December 20th, 2012: Fulbrighter to Present Debussy Feature on RTE's lyric fm The Snow is Dancing: Remember Claude Debussy by Therese Fahy
…remembering Achille-Claude Debussy 150 years after his birth
28 December 2012 RTÉ Lyric fm 7-8pm 96-99fm
On the cover of his Children’s Corner Suite,Debussy drew and painted a memento for his daughter Chou-Chou to complement the startling visual images he created for her in sound. One of those pieces, The Snow is Dancing, is the title of the Lyric Feature on 28th December, remembering the French composer 150 years after his birth. Pianist Therese Fahy makes a nostalgic visit to Paris and investigates Debussy’s extraordinary impact on Irish composition and musical culture. Included are on-location recordings at the Debussy Museum at St. Germain-en-Laye, the Luxembourg Gardens and the cemetery at Passy where he is buried.
Almost a century after his death, Debussy’s music continues to exert a subtle and magical power over the imagination. His methods and musical style were unorthodox but highly visual, inspired not only by contemporary painters but also the symbolist poets, and the art and music of the Orient.
Contributors to the programme include Simon Trezise, editor of the Cambridge Companion to Debussy; Irish composers Michael Holohan and Kevin O’Connell, and pianist and French music expert, David Mooney. Also, Sheila Pratschke, Director of the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris and M. Remy Copain from the Debussy Museum at St. Germain-en-Laye.
Presented by Therese Fahy / Produced by Una Hunt / A Heritage Music Production for RTÉ lyric fm.
This programme is made with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland’s Sound and Vision Broadcasting Funding Scheme.
LISTEN BACK
The Snow is Dancing can be heard live on the internet through the RTÉ lyric fm website and can be accessed at any time for a week after broadcast. Just go to http://www.rte.ie/lyricfm/features/ and click the ‘LISTEN BACK’ icon to hear the current feature. Thereafter, the programme is available on the lyric fm Archive.