The Louth Contemporary Music Society are in a rare position. Since the start of the year, they’ve been sampled by the xx and Mike Posner on very high-profile songs.
It all started like this.
In 2014, artistic director Eamonn Quinn got in touch with Pulitzer Prize Winning Composer David Lang and asked him to collaborate on the project The Song Of Songs.
A concert attended by Lang in October that year featured a performance by Trio Mediaeval and Garth Knox’s Saltarello at a Louth Contemporary Music Society concert in Drogheda.
A recording of the song was promptly picked up ans used in the Michael Caine-starring Paolo Sorrentino film Youth in 2015.
It sounds like this:
In January, the xx sampled the song on ‘Lips’ on their new album I See You.
The normally reticent band acknowledged it on Twitter too.
The first time I heard this song by @LouthCMS I was taken by its beauty and the space in it.
— The xx (@The_xx) February 10, 2017
It inspired the writing for our song Lips.
Jamiehttps://t.co/a6JjoSHW5k— The xx (@The_xx) February 10, 2017
This week, it happened again. Mike Posner just dropped his new collaboration with Blackbear as Mansionz and one of the song’My Beloved’ also features a sample of their recording. Nice one.
Upcoming Louth Based Music Societ activity
The Louth Contemporary Music Society perform the world premiere of ‘The Louth Work’ by James Dillon on Saturday the 29th of April in St. Peter’s Church of Ireland, Drogheda as part of the Drogheda Arts Festival 2017.
James Dillon is one of the UK’s most internationally celebrated and performed composers. Dillon’s The Louth Work: Orphic Fragments will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of this year’s Drogheda Arts Festival. Performed by Ireland’s top contemporary music group, Crash Ensemble with soprano Peyee Chen conducted by Sinead Hayes, this performance promises a stimulating adventure into the most contemporary sounds in new music.
Tickets €10 available from Droghedaartsfestival.ie.
The society are also organising the SILENZIO Festival of Contemporary Music which takes place from 23-34th June .
Louth Contemporary Music Society’s June 2017 SILENZIO focuses on the work of Salvatore Sciarrino, making his first visit to Ireland. Also featured is the Swiss composer Jürg Frey whose new work The Ephemeral Opera will receive its world premiere in Dundalk.
Tickets €10
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Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the cohost of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, event curator and producer of gigs, parties & events.