Cath Connelly - Celtic Harp

Following the release of six successful albums over the past seven years, people have been asking me to make a solo Celtic-harp album. The other albums have focussed on music that sits on the Celtic threshold. This album stands as one that is deeply grounded in the Celtic tradition, yet uses both contemporary and traditional music. The aim of this album is to provide the listener space for the senses to enter into a deeper place - a place where the music seeps into the heart of the listener. My hope is that all who hear this album will find peace and relaxation from this experience.

Meditation (Cath Connelly) 2009

At last, meditators and leaders of silent meditation no longer need to watch the clock! Australian Celtic harpist Cath Connelly has responded to professional requests for a meditation tool that signals the beginning and end of timed meditation periods. This CD’s innovative format sees Cath’s reflective harp music gently guide meditators into a twenty-five minute silent meditation period… and then out again.

Shorter meditations are also catered for, with original compositions book-ending a fifteen-minute period of silence. This album comes with two additional, free-standing tracks: a moving musical reflection on the Celtic thin place concept; and a powerful composition based upon ancient Hebrew stories about turning weapons of war into instruments of peace.

Meditation’s CD insert includes notes summarising what meditation is, the traditions behind this ancient practice and some helpful insights for ‘first-timers’.

“I expect that meditators of all ages and stages will find the basic guidelines included in these notes an informative companion to my music and helpful in preparing to meditate – becoming present, mindful and still,” Cath said. “In my own spiritual practice I am aware of the difficulties in clock-watching and calming the mind. I am delighted to be able to offer this CD as another tool in the meditator’s toolbox.”

The CD was recorded, mixed and mastered by Allan Neuendorf at Baker Street Studio, Burwood, Victoria.

Cath Connelly: 'Live' (Solo Album) 2008

Here it is! Cath strutting her stuff with a delightful combination of story-telling and harp music. Recorded over three concerts, this album selects the best of Cath's repertoire to show-case music on the Celtic harp. One of the delights of this this album is the manner in which Cath weaves stories about the various tunes amidst her performances. The well-researched background to the tunes comes alive in the hands of a gifted story-teller. Carolan's Farewell to Music and Inisheer sit along-side Danny Boy and Greensleeves to make this an album worth hearing. Find yourself at home on a rainy afternoon, when you can lie on the couch with a glass of wine - immerse yourself in an intimate Celtic harp concert with Cath!

The CD was recorded, mixed and mastered by Denis House, Songcatcher, in his studio at Somers, Victoria.

Our Christmas album! (With not a hint of jingle bells or Santa kissing anyone under mistletoe!) This is an album we are both really proud of. Alongside the traditional Christmas carols such as Silent Night, O Holy Night and It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, we have included some more traditional Celtic and medieval carols such as The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came and Oiche Nollag (Christmas Eve). As with our Song Line – Thin Place and Invocation albums, Greg plays mandola, mandolin and five-string violin. I’m on the Celtic harp, but this time I have included some tunes that use the traditional Celtic wire-strung harp – a haunting yet bright sound that is making a resurgence amongst us Celtic harpers.

One of the delightful things to emerge through this album was the commission I received from my mother to compose a tune called Anna’s Prayer. Folklore has it that Jesus’ grandmother (Mary’s mum) was named Anna – ‘Holy Annie, God’s Granny’! – and Anna’s husband was Joachim. My mum’s name is Anne and I think hers was a delightful request to compose a tune invoking a grandmother’s love for her grandchild. Greg has composed a stunning, heartfelt melody, Joachim’s Song, as an offering of a grandfather to his daughter and Jesus, his new-born grandson.

As with Liminality's other albums, The CD was recorded, mixed and mastered by Allan Neuendorf at Baker Street Studio, Burwood, Victoria.

Where Cath and Greg’s first album left listeners wanting more, Invocation fills that longing. The music of Cath Connelly (Celtic harp) and Greg Hunt (violin, mandolin, mandola and cello) truly soars – lifting the spirit with tracks such as Eagles’ Whistle and Tony’s Tune. The sensitivity of these two tracks is complemented with a light sense of play in Angel Bells and Tess’ Waltz.

It is a bold album – one that unapologetically claims: “This is what we deeply believe to be authentic to our Celtic roots”, whilst at the same time declaring the courage to interpret, yet still honour tradition with a sensitivity that listeners first encountered in Song Line – Thin Place (2004).

In Invocation, a medley that interweaves Parting Glass with Simple Gifts evokes memories of hymns from early childhood visits to church, at the same time tapping into the anthem of Celtic hospitality and friendship.

Then there is a sense of delicate, searching urgency within Veriditas. It is as if Cath is exploring the contours of what a “liminal” place might look like. She has summoned Hildegard of Bingen as her muse for this piece – a woman who was herself poet, musician, healer and leader. Hildegard invented many words, including veriditas – an attempt to describe “the great greening energy with which the world was created”. This stunning harp solo piece certainly captures waterfalls, waves and forests in the minds’ eye of this listener !

If Veriditas is the search, then the title track Invocation is the offering. Greg has once again displayed his musical sensitivity and giftedness. His track Song Line on their previous album evoked the rich indigenous culture of Australia. In Invocation, we have a more universal song.

The notion of a Celtic “thin place” that was such a feature of Cath and Greg’s first album has been taken even further in this latest CD. In calling their partnership Liminality, they go on to explore the space where the “known” merges with the enigmatic. Immediately, the idea of “threshold” equates with this experience of “liminality”. (Review of Invocation courtesy of Tain magazine)

Recorded at Baker Street Studios.

Song Line - Thin Place (Cath Connelly & Greg Hunt) 2004

The musical collaboration between Cath Connelly (Celtic harp) and Greg Hunt (fiddle and mandolin) was three years in the making. Entitled Song Line – Thin Place, this stunning CD brings together traditional Celtic tunes and contemporary arrangements, culminating in an album of haunting beauty and emotional depth.

This album sees a fusion between the Aboriginal concept of Song Line and the Celtic notion of Thin Place. In travelling particular geographical routes and “singing the country”, a Song Line connects our experiences with the knowledge and wisdom of the spirits of the ancestors. At the same time, it is in the Celtic Thin Place that the veil between the here and the hereafter becomes so thin that you can almost reach through and touch the other side. Deep friendships, sacred sites and times of death all put us in touch with the Thin Place.

The CD was recorded and produced at Baker Street Studios, Burwood, Melbourne.

“Embracing, smooth, demands your attention. This CD deserves to be noticed.”
(John Weeks, Spectrum FM Radio)