<![CDATA[The Séamus Connolly Collection of Irish Music]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=46&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Mette%2C+Meghan+&output=rss2 Fri, 29 Mar 2024 06:12:37 -0700 burnsref@bc.edu (The Séamus Connolly Collection of Irish Music) Boston College Libraries Zend_Feed http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Polka for Matt, A]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/555

Story

Matt Cranitch, the well-known fiddle player and scholar from County Cork, came to visit Sandy and me in Maine a few years ago. Matt loves to play polkas, so I composed this three-part tune for him. I play it here with my friends Kevin McElroy on bodhrán, Barbara MacDonald Magone on the piano and, on the fiddle, Meghan Mette, who at the time of recording was a young and enthusiastic sixteen-year-old.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
01-33_A_Polka_for_Matt-Polka.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:16 -0800
<![CDATA[Trip to Moultonborough]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/720

Story

Meghan Mette was one of the musicians featured on 'A Polka for Matt'. She is the younger sister to Eliza Mette, who can be heard on 'Summer's Waltz'.

Here Meghan plays one of her own compositions and, below, she tells us in her own words how the tune came to be. What beautiful sentiments about our music and song from such a young person. It tells us much about her soul.

'Every summer of my life I have gone with my family down to New Hampshire to spend a week on Squam Lake. These weeks are always wonderful, but my fondest memories come from a time when I was much younger, a time when the entire family was able to join us at the lake.

For us, as children, the lake was a sea of mysteries waiting to be discovered and fully taken advantage of on sunny days: swimming, canoeing, going to the rope swing in Sandwich Bay, or maybe a motorboat ride out to the islands, setting up camp for a picnic. However, when a rainy day came along, we were far from disappointed. Today there would be a trip to Moultonborough. We would all pile into our cars and drive through the sprinkling rain – or the downpour – to Moultonborough Country Candy Shop.

The tired floorboards would creak as all of us children ran to collect our brown paper bags at the front of the candy bar, our mothers calling "Five dollar limit!" It is amazing, however, how much candy one can purchase for five dollars at a penny candy store. On the car ride home we would trade some candy – as long as it was an equal trade of course...

I wrote this strathspey in honor of those memories. Although we have grown up since then and many of my cousins no longer join us at the lake, we continue to go to Moultonborough once a year, because the tradition – like the music – must be passed on, never forgotten. Tradition is what allows us to hold the past dear, while all the time making and adding new memories and creations to our lives. We can never let these traditions die.'

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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03-31_Trip_to_Moultonborough-Strathspey.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:23 -0800
<![CDATA[North Road, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/669

Story

My young friend Meghan Mette composed this reel. I was delighted that she asked me to play it with her, along with Nicole Rabata on flute and Kevin McElroy on mandolin. She tells us how the tune came about:

'I wrote this tune for Séamus first and foremost as a "thank you" for all of the musical wisdom he has imparted to me. However, it is also a tale of the many afternoons spent in Séamus' music room, learning, listening, playing... Some days we just sat and listened to old albums on the wonderful sound system, the notes vibrating through the varnished floorboards and bouncing off the walls...

My favourite afternoons, however, were when it was just the two of us, sitting side by side, playing tunes for the fun of it; maybe Séamus would think of a special ornament he wanted to show me or a specific tune that was fun to play in a different key. I often enjoyed just sitting back and observing Séamus when he went on a rant of tunes. I was, and still am, mesmerised by the fluidity and grace of his fingers as they tickle the fingerboard, his bow flying over the strings, his mind at obvious peace. These are my favourite images, frozen in time, Séamus in another world entirely, just playing because he loves it so. When I play "The North Road", it reminds me of these moments...'


Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
09-10_The_North_Road-Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:21 -0800