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Mary O'HaraIheScentofth

Mary O'Hara's ownremarkable, true storyis the inspiring accountof an unshakeablereligious convictionand a great love story.

£6.95Copies of The Scent ofthe Roses are available atthis concert and from allgood bookshops.

Dudley Russell presents

in concert

accompanied by

Josephine Stewartand

John Franchi

U.K. Tour - 26th September to 18th October 1980

Concert Productions Limited

In accordance with the requirements of the Greater London Council and the Watch Committees of the various towns and cities ofthe tour, the following conditions must be observed1. The public may leave at the end of the performance by all exit and entrance doors and such doors must at that time be open.

*ays, corridors, staircases and external passageways intended for exit shall be kept entirely fr»,.it or temporary.

,ons shall not be permitted to stand or sit in any of the gangways intersecting the seating, or to sit in any of the other gangways or anyunseated space in the Auditorium, unless standing in such space has been specially allowed by the G.L.C. or the Watch Committee, asapplicable. If standing be permitted in the gangways at the sides and the rear of the seating, it shall be limited to the numbers indicated inthe notices exhibited in those positions.

4. The safety curtain must be lowered and raised once immediately before the commencein proper working order.

5. The Management reserve the right to change the programme without notice and are not held responsible for the non appearance of anyartist.

jjement reserve the right to refuse admittance.

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Mary O'Har^will sing a selection frfm the following titles and more:-

The UnicornMon PaysDust in the WindI will walk*with m>rOrd mo BhaidinThe Scent of The RosesThe Rainbow ConnectionThe Garden SongI gave my love a CherryNa Maori u (Child of the Woodland)The Bonnie Earl j>' MorayTry to RememberPrayer of the Badger«ere have ft th| Flowery Gone J

uare the^New DayCt«pm aChuaichiinI know where I'm^ goingAh Ehideji Ai%i«y(The Silver Whistle)Luibin*o Lu %JWas and MaryTroftin' tp theA§ I walk out oneYe|BaiTks and BraesAlfthrJ|gh lie Night i|r hyd y Noj)Pus^ |Villow Cat Tails^Jhe Spanish Lady

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At the offices of Chrysalis Records in the last week ofJune this year, Mary was presented with a platinum Discfor her last album "TRANQUILITY". In the same weekshe was featured in the Sunday Times colour magazine,and was then off to Wales to do a TV show (part inWelsh). She was also preparing to record her fifth albumfor Chrysalis.

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Mary OHara %mSSXP

Mary O'Hara does not have much time to herself thesedays. In the short period since emerging from a 12 yearseclusion in an English Benedictine Monastery, she hasan impressive list of achievements to her credit. She hasadded four new LPs to the seven she had alreadyrecorded before her monastic sojourn; she has sung tocapacity audiences in London's Royal Festival andRoyal Albert Halls; she has had her own very successfulweek at the London Palladium and repeated her success-es at New York's Carnegie Hall and in Toronto's MasseyHall. She has had specials on both ITV and BBC TV, andappeared on various chat shows on both sides of theAtlantic.

Mary accompanies herself on the Celtic harp, and lovesto sing traditional Gaelic songs of Ireland and Scotlandas well as English folk songs. "She displays a uniquesense of what folksong is about, more I dare say thananyone else in the current folk movement. She possessesone of the most haunting voices I've yet heard", wrote areviewer in the English Folk Review. But Mary's songsare not limited to folk as the success of her recentalbum has proved. She is equally at home alone on thestage with her Celtic harp, or with her accompanyingmusicians, but she likes simplicity best and tries to avoidbeing swamped on stage in a mass of 'electronic ironm-ongery'. "There is magic and balm for the spirit in herserene .art and in the old and simple things. It would begood for the noisy distracted and confused world topause more often and listen to such songs as MaryO'Hara sings." (The Southland Times, N.Z.)

There is a calm about Mary O'Hara's singing tha>givespeace, but there is more to it. Joyce Grenfell, writing inthe Observer Review, stated it more succinctly: "MaryO'Hara's voice has a first day freshness in her singing".

Mary O'Hara was born in the West of Ireland. Afterboarding school in Dublin, she took up playing the harpand at 16 was singing on Irish Radio. Before she was 21she had her own programme on BBC TV and was singingat the prestigious Edinburgh Festival, which tempted thereviewer in The Scotsman to write: "The outstandingperformance this year was by Mary O'Hara. Everyonewho saw and heard her assures me that she undoubtedlystole the whole giddy Festival Show".

Mary, making the news early in her career -

Baron s Profiles of 1956

Mary O'Hara is pure Burne-Jones. One hopes that herhair will never really settle down; that the fey Irishnessof her personality will not be tamed by constant appear-ances on the television screen. When she plucks at hersmall Irish harp, and sings some Gaelic lullaby, one istransported into the blue hills and the soft mist of theIrish countryside. The lilting artistry of her folk songs ismore than beguiling but it does not conceal a strong,maybe wayward personality.

The profile is half peasant, half patrician. It is hopedthat the young American undergraduate whom she hascaptivated will not bear this gentle charmer too soonfrom our shores.

from the pages of the London Evening Standard.

Mary O'Hara met and married a young American poetand Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, Richard Selig, andwent to live in the United States. Their marriage wasnot destined to last long, for within 15 months Richardhad died. By then Mary had recorded a number ofalbums for Decca and had appeared in the UnitedStates, where the folk boom of the sixties was justbeginning.

After a performance at the Phillips Gallery in New York,Paul Hume, writing in the Washington Post, claimedthat, "she raised to a new high level the art of folk-singing". But after her young husband's death, the zesthad gone out of life for Mary. For four years she travell-ed the globe giving concerts and appearing on radio andTV. The critics were unanimous in their praise, but themore success she had the more persistently she felt thecall to the monastic life. Eventually she entered anenclosed Benedictine monastery in England.

After 12 years the monastic stay was over and Marycarried on where she had left off. In November 1977 hermajor 'comeback' concert at London's Royal FestivalHall demonstrated to the capacity crowd that she hadsuccessfully renewed her career. She sang for the firsttime with accompanying musicians and her repertoireincluded contemporary songs as well as some of herown compositions. An album of that concert earned hera silver disc.

There followed TV Specials on the BBC and ITV, and aconcert tour of England and Ireland. She filled London'sRoyal Albert Hall and later the Carnegie Hall in NewYork. The New York Times critic wrote "Singingtraditional Celtic material and ballads , accompanyingherself with adept and delicate filigree on the Irish harp,Mary O'Hara is mesmerising".

Mary OHam

Later she took part in the Golden Gala at the LondonPalladium and before starting her own season at thattheatre, she was invited to perform for the QueenMother in the Royal Variety Show. Then there was'Stars on Sunday', the 'Val Doonican Music Show','James Galway's World of Music', and many others.Readers of the Irish Post voted her Irish Person of theYear in 1978.

Where does Mary O'Hara go from here? A tour of theU.K. is arranged for this autumn and the followingSpring; New Zealand and Australia after Christmas.In the meantime, another new album from ChrysalisRecords, and also this autumn sees the publication ofMary's Autobiography, "The Scent of The Roses",published by Michael Joseph. This will keep Marybusy for the immediate future. She prefers to live eachday as it comes, and does not like to plan too far ahead,although this is not always possible.

Mary OHam's Discogmphy

"SONGS OF ERIN" (Decca Beltona, LBE 13)"LOVE SONGS OF IRELAND" (Decca Beltona, LB20)"SONGS OF IRELAND" (Everest, TLP 1024)"MARY O'HARA'S IRELAND"(Decca Emerald, GES 1095)"MARY O'HARA'S SCOTLAND"(Decca Emerald, GES 1116)"MARY O'HARA'S MONDAY TUESDAY - Songs forChildren" (Decca Emerald, GES 1157)"FOCUS ON MARY O'HARA" (Decca, FOS 49/50)MARY O'HARA AT THE ROYAL FESTIVALHALL" (Chrysalis, 1159)"MARY O'HARA MUSIC SPEAKS LOUDER THANWORDS" (Chrysalis, 1194)"MARY O'HARA IN HARMONY" (Chrysalis, 1217)"MARY O'HARA TRANQUILITY"(Warwick, WW 5072)"MARY O'HARA, FAREWELL BUT WHENEVER"(Pye/Hammer, HMR 9004)

Twenty years ago, after hearing Mary give an impromptuperformance at the time of the Edinburgh Festival, SirCompton McKenzie said: "This voice has got to berecorded so everyone can hear how beautiful it is." Andso it has been.

Considering her twelve years' absence from the musicworld, twelve record albums is not a bad effort. Andthere will be more to come. On Eamonn Andrews' ITVprogramme "This is your Life", Joyce Grenfellremarked: "Mary's God-given gift was her voice, andwhat is surely meant for her, is to sing to as manypeople as possible".

August 1980

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((A joy to listen to with a voicewhich is fresh and easy in an un-schooled way, yet clear as a bell.This graceful girl in the simplecotton dress transported us farfrom the razzamatazz of thePalladium to a simple folk eveningin some Irish village. 99Evening News.

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.fit was a light airy evening of thepoetic agelessness and traditionalfoKmusic, made possible by theclyjrming quality of the singer'svo pe and her exquisite mystery ofher; harp. 99Thk Windsor Star.

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PRAYER OF THE BADGER

by George Scott-Moncrieff

Lord, I do love the darkness,The hours folk call the night.Where others see but darkness,I know a Lordly light.The light that burns withinEach breathing hopeful heart,And gives all living kinA godliness some part.

Lord, I do love the sunlight,Reflected by the moon.I move by it at midnight,But hide from it at noon.Your daylight dawning blinds meReveals me from above,Ungainly and unkindlyUnworthy of Your love.

Lord, I do love the darkness,The hours folk call the night.Where others see but blackness,I know a Lordly light.I dance between the treesOf this cathedral wood,I scent the gentlest breezeAnd know Your will is good.

A LIFEINTHEDAYOFMARYO'HARA

Psalm 139 setsme up for theday. I lie in bedwhen I awakeand reflect on

its words every morning: 'O Lord,You search me and You know me . . .'I used to be a very irregular riser,getting up anytime between nine andnoon. Mainly, I think, as a reaction tothe years I spent in a monastery whereI had to get up at five every morning.But now I've schooled myself to wakeup at eight.

Almost my first act is to go down-stairs and see what the postman haspopped through the letterbox. I sit onthe doormat and go through the post.The guest room is round the cornerand friends who come to stay com-plain that the assorted chuckles andchortles I emit in response to my mailwake them up. Ablutions are fol-lowed religiously by 20 minutescallisthenics in the study - with TerryWogan's patter on Radio-2 for com-pany. I often get ideas for songs fromlistening to Terry's programme.However, when I'm having breakfastor washing up I switch to Radio-3.

Breakfast is unvarying. It's alwaysfresh fruit followed by oatmeal por-ridge with pure bran, wheatgerm andhoney. Until recently, I used to havecream and milk but the herbalistwho's been treating me for sinustrouble discovered that I was allergicto milk products. I rarely drink tea orcoffee, when I do it's usually herbaltea.

I do all my own housework and,having rushed through the chores, Isettle down to some practice. Thisinvolves doing vocal and harp exer-cises, learning new accompaniments,revising old songs and composing newmaterials. I am also sent lots of sheetmusic to browse over. Personally, Iprefer music to be sent on cassettes asI don't have a piano at home.

Around this time my manager,John Coast, calls me on the phone.

I've only been with him a short whilebut already he knows not to disturbme before lla.m. We discuss variousprojects he's got lined up for me -1usually find my practice sessions takeon greater urgency after he's called.

Since coming under the care of aherbalist I've had to regulate my eat-ing habits. So at one o'clock everythingstops for lunch - two slices of whole-meal bread, a lightly boiled egg, fruitjuice and nuts. I make myself havethree meals a day because I don'twant to lose weight. I eat sensibly,mainly health foods.

After lunch I put on jeans andwellies and set out on a walk lastinganything up to two hours. It's prob-ably the most important activity of myday. I live in a cottage on a 1200-acreestate on the Hampshire/Wiltshireborder surrounded by beautiful coun-try, so I can walk for miles throughmeadows, fields and woods - seeingsheep, horses, cows and the odd deer -without coming across another human.

If I've had to to go away recordingduring the day I take my walk atnight, with a lantern. At first peopleon the estate thought I was a poacher,but now they've got used to mynocturnal habits.

On my walk my mind is com-pletely relaxed. Although I relate wellto people it's in my nature to be aloner. I'm enriched by friendships butI'm very content to be by myself.When I left the monastery, after asecond bout of what can best be des-

cribed as nervous and physical ex-haustion, I had no desire to take upmy previous occupation as a profes-sional singer. It was very reluctantlythat I agreed to go back to singing.

The trappings of show businessdon't interest me. I'm content to go toa concert hall or television studio,perform as best I can and then jumpinto 'Marco the Dragon' [her redVolkswagen Polo] and return to mycottage, walks and, in the summer,tennis. I love the grace and movementof tennis. I only wish I could play itall the year round.

I return home from my walk aboutfour o'clock ready to tackle my cor-respondence. I get lots of letters frompeople who've been affected one wayor the other by my music and Ianswer them all. I write the letterssitting on the floor with the writingpad on my knees.

I'm frightfully scatty, forever los-ing things like my precious addressbook or my diary. But I get on to StAnthony [the patron saint of lostproperty] and ask him to get cracking.He's never failed me so far. Only a fewweeks ago I left my handbag in a taxiin London and, within three days, itarrived by first-class post with every-thing intact. Inside was a note, signed'an admirer', taking me to task forbeing careless and informing me thatas a reward my admirer had boughtgoods worth £50 off one of my creditcards.

Early in the evening I look through

Radio Times and TV Times and markthe programmes I want to see. I wouldnever miss The Muppets, FawltyTowers or the Attenborough pro-grammes. But the television is neverswitched on before I sit down to dinnerabout 7p.m. Until I was taken offdairy products I used to be a vege-tarian. But now that I've been putback on meat I have lamb, chicken orbeef with plenty of raw vegetables andfruit to follow.

If there's a recording session or aconcert coming up I wiU spend alarge part of the evening practising,sometimes even late into the night.The estate stables are next door to mycottage and one of the stable lads tellsme that a couple of the horses aresusceptible to my music - especiallyat night.

I'm rarely in bed before midnight,even though I keep promising myselfan early night. I often write letters inbed, but nearly always I read. At themoment it's Van der Post's biographyof Jung. I tend to re-read; I've re-cently gone back to Tolkien andTagore.

Then before I shut my eyesI reach for my seven vitamin pillsand down them with a drink oflemon and honey. I picked upthe formula in a Ihealth food shop Iin Canada. It's •perfect for a goodnight's sleep. |

What the Critics Say"Only a poet could avoid gaucherie in describing, song bysong, Mary O'Hara's recital Naivete and worldlywisdom are magically welded into a style that canexpress all that is human and moving and totally unaff-ected by time."

F.C. Campbell in the WASHINGTON EVENING STAR

"Mary O'Hara . . . is simply without peer. She possessesone of the most lovely voices it's ever been my happy lotto listen to . . . gives deathless beauty of everything shesings."

FOLK REVIEW (U.K.)

"Mary O'Hara's voice has a first day freshness in hersinging..."

Joyce Grenfell in the OBSERVER REVIEW (U.K.)

"... In her area of entertainment she is without peer andit can only be hoped that she can be brought to incre-asing audiences . . . She alone at this time can conveywhat is most exquisite and delicate in Irish culture."

THE IRISH POST (U.K.)

Mary O'Hara reveals a world of beauty. "GRAMAPHONE (U.K.)

"The texture of her voice is compounded of the samegentle and elusive sweetness as the sound of her harp."

Robert Shelton in the NEW YORK TIMES

"Mary O'Hara gives a sense of timelessness and ageless-ness and the original sense of what song is for. "

Joyce Grenfell

She raised to a new high level the art of folksinging."Paul Hume in the WASHINGTON POST

"Hers is the art that conceals art. "Evening Post, New Zealand

WEXFORD FESTIVAL OF ARTS." . . . Mary O'Hara'smagic undimmed."

Irish Times, Dublin

"An aura of genius attends her, something indefinablewhich goes straight to the heart

Evening Press, Dublin

"The rest of the evening was entertainment: this wasbeauty".

Charles Acton, IRISH TIMES

"Mary O'Hara . . . is steeped in traditional music. This shetreats artistically to gain the perfection which the ethnicsinger never seems to attain. " Liam Clancy

"Her accompaniments on the harp had the same skill andmusical insight as her singing

Christchurch Star, N.Z.

"Mary O'Hara displays a unique sense of what folk-songis about — more I dare say than almost anyone in thecurrent folk movement. She possesses one of the mosthaunting voices I've yet heard . . . always raising thesimplist song to her own high standards."

Folk Review, (England Nov 1975)

"Exquisite purity and delicacy that almost defies descrip-tion. "

Evening Star, Washington DC

A programme "Ishould have been sorry to miss"Maurice Wiggan, Sunday Times, London

"My songs are my biography. I sing songs only that I canidentify with. That's why "God-Songs" mean so much tome." Mary O'Hara

"Attractive and charming, she has the rare ability toreally transport her audience. Whether she sings aboutloneliness or love, God and or Fairies, her art is the kindthat takes one into the world of pure poetry. "

The Word Magazine

"In her own particular field I know few to equal andnone to excel Mary O'Hara. Charles Acton, Irish Times

"Mary O'Hara has long been established as one of Irelandsfinest musicians. She is a singer and harpist of distinctionand has elevated the best of the greatest Irish tradition toa level of consumate artistry in her performances."Gerrard Victory, Director of Music, RTE — Irish Television

"There is magic and balm for the spirit in her serene artand in the old and simple things, some of them once sad,but now distilled into poetry, of which she sings. It wouldbe good for the noisy distracted and confused world topause more often and listen to such songs as Marysings."

The Southland Times, N.Z.

Mary OHam mSept 26th EDINBURGH PlayhouseSept. 28th GLASGOWTheatre RoyalSept. 30th PRESTON Guild HallOct. 2nd ASHTON-u-LYNE Tameside TheatreOct. 4th SUNDERLAND Empire TheatreOct. 6th DERBY Assembly RoomsOct. 8th BIRMINGHAM Town HallOct. 10th LONDON Royal Albert HallOct. 12th PORTSMOUTH GuildhallOct. 14th SLOUGH Thames HallOct. 16th CROYDON Fairfield HallOct. 18th BOURNEMOUTH Winter Gardens

Concert ProductionDudley RussellDolphin Concert Productions Ltd.,Alvescot, Oxfordshire OX8 2QATel: 0993-843541Cables: DOCOPRO Oxford

For Mary O'HaraWorldwide Management: John Coast

1, Park CloseKnightsbridgeLondon SW1X 7PQ

Assistant to Mary O'Hara: Sarah Hook

The article on P. 16 is reproducedby permission of Glenn Gale and theSunday Times

Programme photographs by: Sarah Hook, andPeter Pugh-Cook

Programme designed and printed by:Husselbees Design and Print Ltd.,Westfield House, Bampton Road,Aston, Oxon.

_____ Further copies may be obtained by sending £1.00 to D.C.P. Ltd., Alvescot, Oxon. OX8 2QA

Tour Management: Stan Simmons

Sound Equipment: Dick Lock

Assistant to Dudley Russell: Pauline Sam worth

If you wish to be kept informed of all future Mary O'Haraconcerts, records, TV, and other activities why not join theMARY O'HARA CLUB.Write to: Mary O'Hara Club

West MoorsWimborneDorset BH22 OJD

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MARY O'HARA AT THE FESTIVAL HALLAlbum CHR1159 Cassette ZCHR1159

MUSIC SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS IN HARMONYAlbum CHR1194CassetteZCHR1194 AlbumCHR 1217 Cassette ZCHR 1217

TRANQUILITYAlbum WW5072

LOOK OUT FOR THE FORTHCOMING ALBUM V V

"THE SCENT OF THE ROSES"AVAILABLE SOON ON CHRYSALIS RECORDS Ckrnsolts

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