I thought some of you might be interested in this:
Mary Mc Laughlin (the singer) has just finished a new songbook, organized along the same lines as her popular "Singing In Irish Gaelic." This new book, entitled "A Gaelic Christmas Songbook," is intended as a companion to her "Gaelic Christmas" music CD, which was released at this time last year.
What's particularly cool about this book (in my not-so-humble opinion) is that I'm the editor.
I should mention, however, that I do not benefit financially from the sale of the book, so this isn't a "buy my product" post. I just think it's something some people here might enjoy. I also think it's a nice resource for Irish learners (and I know there are some of you out there!), as I found that "Singing in Irish Gaelic" is what helped me begin to get a handle on Irish phonics! The book, with its accompanying pronunciation CD, teaches you to sing 12 Christmas carols in Irish. The songs are graded from easiest to most difficult (both musically and linguistically). For each song there is a "text page;" which includes the actual Irish text, a phonetic rendering, and a loose translation; and a "music page," which includes the sheet music for the first verse (and chorus, where applicable) of the song.
Each song also has a track on the pronunciation CD, where Mary reads the text slowly and clearly, line by line, with pauses for you to repeat after her (she emphasizes in the book that the phonetic renderings are only intended as a rough guideline, and that the actual pronunciation CD is the key to learning to say the words correctly). Because this book is intended to be used with the "A Gaelic Christmas" CD, there are no singing tracks on the pronunciation CD (unlike "Singing in Irish Gaelic"). If you read music, you can learn to sing the songs from the book and pronunciation CD alone, but it's very nice to be able to sing along with the music CD as well (and vital for aural music learners)!
The songs are a mixture of native Irish carols, Irish versions of familiar carols from other European sources and, in a couple of cases, Scottish carols that Mary has re-written in Irish:
Dia Do Bheatha (Traditional Irish tune and lyrics)
Chonaic Mé Trí Long (Irish translation of "I saw three ships come sailing in")
D'on Oíche Úd i mBeithil (Traditional Irish tune and lyrics)
Suantraí an Chríost (Based on the Hebredian carol "The Christ Child's Lullaby")
A Leanbh Ghil Mhilis (Traditional Irish tune and lyrics)
Leanbh Sa Mhainséar (Based on the Scottish carol "Child in the Manger")
Carúl Loch Garman (aka The Wexford Carol, aka The Enniscorthy Carol, aka "Good People All": Traditional Irish tune and lyrics)
Seacht Suáilce na Maighdine Muire (Traditional Irish tune and lyrics)
Oíche Chiúin (Irish version of "Silent Night")
Dán d'Oíche Nollag (Traditional words from Douglas Hyde's "Spritual Songs of Connaught; music written by Mary)
A Oíche Bheannaithe (Irish version of "O Holy Night")
Muire Agus Naomh Seosamh (Irish version of "The Cherry Tree Carol")
The book should be available on Mary's webpage by the end of the week (God and PayPal willing!): http://www.marymclaughlin.com/recordings.html . The music CD is already available there, of course (along with sample tracks) and is, by the way, simply beautiful in its own right (and no...I don't sing or play on it, though I've sung all those songs in concert as part of Mary's Cór Ainglí). I believe the cost for the book and pronunciation CD will be $18.50 ($3 shipping to U.S.; $6 shipping outside the U.S.), plus sales tax for California residents. I'm not certain, but I think Mary is considering doing some kind of package deal for folks who want both the book and the music CD.
Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled programming!
Redwolf
