From the recording The Twilight Realm

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There are numerous references to the fact that Carolan received his gift for composition from the fairies. In fact, his first composition, “Sidh Beag, Sidh Mor,” was written about a battle between two warring fairy groups.

Musicians, or in this case composers, were often thought to have been given their gifts by the fairies. Supposedly, the blind composer fell asleep under an apple tree (a tree often considered to be sacred, as an entrance to the otherworld) and when he awoke, he asked to be led home, whereupon he commenced to write some beautiful music.

I chose to avoid Carolan’s “Fairy Queen” and “Sidh Beag, Sidh Mor,” which might have been more obvious selections for this particular album, and settled instead on a tune that I consider to be among his most special.

Carolan manages to take this key that I consider dark and undesirable, and make it into something beautiful. He takes it one step further in the B section where he truly makes the piece “sing.”