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Celtica: Songs for the Harp (40 pgs,
$6.95)
Voices of the Trees: Songs for the Harp
(28 pgs, $4.95)
by Shirley Starke
Reviewed by George Taylor
Celtic Chronicles, Fall 2000
A book entitled
Extra-Terrestrial Friends and Foes by George C. Andrews may seem an unlikely
place to stumble across lyrical poetry with a Celtic bent, however that is
exactly how this reader was introduced to the works of
singer/songwriter/harpist Shirley Starke.
Shirley's poem Once Upon the End of Day, reproduced in Andrews' book,
was so compelling that further investigation was in order. The author has four music/poetry books (Voices
of the Trees: Songs for the Harp, Celtica: Songs for the Harp, Angel-Chief of
Many Names, and Song for the White Rider), one instruction book (How to Play
the Folk Harp from Chord Symbols), and thirty-seven pieces of sheet music
currently in print.
Celtica:
Songs for the Harp, contains the words and music for approximately thirty songs
(about one-third of them in Irish) with illustrations by Elly Fithian. All of the songs, with one exception, Into
The Twilight by W.B. Yeats, are written by the author. The subject of these songs is Celtic heroes,
both real and legendary, from Arthur and Merlin to Bobby Sands, a poet and
musician held on terrorist charges, who died on a hunger strike in a Northern
Ireland jail in 1981. Her song/poem May
1981 is a tribute to his courage. In
The Glen of the Water of Dee, about Welsh leader Owen Glendower, a legendary
hero in the Arthurian tradition leads his people out of darkness:
O son of the
princes of Powys,
Who ruled
from Sycharth to the sea,
From where
have you come now to lead us,
To the Glen
of the Water of Dee?
By Arthur,
the king, was he promised,
By the bard
of Carmarthen foretold,
And when we
were conquered and hopeless,
He came as
awaited of old.
He came, and
the solid hills trembled,
And the
rivers ran red to the sea,
For the
heavens like torches were flaming,
In the night
over Glyndyfrdwy*
He came like
a light in the darkness,
Like the sun
over mountains he rose;
He left like
the star of the evening,
And where he
has gone, no one knows.
Does he
dwell with the heroes of Britain
In Avalon,
Isle of the Blest?
Did he sail in
the glass house of Myrddin
To the home
of the Gods in the West?
Was it
Arthur returned from his cavern,
Or Myrddin
returned from his tree?
Who shone
like a beacon to lead us
From the
Glen of the Water of Dee?
*Pronounced
Glin-dowr-dee
Voices of the
Trees: Songs for the Harp contains the words and music of approximately
twenty-one songs, all in English and all written by the author. These songs about the natural world evoke
images of ancient gods and ancient mysteries.
Her other
music books are Angel-Chief of Many Names (36 pgs, $5.95) which contains songs
"for people who relate to the angels and worship the Creator and Sustainer
of the Universe under any name and any religion" and Song for the White
Rider (28 pgs, $10.95) which was inspired by Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
Shirley's
Muse appears to be a Presence she has felt since a very early age, a Presence
similar to the one described by C.S. Lewis in his book Surprised by Joy, a
white, holy flame which she has gradually come to recognize as Christ. She
began her musical training on piano in 1962 with an emphasis on theory,
especially the medieval modes or scales, which she uses extensively in her
compositions. Although her compositions
are written primarily for harp, they are also suitable for other instruments
such as guitar or piano. She also has
plans to produce some recorded music, although this is not available at the
present time.
Shirley
Starke and Valkyrie Publications can be reached at Route 2, Box 230, Valley
City, ND 58072 for a catalog or book or sheet music orders, or the books can be
purchased at Amazon.com, SeekBooks.com or the web site of Barnes & Noble.