Cross Currents : An exploration of Irish composers and their music

Cross Currents: An Athena Media audio led transmedia production for RTÉ Lyric fm made with the funding support of the BAI and the TV licence fee in partnership with the Contemporary Music Centre.

Cross Currents is a three part landmark documentary radio series presented by Barry McGovern exploring contemporary Irish composers and their music. What shaped the sound of the century ? In this trailer for the Cross Currents three part series you hear the voices of Irish composers John Kinsella, Roger Doyle, Jane O'Leary, Raymond Deane, Amanda Feery, Dave Flynn, Jennifer Walshe, Garret Sholdice, Linda Buckley. Gerald Barry, and finally once again Roger Doyle on how they first fell in love with music and discovered the idea of composing it. The music featured is by composer Seoirse Bodley 'A Small White Cloud Drifts over Ireland' (1975) - All rights in this piece rest with the producers and the artists/composers involved. Episode 1 - ‘BREAKTHROUGH” Friday September 9th at 7pm RTÉ Lyric FM

Exploring the generation of Irish composers who emerged in the 1970s and examines what and who influenced them and their emerging sound. Many of them looked towards Germany and the contemporary music developing there with composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel rather than looking inward to Irish sources or a tradition shaped by Sean O Riada. Award winning actor Barry McGovern presents this landmark series on contemporary Irish composers and their music.

Episode 2 - ‘EXPANDING HORIZONS’ Friday September 16th at 7pm RTÉ Lyric FM

How have Irish composers dealt with their musical past and tradition? Do they challenge, react against it, embrace it or ignore it? Episode two explores how composers view the idea of tradition in Irish contemporary composition. Presenter Barry McGovern hears from Raymond Deane, Roger Doyle, Jane O’Leary and Gerard Barry on their roots, influences and how the world around them shaped the music they wrote. Barry McGovern asks what does it mean to be a composer in Ireland ?

Episode 3 - ‘FULL CIRCLE” Friday September 23rd at 7pm RTÉ Lyric FM

The final episode in Cross Currents looks at the legacy created by the ground-breaking generation of composers in the 1970s and their impact on the younger composers today. We hear from young Irish composers, including Linda Buckley, Michael Gallen and Amanda Feery, about how their sense of identity as Irish composers has been formed. The series ends by examining the place of the Irish composer in today’s society, and asks if this role has changed over the past 40 years.

Credits: Narrator: Barry McGovern Series Producer Helen Shaw Producer/Recordist Jonathan Grimes Production Support Sarah Dillon, Amy Millar Digital Producer John Howard Audio Editor Pearse O Caoimh

An Athena Media production for RTE Lyric fm - made with the funding support of the BAI and the TV Licence fee in partnership with the Contemporary Music Centre. All rights in the series and audio channels as well as the website www.crosscurrents.ie rests with the producers and not use can be made of them without the written permission of the producers.