This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the death of Seán Ó Riada and this landmark gives us an opportunity to take stock and to evaluate the achievements of Ó Riada. To celebrate his rich musical legacy, Gael Linn has produced a magnificent collection of 3CDs encased in a 40 page souvenir hard- covered book.

CD 1 contains music from the Irish history films Mise Éire, Saoirse? and An Tine Bheo, in addition to music scores from shorter films in Irish.

CD 2 contains the best of Ceoltóirí Chualann drawn from their many albums, including the famous Ó Riada sa Gaiety.

CD 3 contains the music score for the film The Playboy of the Western World (1962). Originally released as an LP which has been unavailable for many years, this beautiful film music played by Ceoltóirí Chualann is available here on CD for the first time.

Seoda an Riadaigh / The Essential Seán Ó Riada
As can be seen from the foregoing, this collection contains the very best of Ó Riada’s output and it is beautifully packaged with extensive liner notes.

In Seoda an Riadaigh, we can listen to his orchestral film work, while his ensemblework with Ceoltóirí Chualann is well represented also. The collection brings together material from many sources and some items are presented on CD for the first time. We anticipate that it will be much sought-after by Ó Riada fans and that it will serve as the perfect introduction to Ó Riada for a new audience.