We Only Want the Earth
This two-part documentary series, presented by Jonathan Grimes of the Contemporary Music Centre, explores how Irish composers are responding to the climate and biodiversity crisis through their work. Can music inspire us to take ownership of what’s happening and help us imagine and shape a better future for all? Journeying across Ireland by bike, Jonathan meets with composers to chat about how they are engaging with the climate emergency He hears how their music is seeking to sound the transformative changes we’re witnessing and ultimately give voice to hope. The series was a gold award winner at the Association for International Broadcasting’s International Media Excellence Awards in 2023 and also picked up an award in the sustainability category of the IMRO Irish Radio Awards.
Episode 2: Music Fuels Life
In episode two, presenter Jonathan Grimes joins Nick Roth in Massey’s Estate in the Dublin mountains, where the composer and saxophonist leads a music and nature workshop with children. Nick describes his deep connection to trees and the natural world and how they have fueled his life and work. ‘The only way that we can really create a sustainable future is to act out of love. And that love comes from an enjoyment of the world that we live in. And things like the arts and music foster this love of expression, this love of being, this excitement of being alive, all of the arts are fuel for that kind of energy’.
Éna Brennan says climate change has seeped into her work ‘like osmosis’ and she shares with Jonathan how her new opera, Hold your Breath, is informed by the climate crisis. The challenge of music conveying a political message is explored with composer and Kirkos Ensemble founder, Sebastian Adams. ‘One of the big dangers with any kind of political art is that audiences don’t really like being told what to think,’ he says. Jennifer Walshe brings in themes of technology and climate and how she feels conflicted when it comes to travelling for performances: ‘because it feels like we know the car crash is happening, but it’s happening in such slow motion that we’re still in the car.’ Other voices featured include the Hannah Daly, musicologist Stephen Graham and composers Karen Power, Judith Ring and Ian Wilson.
First broadcast – 24th March 2024)
A Contemporary Music Centre production for RTÉ lyric fm co-funded by Coimisiún na Meán, Sound and Vision Scheme, and RTÉ Independent Radio Productions.
Presented by Jonathan Grimes, Contemporary Music Centre
Produced by Helen Shaw, Athena Media and Jonathan Grimes
Series Producer: Eoin O Kelly
Production Co-Ordinator: Lily Collins
RTÉ lyric fm, Sunday 19th January, 6pm-7pm
