As part of the centenary of the Fastnet Lighthouse, The Board of Irish Lights commissioned a piece of music from Grainne Mulvey to commemorate the occasion.

Two Reflections for tape, 2003-4 commemorating the centenary of the Fastnet Lighthouse

1-the sea and the tower (4.7 MB Windows Media File)
2-the light (5.6 MB Windows Media File)

First performance
Irish Lights Pembroke St. Office,Dublin on Friday 3 September 2004 at 12.30 Programme note: Last year I was very fortunate to spend one night in July on the Fastnet Lighthouse. The experience will be forever etched on my mind-the weather was good and I was able to view the wonderful panorama and experience the thrill of being totally isolated, surrounded by the sea and the elements. The helicopter trip was terrific and it took only a few minutes to arrive. It is an amazing sight to view the magnitude and splendour of the tower from the air and the view from the helipad makes one feel dwarfed. I was happy to have the freedom to roam the entire lighthouse, which enabled me to make video and audio recordings on each floor. These audio recordings form the basis of the first part of this piece. Since the lowest floors comprise the engines which run everything in the tower, I set about recording them first and then recorded every sound source available, including the radio transmissions, the foghorn, right up to the light which has a quieter crackling sound. Outside, sounds of nature-seagulls, the sea, wind and waves crashing against the rocks-were also an invaluable stimulus. Initially I envisaged writing the piece for instruments and electronics. In the end, however, I decided to use tape and computer alone-the technology of the 21st century paying homage to that of the twentieth. The first track, the sea and the tower, uses exclusively location recordings. the sea forms the constant backdrop. Sounds of seagulls and the ebb and flow of the tide contrast with the outbursts of man-made noise from within the tower. The second section, the light, is purely electronic (i.e. electronically generated tones), and thus represents a personal reflection of my experience of the tower. Variations in light-both natural light and that from the lighthouse-are the principal inspiration here. The play of light on the open sea, broken suddenly by a crashing wave; the gradual shading from full daylight, through dusk, to night; the sudden flash of a seagull caught in the lighthouse beam; and, calmly watching over all, the regular pulsing of the lighthouse itself, once every five seconds, echoed in the fading pulse at the close of the piece. Gráinne Mulvey July 2004

Biography of Gráinne Mulvey
Gráinne Mulvey was born in Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. She studied music with Eric Sweeney at Waterford Regional Technical College, Hormoz Farhat at Trinity College Dublin and Agustín Fernández at Queen’s University, Belfast. In 1999 she gained a DPhil in Composition at the University of York under Nicola LeFanu. She has attended composition courses in Ireland and England and, in 1996, in Schwaz, Austria, with Boguslaw Schaeffer and Marek Choloniewski. In 1994 she won the Composers’ Class of the RTÉ Musician of the Future Competition and in 1998 she was awarded the Macaulay Fellowship administered by the Arts Council. Her music has been performed in Ireland, Britain and abroad, and has been broadcast by RTÉ. Recent works include a Trombone Concerto (2000), premiered by Barrie Webb and the Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra; Horrendous Elation, commissioned by RTÉ and premiered by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland in 2001; and Jealous Moon (2001), commissioned jointly by Carlow County Council and Concorde. Two of her works, Sextet Uno and Rational Optional Insanity, were released on CD by Black Box Music in 1999.

biography © Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland
Commissioners of Irish Lights