RADIO REVIEW The sad passing of a gentleman piper
T
HE possibilities of radio as a medium are rarely explored to the full. The aim of BBC Radio Four’s Silent Night last Tuesday was to cut the chatter and examine, instead, the ambient noises of night time, with presenter Josie Long in her flat in London sitting quietly and just listening — to the boiler firing up, or the neighbours upstairs watching the Champions League on television. There’s no such thing as true silence, she concluded, and Italian sound producer Jonathan Zenti concurred, though he said of his work: “I’m happy to have this shelter of quietness where I can hide myself once in a while.”
Composer Bill Whelan came into the Today With Sean O’Rourke studio last Wednesday to talk about his new album with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra playing some of his most famous pieces, including the sublime Inishlacken from his Connemara Suite. Inevitably, the conversation soon turned to Riverdance, but the two men began by reacting to the death of piper Liam O’Flynn, which had just been announced “asNyiog u ellw a eLra e wcsom n iHni g cie in dt a he rdcoiaomr, literally”. Whelad n eshtaru d mknreo m wn in Oe’sFtl , yin lm n owdaiasn’t well, but still adqmuaitute r d au to tf bueginit g at“utarknennkkl aback” by the news.
Wednesday’s edition of arts show Arena was a special tribute to the late musician, featuring the contributions of Christy Moore and Shaun Davey, amongst others, all of which could also be watched via live stream. I’m a bit sceptical myself of this new fashion for watching radio. Pictures are a distraction. The programme was, nonetheless, a lovely hour of memory and music, and his friends’ sadness at the death of the renowned “gentleman piper” was, as presenter Sean Rocks said, “palpable”.
Christy Moore was keen, all the same, to remember happier times, recalling: “There was an awful lot of laughter in the Planxty wagon, we’d a lot of fun.” As for Davey, for whose Brendan Voyage O’Flynn was the celebrated soloist, he paid the most lyrical eulogy: “He knew the value of every note within the arc of a melody. When he played a melody, he held it in his hands like no other piper I’ve ever heard before.”
It was a measure of his importance that even shows such as RTE Radio One’s lunchtime Ronan Collins Show, which wouldn’t normally feature traditional music in its line up, began and ended that day with pieces by O’Flynn. Lyric FM’s John Kelly even sacrificed some of the time normally devoted to his beloved jazz to open Wednesday’s Mystery Train with a liveWreactocr h dIin T g NoO f WPlanxty’s The Dark Slender BoyH , awrdh y icBhu , caks iC s hor n istthye MRToEoP re layhear d uenatirl lier recaDlelec d emobn er A3re0n; art , eO.ie’F/plylany n eronce joked was a refeSrie x nNca e tito o ns a Rgulgab ss yi o s fos n to3uPtla. yer until
CDoemceimnb g ef r u1l6 l ;ctivr3c.lie,/pBlaluy e rOf The Night on tShim e psla y mNeigeslt la tii s oo n n fBeaBt C uirPel d ay a er h - acunrrteintgly, beanuottifauv l apilaiebcl e tcoavlliewdeN rs oit n tuIrenlaon , dt.aken from an album of recordings by Croatian radio. This one was the setting of a love poem by Vladimir Vidric, and was, as presenter Bernard Clarke described it, a stunning example of “radio art”. So yes, there are some people using the medium to full effect, but it does take some looking. Thankfully, the search is invariably worth the effort. LISTEN BACK Visit the RTE Player at rte.ie/player