The Rosary - a Piano Composition by Philip Carty

National Concert Hall, August 2009

Review by Yvonne Walsh

The Rosary is the newest composition by Philip Carty, (pictured left) a work is for solo piano. I attended the first recital for this work in NCH in August of this year (2009).
I was drawn to it because of its dedication to the Rosary, but was there with and open mind/soul as I had not heard anything of Philip's work prior to this. Before going into the concert itself I bought one of the programme notes for the recital. These were written by Philip to help people understand his composition and I have to say these really made the evening very special for me. Philip's descriptions and his thoughts around each of the mysteries were very beautiful and I was quite moved by some of his reflections before even listening to his music.
There was absolutely no doubt in listening to Philip playing, that he is a world class pianist and in his art he is truly and deeply expressive. His composition of The Rosary was broken down into the mysteries of the Marian Prayer, and through what Philip created you could feel the Great Great Love he has for Our Lady and Christ. I have to say I found the whole composition very beautiful and quite moving. Through the evening I felt totally transported to the beautiful mysteries of the Rosary. I felt that Philip was a Loving Witness to these mysteries …… and that he also brought us with him, in the music, as witnesses to the love of Our Lady and Christ. You can sense in Philip's music that he feels an outpouring of Divine Love …… and in his music wants to pour this out to the listener….and I do think he succeeds. The Rosary composition has not yet been recorded….. but I'm hoping it will be !
The next Rosary recital will be held in St John's Cathedral in Limerick….. this will be held on the feast of the Rosary …. Wednesday 7th October. Should be a very special evening. Philip is also organizing further dates for a tour of the Rosary which will be announced soon.