Search - Leo Rowsome :: Classics of Irish Piping

The King of the Pipers for many

Kevin L. Rietmann | Oregon | 11/29/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rowsome was from a family of pipers, and his grandson is playing away now, making records and teaching the pipes like his father and grandfather. Leo's father, uncles, and grandfather were all reckoned as superb pipers in their own right, exponents of a rolling, smooth playing with a great deal of sweetness and melody to it. The genesis of this perhaps was in musical lessons his father and uncles received from a German musical teacher, whose name was, are you ready, Herr Jacob Blowitz; instructed on violin, piano, and trumpet, they went on to wide acclaim on the family instrument, the Union pipes, as they were known in those days; although they preferred another name for it, the Irish Organ, a reference to its harmonic capabilities. Leo became instructor on the pipes at the School of Music in Dublin in 1919, and made his first records in 1925; this academic side of his nature shows through clearly in his music, with its beautiful, ever-melodic settings of tunes, cleanly articulated chanter playing ("open" or legato with staccato used to give the tune shape), always in perfect tune, and most famously or infamously, his constant playing of the regulators for chordal accompaniment, utilizing them to their fullest with changes of rhythmic emphasis, the occasional pedal tones, and the complete range of their harmonic potential, including the use of C on the bass as as a suspended fourth in tunes in G, a lovely sound which is largely eschewed by modern pipers. Full of spirit and charm, Leo's music is the very model of piping; neglected or disdained by many since the revival of piping in the late 60's, more and more are discovering the joys and amazements of his music these days. While the two LPs this CD covers rightfully should have been followed with a third, covering the astonishing sets of reels he put down on record in 1948, these will do to bring his magic music back to new audiences."

The King of Pipers Does it again!

Yancey C. von Yeast | Illinois | 03/07/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is typical of the fantastic uilleann pipe playing of Leo Rowsome. Noted as the best player and maker of uilleann pipes of his time, this album is no exception. I highly reccomend this to anyone interested in the pipes or in traditional Irish music."