ABSTRACT
This chapter enquires into ways that music interacted with screen productions following the establishment of both the Free State/Republic and Northern Ireland. It begins by considering music for, or as featured in early narrative film themed on the independence struggle, and a discussion on the legacy of Flaherty’s Man of Aran for post-colonial and national conceptions of cultural heritage. It next examines music for propaganda and promotional films from both jurisdictions themed on agriculture, industry and tourism, interpreting a gradual shift from library music selections to original scores by domestic composers, as facilities for orchestras and film and TV production expanded.
The unique film sound developed by Seán Ó Riada is then appraised through an analysis of his Gael-Linn scores and of music for subsequent commemorative-themed productions. Finally, the chapter interprets a range of approaches to music and sound assembly for TV documentaries and film essays on diverse heritages, landscapes and ways-of-life, from imagined Celtic and/or traditional-derived sound worlds to alternative perspectives and soundscapes.
