大象传媒

Marty Cullen continues his song-filled odyssey around Ulster to the land of still lakes and snow-draped swans - County Fermanagh. The songs of this water-filled terrain reflect a beauty that can turn the sourest hearts soft. Even where there is pain in the words of the Erne born songsters there is promise. In their despair there is hope. In their reflection there is love.

Traditional songs breathe life in the physical world. Songs were written for walking to work. Songs were written to plough the fields, milk the cows or to weave at the loom. Songs were written to mourn the losses of a community and to help struggle against life's foul misfortunes. Although they were written to be sung unaccompanied, they were never written to be alone. Be it the birds in the bushes. Be it the factory's bell. Be it the rain bashing off a winter's window, the songs were not accompanied by strings, but by life.

From Lough Neah's shore to Dromore's red bogs, the singers in this series step outside the studio and sing to their hearts' content in a spot that bellows fire to their song. Let's hear music naturally in the world, instead of mixed in a vacuum.