Interviews
Beyond the Manuscript: Seóirse Bodley
Internationally regarded as one of the foremost Irish composers of our time, Seóirse Bodley has remained a vibrant and valuable contributor to contemporary classical music and education since the 1950s.
Miriam Meets…Seóirse Bodley and Micheal O’ Siadhail
Miriam O’Callaghan meets composer Seóirse Bodley and poet, Micheal O’Siadhail
Both men recall their childhoods in Dublin.
Seóirse grew up in Phibsborough and recalls his early interest in the theatre and in musical concerts in the old Phoenix Hall in Exchequer Street in Dublin.
Micheal grew up in Donnybrook and attended Clongowes Wood secondary school and afterwards Trinity College. He recalls his boarding school days, his discovery of poetry and how coping with polio and the illness of his mother shaped his character as a child.
The two men met at a party at the painter Cecil King’s home and afterwards continued to meet through Aosdana. They have collaborated on two cycles of poems set to music and explain to Miriam how the process works by reference to their joint work Earlsfort Terrace.
Reflecting on the death of Seóirse’s young baby Dara some years ago, Micheal explaines his own personal journey towards a discovery of meaning in life and Seóirse describes the impact on him of a spiritual experience he had in Donabete, County Dublin some thirty years ago.
An Interview with Seóirse Bodley
Composer Seóirse Bodley, in an interview shortly before his seventieth birthday, talks to Michael Dungan about his long and productive creative career.