Davy Spillane :: Playing the Uilleann Pipes

This is one of my all-time favorites. I remember my dad really loving Riverdance, and I saw this for the first time when I was just a kid starting my musical (instrumental) education. It made me want to be a woodwind musician even more. The musician's name is Davy Spillane, and he is playing the Uilleann Pipes (Irish Bagpipes). He is one of the world's greatest performers on this challenging instrument.

I've always had a love for traditional and folk instruments of Europe, and this song in particular ever since. The music is "Caoineadh cu Chulainn" (pronounced "Queen-a Coo Hulling" from what I've been told).

The song is about a famous warrior named Chulainn who has never met his son. In a battle, he meets his son  named Conlai as an enemy warrior, though he doesn't know it, and kills him. He looks down at Conlai's hand and sees that the young man is wearing the ring that Chulainn had given Conlai's mother long ago when he was born. This song represents the sadness that Chulainn feels knowing that he will never see his son again...