Also published last week, I was honoured to be asked to write an introductory essay for the Contemporary Music Centre’s new compilation release of recent works by Irish composers, New Music: New Ireland 4. The CMC is an extraordinary organisation, as good a promoter of contemporary music as you could hope for.
Living through a global pandemic— particularly the beginning stages—may have given us more cause to focus on the places where we were than we have had for some long time. A world that has become increasingly globally connected across the past century became suddenly isolated, and we were forced, one way or another, to become intimately familiar with the spaces around us. The shadow of Covid hangs over so much—even this release; a number of works here were written during periods of lockdown.
I listened to the album a number of times while writing this, and it’s an impressive collection, both in the quality of the music and in its scope. Here’s a direct link to the album’s Bandcamp page, where it can be yours for as little as €0!