Seamus Heaney 1983 interview Sweeney Astray his translation of the old Irish mythical story RTE

Seamus Heaney 🤩 1983 RTE TV-interview about his then new publication Sweeney Astray his translation of the old Irish mythical story.

interesting that he chose Field Day to publish this book (not his normal publisher Faber n Faber), which is being discussed in this interview right at the start
(I changed the sequence of sections of this interview)

Sweeney Astray is Seamus Heaney’s version of the medieval Irish saga Buile Suibhne - the first complete translation since 1913.
Its hero protagonist, “Mad Sweeney”, undergoes a series of purgatorial adventures after he is cursed by a powerful priest called Ronan. Sweeney gets turned into a bird 🦅 and exiled.
The poetry spoken by the mad king, exiled to the trees and the slopes, is among the richest and most immediately appealing in the whole canon of Gaelic literature. ☘️

Seamus Heaney’s version not only brings to us a work of historical and literary importance but offers the genius of one of the greatest poets.

Heaney’s Sweeney Astray was more recently turned into an orchestral song cycle 🎶 by composer Neil Martin;
with a world premiered 🎉 at the NCH National Concert Hall Dublin on St Patrick’s Day 2018
(17-Mar-2018) with Stephen Rea 💘 narrating the story (there’s a radio version of this production originally broadcast on RTE LyricFM on 22-April-2022).

Sample clip here 👉    • Stephen Rea 🥰 reads from Sweeney Astray / ...  
😍

the song cycle is 1 hour long, music performed by RTÉ Concert Orchestra, conducted by David Brophy with Iarla Ó Lionáird as lead tenor vocals.

👉 https://www.rte.ie/culture/2022/0503/12957...
👉 https://www.rte.ie/radio/lyricfm/lyric-liv...

The 2022 world premiere was followed by 2 further performances in 2023 (with Ciaran Hinds narrating), at the NCH National Concert Hall Dublin, and at Kilkenny Arts Festival.

further reading:
👉 https://neilmartinmusic.com/sweeney-the-re...
👉 https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/s...
👉 https://www.seamusheaney.com/news-and-even...
👉 https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/seamus-...
👉 https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug...

#stephenreaforever
#seamusheaney
#sweeneyastray
#sweeney
#builesuibhne
#fielddaytheatrecompany
#stephenrea
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