language made it a joy for me to compose this one – he talks about going home to the west, to be with his own people, walking along the beach morning and evening and that’s where he’ll find his peace. The melody is based in a traditional Irish idiom, but the arrangement is more contemporary and takes influences from popular, classical and Indian music.
