Songs of the Earth

Songs of the Earth

Commissioned by The Tampere Vocal Music Festival

Produced and Directed by Michael McGlynn

The songs of the Earth are carried by water, wind, through wood and stone. They travels through the aeons, from culture to culture changing form and yet maintaining its unique voice connected fundamentally to the core of our humanity. In this modern world we often take for granted this primal force that binds us together but this same essence has given us solace during the darkest of times.

“Songs of the Earth” gives us a glimpse of that timeless, ever changing beauty that is within every living thing, unifying the world within its sinuous and powerful melody. This film brings together four unique cultural voices that somehow show that balance between the elemental and humanity is possible.

In March 2020 the world as we know it shuddered to a standstill.

Humanity, for the first time in living memory, was bound together. The loss of freedoms we had always taken for granted forced us to examine our lives and our relationships with each other. Restrictions of movement resulted in the daily walk becoming the centre of the day for many, a time to look around and our natural environment, to reconnect with things long pushed to the edges of our perception and to find dormant connections to land and sea.

Songs of the Earth explores some of those connections though the rich song traditions of indigenous musical cultures includes singers from the Irish, Native American and Sami cultures. Their songs explore the diverse relationships that exist to the natural world and how these are expressed in terms of community and their integration into the landscape around them.

Kuobžâ-Piäká Ánná (Anna Morottaja) is an Inari Sámi teacher and musician. She has become known as a revivalist of the Inari Sámi livđe musical tradition of singing and was a member of the Sámi Parliament from 2012 to 2015.

Arlie Neskahi is a member of the Dine' Nation. He is Naaneesht'ezhi Tachiinii Clan and born of the Tsinsikaadnii People. He is known as a traditional song-carrier, composer, educator and performer.

Fergus Cahillane is a native of Dublin city who has spent much of his life in Co. Kerry. His interests in singing are connected to the art of story telling in the English language song traditions of Britain and Ireland. He is a member of his own group Faró, M’ANAM and ANÚNA.

Ellie Níc Fhionnghaile is a fiddle player and singer from Co. Donegal with a keen interest in traditional arts and Irish language. She is on the staff of Na Píobairí Uilleann and a member of ANÚNA and Systir vocal ensembles.