Bill Whelan
Bill Whelan, (born 22 May 1950 in Limerick, Ireland) is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The result, Riverdance, was a seven-minute display of traditional Irish dancing that became a full-length stage production and spawned a worldwide craze for Irish dancing and Celtic music. It was released as a single in the UK in 1994, credited to "Bill Whelan and Anúna featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra". It reached number 9 and stayed in the charts for 16 weeks. The album of the same title reached number 31 in the album charts in 1995.
Whelan has also composed a symphonic suite version of Riverdance and it had its premiere, performed by the Ulster Orchestra on BBC Radio 3 in August 2014.
Biography
Whelan is a native of Limerick, and was educated at Crescent College, University College Dublin and the King's Inns. While he is best known for his Riverdance composition, Whelan has been involved in many ground-breaking projects in Ireland since the 1970s. As a producer he has worked with U2 (on their War album), Van Morrison, Kate Bush, The Dubliners, Planxty, Andy Irvine & Davy Spillane, Patrick Street, Stockton's Wing and fellow Limerickman Richard Harris.
Billy Whelan
William Augustine Whelan (born 1 April 1935 in Dublin – 6 February 1958), also known as Billy Whelan or Liam Whelan, was an Irish footballer and one of the eight Manchester United players who were killed in the Munich air disaster. He was 22 years old when he died.
Whelan came from a large family; his father John had died in 1943, when Whelan was eight years old. He was not a confident flyer and just before the aeroplane took off from Munich, he was heard to say: "Well, if this is the time, then I’m ready."
Whelan began his career with Home Farm before joining Manchester United.
He made 98 first-team appearances in four seasons at United, scoring 52 goals. He was United's top scorer in the 1956-57 season, scoring 26 goals in the First Division and 33 in all competitions as United won their second successive league title and reached the semi-finals of the European Cup and FA Cup.
He had previously played for Irish club Home Farm, and was capped four times for the Republic of Ireland national team, but unfortunately did not score.
Podcasts:
Bill Whelan
ALBUMS
- Dancing at Lughnasa released: 2000
- Riverdance on Broadway released: 2000
- The Roots of Riverdance released: 1997
- Some Mother's Son released: 1996
- Riverdance: Music From the Show released: 1995
- The Seville Suite released: 1992
Riverdance on Broadway
Released 2000- Reel Around the Sun
- The Heart's Cry
- The Countess Cathleen / Women of the Sidhe
- Caoineadh Cú Chulainn (Lament)
- Shivna
- Firedance
- At the Edge of the World
- Slip Into Spring
- Riverdance
- American Wake (The Nova Scotia Set)
- Lift the Wings
- Amanzi
- I Will Set You Free
- Let Freedom Ring
- Macedonian Morning
- Marta's Dance / The Russian Dervish
- Rí-Rá
- Endless Journey
Some Mother's Son
Released 1996- Some Mother's Son (Opening Titles)
- Bridge Attack
- The Seabird
- Watching Annie's House
- Escape and Capture
- At the Police Station
- Meeting Bobby Sands
- No Slop Out
- The Kiss
- Alice's Theme
- Prison Mass
- Bobby Calls the Strike
- Kathleen Joins Up
- Róisín Dubh
- The Strikers Stand Firm
- The Seabird (Instrumental)
- Kathleen's Decision
- I Had to Do It
- The Seabird (Reprise)
- Some Mother's Son (Ógánaigh Óig)
Riverdance: Music From the Show
Released 1995- Reel Around the Sun
- The Heart's Cry
- The Countess Cathleen / Women of the Sidhe
- Caoineadh Cú Chulainn (Lament)
- Shivna
- Firedance
- Slip Into Spring
- Riverdance
- American Wake (The Nova Scotia Set)
- Lift the Wings
- Macedonian Morning
- Marta's Dance / The Russian Dervish
- Andalucia
- Home and the Heartland
- The Harvest
- Riverdance (remix)
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Heal Their Hearts - Freedom
by: Bill WhelanIn the deep night
From a dark space
I hear voices calling out in heartache
They are wounded
They are broken
But their spirit rises when awoken
Yes, they may be poor in birth -- but
Yes, how great each one is worth
Heal their Hearts
Feed their Souls
Their live can be golden if your love enfolds
In their dreamtimes
In their visions
How they always hunger after freedom
Every hard load
Every dark road
Leads them on to reach a new horizon
Yes, they may be poor in birth -- but
Yes, how great each one is worth
Heal their Hearts
Feed their Souls
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