Culture That Made Me: Cork composer Irene Buckley reveals her touchstones
An opera score by Cork composer Irene Buckley will be performed at the upcoming Kinsale Arts Weekend. Picture: Clare Keogh
Born in 1978, Irene Buckley grew up on the Old Head of Kinsale, Co Cork. As a composer, she works across opera, film, theatre and orchestral music.
She has twice been nominated for an IFTA — in 2023 and 2024. Her work has been commissioned by Irish National Opera and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra.
The opera Lament for Art O’Leary, which she composed the score for, will be performed at the Kinsale Arts Weekend, 5pm, Saturday, July 11. See: www.kinsaleartsweekend.com
I grew up in a large family in County Cork; thankfully, my older siblings had great taste in music. We only had a small record collection at home, so albums were played on repeat. One was the Cocteau Twins’
I must have been about nine when first introduced to this band. They’ve been a huge musical influence on me. I was mesmerised by Elizabeth Fraser's soaring vocals and her use of made-up words and nonsense syllables, combined with the band's dreamy, atmospheric guitars.
Even now, instantly transports me back to childhood summer holidays — long, lazy days filled with sunshine and freedom!
A defining album from my teenage years was Nirvana’s It was the soundtrack to my life and my friends' lives throughout those school years at Kinsale Convent.
Grunge defined that era for us. I remember swapping mix tapes of the era’s grunge bands. I have fond memories of watching Nirvana's performances on TV and the Irish music show presented by Dónal Dineen.
My sisters and I faithfully recorded every episode on VHS. Because we watched them so often in the kitchen, we eventually started getting our mother to guess the bands. She got surprisingly good at it!
My first stadium gig was at the Féile music festival in 1993 at Semple Stadium. My sister drove my brother and me from Cork for a day trip, so we only got to see a handful of bands. I remember getting a puncture on the way home!
My main reason for going was to see The Cranberries. Their debut album, was released that year. It was incredible to hear those songs performed live on a huge stage.
The following year, I returned to Féile with my friends, this time for the whole weekend. The standout performance was Björk. She became a role model for me because of her fearless creativity and determination to follow her own artistic vision.
Freakscene at Sir Henry’s was a vital part of my student days. It was an institution for indie music-loving college students. It probably had a lot to answer for when it came to missed Thursday morning lectures!
I loved every song played, but there was always one final highlight. Every week, the night ended with by Dinosaur Jr; even people lingering at the dance floor’s edge would make one last dash for a final twirl. All these years later, I still think it’s one of the best songs ever.
In my mid-20s, I attended a composition course called Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival in a small Massachusetts town. Steve Reich was the guest mentor. Being a huge admirer of his work, I was beyond excited to meet him.
After three weeks, the festival finished with a weekend of concerts. One performance piece was Reich’s . Hearing a favourite piece performed by fellow classmates with the composer present was a euphoric experience. It made me feel anything was possible!
I was introduced to the music of the Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi while studying at University College Cork. I found myself drawn into his sonic world of swirling, richly textured orchestral works.
Although his compositions can be dissonant at times, I found them deeply moving and atmospheric. His music featured in Martin Scorsese’s film . His life and compositional practice interested me.
He was reclusive and remained relatively unknown for most of his career. His music was unusual for its time — during the 1950s and ’60s, he focused on one single note or a small cluster of notes rather than conventional melody and harmony.
A favourite film composer is Iceland's Hildur Guðnadóttir. I loved her score for the incredible TV series where she created sound recordings from a decommissioned nuclear power plant in Lithuania.
The score was built from sounds recorded on site with the score producer Chris Watson. The result is a haunting and unsettling score. Hildur won an Oscar for scoring the 2019 film making her only the third female composer to win the award.
A piece of music that impacted me was Brian Eno’s released in 1978. I loved his idea. He was sitting in Germany’s Cologne Bonn Airport. He felt uninspired by the atmosphere around him. He decided to create a piece that would help make the atmosphere of an airport terminal feel less stressful.
The music is sparse and slow-moving. It was designed to play continuously as a sound installation. Eno used tape loops of different lengths which gradually move in and out of sync, creating patterns that are always changing. This slow, gentle process helps the listener relax and become absorbed in the music.
During my teens, I watched Francis Ford Coppola’s countless times. I adored its lush visuals, opulent costumes, and the extraordinary score by Wojciech Kilar.
As children, our mother bought us the Ladybird book series, which included Dracula. We were probably too young to fully appreciate the story, but we found it thrilling and terrifying.
Years later, my sister Linda, who’s also a composer, and I created a live score for the 1922 silent film whose story closely mirrors . Perhaps, without realising it, we had begun our research all those years ago.
I was blown away by Teac Damsa's production at the Cork Opera House. Choreographed by Michael Keegan-Dolan, it seamlessly blends theatre and dance with live music and song.
Slow Moving Clouds created the haunting live score, merging Irish traditional music with Nordic folk influences. The imagery was stunning, weaving elements of ancient and modern Ireland together with beauty and imagination. Truly mesmerising.
The documentary directed and written by Sara Dosa, is powerful. It tells the fascinating story of scientists Katia and Maurice Krafft, a couple who devoted their lives to researching volcanoes.
Their passion and commitment to science, alongside stunning footage and a wonderful score by Nicolas Godin from the band Air, made the film truly remarkable.
I became drawn to the work of 17th-century female artist Artemisia Gentileschi while working on a project called Conceived by the incredible artist Jesse Jones, the project focuses on Gentileschi's .
The painting was loaned by London’s National Gallery to Birmingham’s Ikon Gallery for the 2024 exhibition. Working closely with Gentileschi's work gave me a profound appreciation for her extraordinary life and artistic legacy.
