Friday, July 31, 2009

One can have one's dreams . . . !!


National Geographic magazine's cover story for the June 2009 issue is "Ireland's Ancient Astronomers", an investigation into the 5,000-year-old cosmic monuments of the Boyne Valley based largely upon the book Island of the Setting Sun by Anthony Murphy and Richard Moore.

The cover image shows a sun or eclipse symbol from the 'Stone of the Seven Suns' at Dowth, which is one of the three major monuments of the Boyne Valley, along with Newgrange and Knowth.

The magazine's correspondent and photographer spent a month during the summer exploring the myths and monuments and the landscapes of the Boyne with Murphy and Moore.

'Island of the Setting Sun - In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers' continues to inspire research and creative work across the globe, having sold out and gone to second edition within a year of being released.

Murphy and Moore continue to collaborate on future projects, including a more thorough project on The High Man - a giant landscape warrior reawakened.

(Note: The National Geographic cover is not intended to represent the real thing, but is rather wishful thinking on our parts!)

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Author and composer swap score, book!


Anthony Murphy, author of Island of the Setting Sun, met up with Drogheda-born composer Richard Rock this week.

Anthony presented Richard with a signed copy of the book, while in turn Richard gave Anthony a copy of the score of his composition "Island of the Setting Sun", which was written for brass band. The presentation took place at the Drogheda Brass Band, which gave the piece its European debut in April at the European Band Championships in Oostende in Belgium.

The piece is inspired by the book, and indeed Anthony contributed to the composer's notes in the score which help explain the title. Richard took time during his visit home to conduct the Drogheda Brass Band through a few of his arrangements. He is looking forward to more books from Anthony which will hopefully form the basis of future compositions!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

New video - Dowth, the legend and the artist

I have made a new video which captures just a little bit of the atmosphere and the myth of Dowth, the giant cairn in the Boyne Valley.