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A Community of the Imagination:

Although Europe figures prominently in our day-to-day discussions, the cultural dimension of Europe is often overlooked. This publication, in which Seóirse Bodley, one of the most eminent contemporary Irish composers, engages with the poetry of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, one of the finest minds in European literature, is a fine example of cultural dialogue between Ireland and Germany. Literary and musical images are key to national constructions of identity: it is from them, too, that we derive a sense of European identity.

At the heart of Lorraine Byrne Bodley's musicological reflections is a detailed account of the poems that significantly shaped Bodley's settings. In her reading of each cycle she examines the cultural and poetic contexts, weaving together the confessional with larger cultural forces at play.

The book explores very different but radical musics that can be traced back to Bodley's Darmstadt period. Mignon and the Harper belongs to the avant-garde, the experimental, with all the challenges to which this has given rise. The more recent song cycle, Gretchen, is a fine example of how Bodley's style continues to change and go into unexpected and unseen places. And yet while it is difficult to imagine two more contrasting pieces from the one composer, there is a convergence in the need to create a unique context of meaning through the act of composing. Just as Byrne Bodley's reading of these heterogeneous works as both object and process emphasizes the idea of historical transmission of materials as a living tradition, these settings compel us to experience again the relationship of modernity to tradition in both poetry and the music it has here inspired.

Seóirse Bodley, Emeritus Professor, UCD School of Music, is one of Ireland's leading composers. Works include five symphonies, two chamber symphonies and numerous orchestral, choral, vocal, and chamber pieces. Commissions he has received include his Third Symphony, commissioned for the opening of the National Concert Hall in Dublin, and his Fourth Symphony, commissioned by the Arturo Toscanini Symphony Orchestra of Parma, Italy.

Since his early twenties, Seóirse Bodley's music has been broadcast and performed in Ireland, Europe, North America, Australia, China and Japan. Influences on his compositions include a range of musical styles from the European avant-garde to Irish traditional music, and most recently a series of works arising from the philosophy of the Austrian-born philosopher, Karl Popper.

Lorraine Byrne Bodley, Senior Lecturer in Musicology at NUI Maynooth, holds a PhD in Music and in German from University College Dublin and a DMUS in Musicology, a higher doctorate on published work (NUI, 2012).

Dr Byrne Bodley is known internationally for her work on Schubert, on Goethe and Music and on German Song, on all of which she has published prolifically and lectured internationally (in German and in English) in Germany, Belgium, Russia, Canada, USA, UK and Ireland. She has published 10 books including: Goethe and Zelter: Musical Dialogues (Ashgate, 2009) which was named an Outstanding Academic Book of 2010 by Choice and has been widely acclaimed as 'a major contribution' to musicology and Goethean studies (Music and Letters, The Schubertian, Choice, Modern Language Review).

Dr Byrne Bodley is known internationally for her work on Schubert, on Goethe and Music and on German Song, on all of which she has published prolifically and lectured internationally (in German and in English) in Germany, Belgium, Russia, Canada, USA, UK and Ireland. She has published 10 books including: Goethe and Zelter: Musical Dialogues (Ashgate, 2009) which was named an Outstanding Academic Book of 2010 by Choice and has been widely acclaimed as 'a major contribution' to musicology and Goethean studies (Music and Letters, The Schubertian, Choice, Modern Language Review).

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Synge and the Making of Modern Irish Drama

In Synge and the Making of Modern Irish Drama, Anthony Roche draws on twenty-five years of engagement with Synge's plays to present ten chapters on the unfolding of a double narrative. The first argues the extent and ways in which John Millington Synge self-consciously undertook to become the founding playwright of an Irish national theatre. Synge's rapid development as a playwright is examined in relation to Yeats and Joyce. His love affair with Abbey Theatre actress Máire O'Neill (Molly Allgood) is treated in depth, both in terms of their troubled life together and the vibrant roles he wrote for her. The book's second narrative moves from Synge's historical time to the present day, to consider what subsequent Irish playwrights have made of his dramatic legacy. Samuel Beckett, asked by his biographer to name the dramatists whose plays had meant the most to him, uttered only the name of Synge in reply. This study also traces in illuminating detail the impact of Synge's revolutionary plays on a range of contemporary playwrights: Brian Friel, Stewart Parker, Marina Carr and Martin McDonagh, to examine how this influence and recent productions of Synge's work have enabled him to remain our contemporary. It will be of considerable interest to students of Irish drama both in Ireland and worldwide.

ANTHONY ROCHE is an Associate Professor in the School of English, Drama and Film at University College Dublin. He is the author of the pioneering Contemporary Irish Drama (Second Edition, 2009) and the acclaimed Brian Friel: Theatre and Politics (2011). He was the director of the Synge Summer School in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow, from 2005 to 2007.

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Sacred Play

Theatre as a space or container for sacred plays allows audiences to glimpse mystery and to experience transformation. This book charts how Irish playwrights negotiate the labyrinth of the Irish soul and shows how their plays contribute to a poetics of Irish culture that enables a new imagining. Playwrights discussed are: McGuinness, Murphy, Friel, Le Marquand Hartigan, Burke Brogan, Harding, Meehan, Carr, Parker, Devlin, and Barry.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Pathways for Teacher Implementation:

 

Provides a comprehensive overview of the core principles of 8 curriculum and instructional models

 

Outlines guidelines on Teaching, Learning and Assessment

 

Each chapter moves from theory to practice

 

Includes samples of the specific model in action

 

Material piloted in schools

 

This book is accompanied by a free CD entitled ‘The PE Teacher’s Digital Backpack’, which contains author Power Point presentations summarising the content of each chapter, templates from the book, samples of student work and e-portfolios, an e-book version of the Learning Wall, Adapted Physical Activity resources and contributions of schemes and lesson plans from practising PE teachers.

 

Being at the nexus of research-based theory and best practice, these publications provide physical education practitioners and teacher educators with a roadmap for the authentic implementation of eight curriculum and instructional models in physical education.

 

Authors:

 

Sinéad Luttrell is a Physical Education and English teacher in Coláiste Choilm, Ballincollig, Co. Cork.

 

Dr. Fiona C. Chambers is a Senior Lecturer and Director of the BEd (Hons) Sports Studies and Physical Education Programme at University College Cork.

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