Oilliphéist
PDF score of this educational piano solo
Program Note:
In Irish mythology, the Oilliphéist is a great sea-serpent-like creature which lives in lakes and rivers. Many stories connect the Oilliphéist to the River Shannon, the longest river in the British Isles and an important body of water for commerce and culture. In some stories, the Oilliphéist lives in the river, and in others, it created the river when it fled Ireland to escape Saint Patrick as he drove snakes out of Ireland.
Oilliphéist was written for Arjun Ramaswamy, a student of Liz Willis, for Cascadia Composers’ 2023 In Good Hands project. Arjun shared with me that he enjoyed fantasy books and slow piano music with arpeggios, which led me to this Irish “dragon” and inspired me to bring it to life with watery, undulating lines and contrasting registers of the piano. Special thanks to Kevin Grgurich from the Irish band Biddy on the Bench for help with pronunciation
How to Pronounce Oilliphéist:
OH-lih-fihsht
Accent on 1st syllable
OH as in the word "oh"
lih as in the word "lid"
fihsht sounds like the word "fished" with final sound unvoiced t
in IPA: ['ol-lɪ-fɪʃt]
Visit www.lisanehermusic.com/oillipheist for a video