Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Emigrant Pioneers | 20240107 | How has Irish classical music evolved and is there such a thing as a distinctive Irish sound? Irish classical composers and performers are often absorbed into the international scene unrecognised. And yet, just as literature from the island of Ireland is recognised as different to other writing in English, should classical music with its roots on the island also be seen as unique? In this series Roisin Ni Dhuill, who grew up immersed in both the classical and folk traditions of Ireland, sets out to answer these questions. In this first programme she starts in the nineteenth century, a time of great strife and poverty in Ireland, when composers and musicians mainly travelled abroad. But as we'll hear, they and their music often carried a yearning for home. There will be music by John Field, credited with inventing the nocturne and influencing Chopin; songs from Charles Villiers Stanford and William Vincent Wallace alongside the traditional Irish airs that inspired them as well as less famous music from Philip Cogan and George Alexander Osborne. Some of these achieved great fame abroad but does that make them less Irish? If it does, how should we place the composers who lived in and were deeply inspired by Ireland, like Arnold Bax or Michele Esposito? Roisin Ni Dhuill tells the story of Irish Classical music. Is there such a thing as a uniquely Irish classical sound? BBC Philharmonic viola player Roisin Ni Dhuill investigates. |
| 02 | Growing An Irish Tradition | 20240114 | In this programme Roisin Ni Dhuill looks at the music that emerged from Ireland in the twentieth century. After a bloody uprising in 1916, Ireland pushed its way toward eventual independence from Britain. She'll present the music composed against this backdrop of political and cultural upheaval, not least the music of Irish women composers, some of which was hardly played in their own lifetimes and only recently recorded - Ina Boyle, Joan Trimble and Alicia Adelaide Needham, a suffragette who was the first woman to conduct at the Royal Albert Hall. Roisin will also tell the story of classical music in her hometown of Cork, Ireland's second city, where the immigrant Fleishmann family brought fresh ways of playing and collaborating. The Cork music scene gave rise later in the century to some of the country's most influential composers, steeped in both classical and traditional - Sean O'Riada and Michael O'Suilleabhain. And we'll look at the rise of a generation able to return and work in Ireland - Brian Boydell, Frederick May and Gerard Victory - and ask if this affects the music they create. Roisin Ni Dhuill tells the story of Irish Classical music. Is there such a thing as an Irish Classical sound? BBC Philharmonic viola player Roisin Ni Dhuill investigates. |
| 03 | Bringing It All Back Home | 20240121 | In the late twentieth century Ireland was catapulted out of economic malaise into the so-called 'Celtic Tiger' era. That particular mania didn't last long but growing wealth and confidence is a feature of the Republic in general and in the music in particular. In this programme Roisin asks if it is possible or even desirable to retain a distinctive “Irish sound ? in a world where international film and gaming music hold such power? We'll hear the music that emerged from a country at last able to fund musicians and artists to create - the music of John Kinsella, Raymond Deane and Roger Doyle who were able to confidently incorporate trends from international study and travel in their work. We'll hear how the landscape and the traditional still informs music from Ireland, whether it's the cutting edge recordings of Deirdre Gribbin or Linda Buckley or the growing phenomenon of foreign born composers settling in Ireland like Jane O'Leary or Kevin Volans. We'll hear music by Eimear Noone, the first woman to conduct at the Oscars and song from Golden-Globe nominated Brian Byrne. With Irish musicians heading up leading academic institutions around the world, is there anything intrinsically 'Irish' about their work any more? What does it mean to be an Irish classical musician now? Roisin Ni Dhuill tells the story of Irish Classical music. Is there such a thing as an Irish Classical tradition? BBC Philharmonic viola player Roisin Ni Dhuill investigates. |