6) Moving onto Ireland, passing briefly through France

After discovering Steve Reich was influenced by the French composer, Claude Debussy (Bjorn: 2009), I considered composing a French sounding piece of music.  However, I quickly moved on from this idea and decided, apart from spending quite a lot of  time, during the summer holidays, in France when I was younger, I didn't really have anything which I could relate to France. 

However, I still looked at several French albums and tracks.  These included: “Rough Guide to Paris Café Music", 

"Paris, Oct. 61” – La Tordue, 


“Rue De Paname” – Les Ogres De Barback and


 “"Under the Bridges of Paris” – Henri Rene.

I wanted to compose something which was related more to myself, so I moved onto Ireland.  Although I have spent a lot more time in France than I have in Ireland, Ireland still has a lot more of a “homely” feel to it.  I was born in Dublin but unfortunately can't remember, vividly, any of my returns until my most recent, which was November 2009. 

The first night back, we made our way to an Irish pub.  Immediately, we were greeted and welcomed with open arms.  The locals spoke to us like we'd always been their friends and even included us in their weekend plans.

Over the next couple of days, my Father showed me the various “important” sites in Dublin, which included the hospital where I was born, the house we lived in for the first couple of months, the office where my birth certificate was signed and the more exciting things like the Guinness brewery.

Walking back from the brewery in the evening, a man walked up to us, stopped us, asked us how we were and where we were from, shared a joke and walked on.  It was this, that reminded me about how friendly this country was. 

Leaving Dublin, for some reason, I felt sad.  Even now, I miss it and would love to go back and see the friend's I made out there.  After looking back through the photos of this trip, I decided to compose an irish jig.  I believe this reflects perfectly, how jolly and happy these people are.

Over the following pages, I have included, again, a picture of my thoughts of Ireland and have followed these with pictures of the country.