10. MO RÙN GEAL ÒG (FEAT. JULIE FOWLIS)
SU-A:
In general, I don’t often get to share a stage with someone else who can squeeze into size 3 shoes, but in the case of a show where Julie forgot her gig shoes, we were lucky and have since become firm friends.
Julie is a mesmerising performer and best known as a Gaelic singer, but she is also a great piper and whistle player. She has many awards under her belt, as well as a host of prestigious performances, such as singing for the opening ceremony of the Ryder Cup in 2012 and the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in 2014, not to mention having recorded the theme songs to the Disney Pixar film Brave.
I was delighted to play on Julie’s album Alterum in 2017, and to be part of An Treas Suaile [The Third Wave] which she directed along with Duncan Chisholm, to commemorate the maritime disaster of 1918, when the HMY Iolaire sank on Hogmanay 1918 with nearly 300 Hebridean servicemen returning home to Stornoway from fighting in WW1.
For our duo collaboration, Julie sent me many song choices before we finally settled on one by Christine Fergusson, written in 1746 to mourn the loss of her husband, William Chisholm, at the Battle of Culloden. The choice is extra special as it was the first song I ever performed with Julie when we played with Duncan Chisholm at his Celtic Connections show in 2015. There’s a beautiful synergy here as my album track with Duncan Chisholm is also linked to the Battle of Culloden.
I had very much wanted to involve Robert McFall in my album, our bandleader and arranger in Mr. McFall’s Chamber. He is such an important figure in my life, and I am absolutely delighted to include his string writing for this song. His arrangements are always sublime.
JULIE:
Su-a is a great friend and truly inspirational musician. It is always a joy to be around her. When she invited me to collaborate with her on this album, I went through dozens of ideas, but kept being drawn back to Mo Rùn Geal Òg. It’s such a powerful lament, the melody of which to me never gets old. I just love how Su-a captures the emotion of the lyrics in her playing and journeys it on to a new place. The addition of Robert’s beautiful string arrangement adds real depth and colour. We loved working on this song together.
For our arrangement of the lyrics and a translation please visit
www.sualee.com
from
Dialogues,
released December 2, 2022
GAELIC LAMENT: Mo Rùn Geal Òg [My Fair Young Love]
By Christine Fergusson, trad. arr. J Fowlis, S Lee & R McFall
Julie Fowlis – vocals
Su-a Lee – cellos
Produced by Su-a Lee & Andrea Gobbi
Engineered by Andrea Gobbi - all tracks recorded, mixed & mastered by Andrea Gobbi at GloWorm Recording, Glasgow, except additional recording for track 2 by Rimmert van Lummel).
Album concept by Hamish Napier