Is Í Bláth Geal na Sméar Í - Emily Magner Hurley
Taken from her album "Orainn": out now on all music streaming platforms and www.emilymagnerhurleymusic.ie

I first discovered this poem in a course textbook as a freshman student of music and Irish in UCC. Is Í Bláth Geal na Sméar Í is a short, sweet poem, thematically similar to the medieval courtly love songs of Provence.  It’s imagery, rooted in nature, compares a love to the delicate flowers of fruit trees.  It captured my imagination back then and has never really left me. It is thought to be part of a longer text. Try as I might, I have never been able to find an accompanying melody and so I created my own.
This is a gentle melody where the lyrics are echoed in the supporting harmonies. You’ll find a contrast between the long sustained notes with changing harmonies cascading beneath.

Thángthas ar an dán seo i dtéacsleabhar agus mé ag freastal ar Choláiste na hOllscoile Chorcaí mar dhalta na Gaeilge. Is dán gearr, binn é Is Í Bláth Geal na Sméar Í, atá an-chosúil leis na dánta grá cúirtéiseacha meánaoiseacha de Provence. Le híomhánna bunaithe ar dhúlra, cuireann an file a grá i gcomparáid le bláthanna beaga a mbíonn ag fás ar chrainn na dtorthaí. Thiteas i ngrá leis an dán sna laethanta sin, agus d’fhan sé liom. Ní raibh mé riamh in ann séis a fháil dó, mar sin, chum mé mo shéis féinig dó.

Is fonn séimh é seo. Tá macallaí na liricí le cloisteáil sna harmóiní tacaíochta. Tá codarsnacht idir na nótaí troitheánacha agus na harmóiní atá ag athrú sa tionlacan.

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