Sue Richards has a magical touch on the Celtic harp. Her playing is delicate and light, but does not fall into the strangely aligned new age category that Celtic music seems to have grown. The tunes fall squarely into the traditional mold and are ably supported by a variety of other instruments and musicians. The music does not float and flow and breeze about, but is vivid, strong and vibrant. Richards deserves a lot of credit for creating this album.

Working through the 14 tracks on this album is rather like going to a party. The music is fast, then it is slow; it is solo harp, then it is performed by a group. Occasionally the harp takes a back seat to one of the other instruments, but for the most part Richards' harp is front and center happily blasting away at misconceptions about Celtic harp music the general public may still be holding. Ranging from reels to airs to stately parlor dances, Richards covers a lot of ground on this album.

Her variations on different tunes is definitely one of the highlights of the album. Although it only occurs on two tracks, it is still interesting and worth noting. First comes "Lament for Limerick/Lochaber No More/Irish Lamentation," which are all based on the same tune; the first two, Irish and Scottish respectively, commemorating the mass emigrations both countries suffered. The interesting third section is an English variation on the first tune played as a parlor waltz. As Richards notes, it is an ironic transformation for the tune to have undergone, changing from a sad memorial to such tragic events to a happy, sprightly party dance. The following track, "Itchy Fingers," is a contemporary pipe tune from Scotland played as a march and a reel. Hearing these variations gives the music an interesting dimension.

"Cro Kintaile" is a beautifully evocative, emotional piece even without knowing that it describes a widow's return to her birthplace to live out the rest of her life. Several lovely Turlough O'Carolan tunes are also included with some very talented musicians joining to provide additional instrumentation. The final track ends the album on an intriguing note with the title "Though I Go to My Bed, Little Sleep Do I Get" and a graceful harp solo.

Sue Richards' Morning Aire is quite the breath of fresh air. Mixing different styles, tempos and places of origin in the music and adding additional musicians on instruments such as fiddle, viola da gamba, guitar, accordion, piano and pennywhistle create a wonderfully lively and well-rounded album. Richards has found pieces from a wide range of locales and covers some of the more salient features of the history of Celtic harp music with her inclusion of pieces by O'Carolan, from the Belfast Harp Festival and from a variety of significant tune collections. None of the pieces were written by Richards, but she had certainly made them her own and brought together a wonderful collection of music. This is a fantastic album.

- Rambles
written by Jean Emma Price
published 10 September 2005