CD

6: Bonaparte's Retreat

Customer rating: Not yet rated ( Not yet rated ) | Write a review »

RRP: £13.99 | You save: £3.00 (21%)

Temporarily out of stock. This item will be dispatched as soon as it arrives.

Got one to sell? Sell yours here!

1989 Bonaparte's Retreat may be a typical album for the Chieftains, but drab it is not. The world-famous ensemble, strongly versed in the traditions of Celtic music, offers nine tracks of reels, jigs, airs, and hornpipes. The Chieftains seek to authenticate their ancestors' music for modern audiences.
Like so much of the Chieftains' work, the strongly historical Bonaparte's Retreat explores the rich, often bloody history of Ireland's contact with Europe and the New World. The album begins with a medley of reels ("The Dunmore Lassies", "The Pigeon on the Gate") and a slip jig called "Top it Off". At its climax, the latter morphs into "The Chattering Magpie", another playful reel. The title track is an amazing collage of programmatic music that documents the rise and fall of the Corsican Emperor of France. Along similar lines, "The Rights of Man" is a hornpipe composed in honour of Thomas Paine's historical treatise defending the French revolution.

The Chattering Magpie
An Chéad Mháirt Den Fhomhar (The First Tuesday Of Autumn) And Green Grow The Rushes O
Bonaparte's Retreat
Away With Ye
Caledonia
Iníon Nic Diarmada Or The Princess Royal, Máire Dhall (Blind Mary) And John Drury
The Rights Of Man
Round The House And Mind The Dresser