The Given Note


The Given Note is the fourth solo album by master uilleann piper and prominent Irish traditional musician Liam O'Flynn. Produced by Shaun Davey and recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, the album was released in 1995. The title was suggested by O'Flynn's good friend Seamus Heaney, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize for Literature. Heaney also wrote a tribute to O'Flynn which is on the sleeve notes of the album.

Critical response

In his review for Allmusic, Chris Nickson gave the album three out of five stars, calling it "an object lesson in the way music should be played in the 1990s". Nickson observes that despite O'Flynn covering the full Celtic music spectrum, it is the Irish songs that "lie closest to O'Flynn's heart". Nickson concludes:

Track listing

  1. "O'Farrell's Welcome to Limerick" – 4:07
  2. "O'Rourke's, the Merry Sisters, Colonel Fraser" – 3:36
  3. "Come With Me over the Mountain, a Smile in the Dark" – 4:34
  4. "Farewell to Govan" – 4:00
  5. "Joyce's Tune" – 4:41
  6. "The Green Island, Spellan the Fiddler" – 3:50
  7. "Foliada de Elviña" – 4:06
  8. "Ag Taisteal Na Blárnan " – 4:10
  9. "The Rambler, the Aherlow Jig" – 3:26
  10. "The Smith's a Gallant Fireman" – 3:02
  11. "Romeo's Exile" – 3:52
  12. "The Rocks of Bawn" – 6:07
  13. "Cailín na Gruaige Doinne " – 3:53
  14. "Teño un Amor Na Montaña, Alborada - Unha Noite no Santo Cristo" – 9:22

    Personnel