My guest today is composer and former Professor of Composition and Theory at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, Frank Corcoran.

Hailing from Borrisokane in County Tipperary, he was always drawn to music, and as a young child wanting to record traditional Irish music created his own method of notation, before going on to study in Maynooth, Rome, and finally in Berlin with Boris Blacher. 

In the subsequent years, he found his voice, developed his technique of macro counterpoint, premiered his first symphony in Vienna, and took up a number of teaching posts, in Berlin, Stuttgart, and ultimately in Hamburg in 1983. 

Despite being based in Germany and Italy for the last 5 decades, his deep connection to Ireland and its language, history, and heritage, has remained and influences and informs many of his works. 

Keen to know more about his story and creative process, the challenges of being a composer in the Ireland of 50 years ago and how things have changed I sat down with Frank, where I began by asking about his first experience of music…

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