McAuliffe: Return to Old Ireland

This first commercial recording of contemporary Irish composer Mary McAuliffe’s heartfelt and moving music is a theme album of sorts. Its two most substantial works recount the wrenching departure of untold thousands of Irish folk to America during the “Great Hunger” famine of the 1840s – and the Emerald Isle’s persistent “calling home” of her sons and daughters to the land of their forbears ever since. Scattered among these highly emotional vocal and choral pieces are varied examples of McAuliffe’s other compositions. Most of the musicians are associated with the music department of WVU.