Ian Wilson’s ‘Una Santa Oscura’ (’an obscure saint’) is inspired by Hildegard of Bingen, a German abbess, mystic and composer. The music is partly ritualistic and meditative in nature, structured to reflect a ‘cloistered’ day. An electronically-generated tape part plays almost continuously, and much of its basis is one of Hildegard’s compositions, ‘Ave Maria, O auctrix vite’, which is heard at the very end of the work. The work is performed by Ioana Petcu-Colan.

Volume Nine in a series of promotional CDs issued without charge by the Contemporary Music Centre to showcase the diverse range of work of Irish composers. The CD was produced with the assistance of funding from Culture Ireland, the Arts Council Music Recording Scheme 2009 and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Clarinettist Paul Roe features on this CD from the Diatribe Solo Series, performing a selection of music including works by Stephen Gardner, Deirdre McKay, Jane O’Leary and Ed Bennett. He is joined by Dermot Dunne, Elaine Clark, David James and Harry Sparnaay.

Aloys Fleischmann (1910-1992) was one of the most prominent figures in Irish musical life of the last century. While drawing on the influence of contemporaries like Bartók and Vaughan Williams, his compositions are firmly rooted in the European classical tradition while also revealing an engagement with Irish folk music. This embracing of Gaelic culture is resoundingly evident in the final track on the CD, ‘Clare's Dragoons’. Other works featured are ‘The Four Masters Overture’, ‘Sinfonia Votiva’ and ‘An Cóitín Dearg’.