Maeve Gilchrist presents her work, 'The Harpweaver' at Savannah Music Festival
Celtic harpist Maeve Gilchrist is sharing a performance of her latest album, “The Harpweaver,” at the Savannah Music Festival.
“The Harpweaver” was inspired by a poem from the 1920’s by the great jazz age American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Gilchrist found an archival recording of Millay reading her poem, and was taken by Millay’s mid-Atlantic accent and “old fashioned romantic style of recitation.” The aesthetics of the recording lined-up with Gilchrist’s interest in music that would have been played in Irish immigrant music halls found in cities across America at the turn of the 20th century.
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“These halls were such interesting melting pots for music because you’d have your Irish fiddle player from Sligo in the west of Ireland, but you’d also perhaps have a local jazz saxophone player or a Broadway pianist bringing different melodies and flavors," explained Gilchrist. “A lot of the melodies that were written or became popular during that time, to me they’re so dripping with nostalgia and that sense of connection to music, or this idea of artistic nostalgia, a connection to something even if you don’t know why, is very much at the heart of the power of Celtic music in general.”
Gilchrist travels across the globe and is always amazed by how much people are moved by the music of the Celtic isles.
“I was just thinking about this idea of nostalgia and sentiment in music from that era, and it fits so well in line with the aesthetic of Millay reading her poem,” said Gilchrist. “The whole thing began to come together, this mixture of words and storytelling, which is also such a huge part of celtic culture, and these very music box-esque turn-of-the-century melodies.”
It isn’t the first time Gilchrist was inspired by literature. Her work, “Pastures Red” was inspired by the Irish writer and playwright Samuel Beckett.
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“Words are so important to me on so many levels,” said Gilchrist, whose father was a journalist and writer. “He really passed on his love of poetry to me, and the older I get the more solace and wisdom I draw from poems. It’s just a form of writing that I love. Then, of course, growing up in a traditional music household in Edinburgh, Scotland, the words are such a part of the tradition, as much as the melodies, the songs, and the dance. Not just the words in the stories or the poetry or songs, but also the conversation. The art of conversation, the art of spontaneous storytelling and the color that it injects into life.”
Gilchrist comes from a family of Celtic harp players. Her mother and aunts play Celtic harp, as well as some of her cousins.
“We joke that it’s a bit of a family affliction on my mother’s side,” joked Gilchrist.
Gilchrist describes the sound of the Celic harp as falling somewhere between the piano and the guitar. Where the western classical pedal harp leans more towards the dense sounds of the piano, the bright Celtic (lever) harp is to closer to a guitar. The Celtic harp uses levers on top of the strings to create chromaticism.
Gilchrist’s education and experience helped her find a balance between traditional harp and more contemporary and adventurous approaches.
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“My background in Scotland is traditional, but from a young age I began to get very interested in jazz and improvisation, and that led me over the water to the Berkeley College of Music in 2003 where I was actually a vocal major, but they were very open with me using the harp, bringing it to different ensembles, percussion labs, and piano labs,” said Gilchrist. “It was so utterly inspiring to be around all these musicians from around the world and hear their respective traditional music forms and then using the freedom and colors of more contemporary music forms to make music together. That was my path into the contemporary music scene.”
“I’ve been living in America now 19 years and in New York in the last ten years I’ve gotten more into composition, collaborating with really wonderful classical musicians and chamber groups. ‘The Harpweaver’ is a project that brings element of traditional music, but the way I’m utilizing the harp is often very contemporary, just with the extended techniques. Exploring some of the more dissonant sounds of the harp, this style of composition and harmonic territory I’m playing with. But as the music evolved, I really wanted to bring a string quartet, so I was really lucky to work with The Aizuri Quartet.”
At her Savannah Music Festival appearance, Gilchrist will be joined by guitarist Kyle Senna as a duo. Senna utilizes electronic sounds that reimagine the richness of a string quartet.
Gilchrist will also perform with American fiddle player Bruce Molsky on March 30 at the Metal Building at Trustees Garden. Gilchrist befriended Molsky during her years playing in bluegrass and folk bands.
“When I play these tunes with Bruce we are both coming to these tunes with our respective lens and trying to meet in the middle,’ said Gilchrist. “But we’re really good friends and there’s a lot of laughter and silliness. Neither of us are allowed to take ourselves too seriously in this duo. We rehearse a little bit, and then eat a lot and drink a lot of wine.”
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Gilchrist has collaborated with some of the best musicians in the world including Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. One collaboration that was particularly fruitful for Gilchrist was her work with the Pakistani singer Arooj Aftab, whom she has been working with for 8 years.
“Being a part of the creation of her ‘Vulture Prince’ album which went on to win a Grammy last year, that’s been a real thrill witnessing the impact her music, which is not your conventional pop music, witnessing the impact it’s had on a large scale has been thrilling,” said Gilchrist. “Arooj is a patient builder of sound and I’ve often felt that our creative process together brings the best out of each other. I think naturally I lean more towards the bright light end of the spectrum, and Arooj goes darker and denser, and there’s a lovely symbiotic energy for that creative process.”
As far as future dream collaborations, Gilchrist would love to record something for the legendary German jazz/classical record label ECM.
“I’ve often thought at one point I’d like to find a beautiful hall, or cave, or church, and create an ethereal ambient ambient album, some kind of collaboration that fits into the ECM catalog,” said Gilchrist. “That would be something on my bucket list.”
IF YOU GO
What: Savannah Music Festival: Maeve Gilchrist: The Harpweaver
When: 6 p.m. March 28
Where: Savannah Cultural Arts Center, 201 Montgomery St.
Cost: $39
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Music Festival: Maeve Gilchrist presents The Harpweaver
