Review and More

Our Review

"The Day Dawns" is a delicate and beautiful flower, so lovely to behold! Suzanne Weller, a professional flutist of top caliber, presents this collection of early Celtic holiday music to ease the muddled mind and soothe the storm-tossed soul.

Don't get me wrong--this is no sleepy little album. Weller's flute is bright and buoyant, and on many numbers will put your heels to tappin'. Still, the gorgeous combination of flutes (modern and wooden, alto), piccolo, recorders, guitar, keyboards, oboe, violin, viola, and English horn combine for an intimate chamber group setting that is a warm embrace on a cold winter's night. The only vocals on this CD are not singing; they are lovely intonations that add another layer of color to the instrumentation. Weller and her colleagues (Deborah Simpson on oboe & English horn; Joanne Tanner on violin and viola; Diann Klink providing vocals) will surely cheer the most melancholy of our holiday moments.

The song selection is strong, including some quite unusual surprises. Of the 12 tracks, I was familiar with only five ("Sussex Carol," "Wassail Medley," "Baloo, Lammy," "Christmas Medley," and "Auld Lang Syne Variations"). All of the cuts, however, are superbly performed. My favorites include "Christmas Medley" because it contains the winning carol "I Saw Three Ships" and features a fantastic arrangement by fiddler Bonnie Rideout, and the spirited Scottish dance "A Mhisg A Chur An Lolig Oirn" (which also wins my award for most difficult song title to spell and pronounce). Honorable mention must go to "Auld Lang Syne Variations," which follows the complete evolution of this tune from its 18th century origins to the current, well-known melody.

The delicate blossom closes all too soon! My biggest gripe about "The Day Dawns" is its relatively short length, going to sunset after just 36 minutes. Still, it was the most relaxing, yet exhilarating, 36 minutes of my day.

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2004)

More

From the liner notes:

Suzanne Weller: C Flute, Piccolo, Wood Flute, Alto Flute, Soprano and Alto Recorders, Guitar, Keyboards
Deborah Simpson: Oboe, English Horn
Joanne Tanner: Violin, Viola
Diann Klink: Vocals

From the website:
Suzanne Weller has long been a performer of solo and orchestral music in Northern California. A performing music graduate from San Jose State University, Suzanne's appearances have included principal flutist with Nova Vista Symphony, Palo Alto Philharmonic, Palo Alto Symphony and Master Sinfonia as well as solo flute recitals in San Jose, Fort Bragg/ Mendocino, Palo Alto and Lake Tahoe. Suzanne continues to perform with a string trio, harp, and in Celtic bands.

Suzanne's current music hobbies are: learning guitar, other wind instruments, recording and composing. In addition to performing and duties as a music instructor, Suzanne has recently finished co-authoring a music theory workbook with CD called "Musicreation" and a Celtic CD called "The Day Dawns", with Deborah Simpson, Diann Klink and Joanne Tanner. Suzanne's next recording project is an album of a mixture of her original compositons done in a Celtic style, along with several of her arrangements of traditional Scottish jigs and reels.

Suzanne can also be seen performing with The Baroque Winds, a classical music woodwind duo with Deborah Simpson on oboe and English horn...

Suzanne Weller

The Day Dawns

Artist link

Track List