Green socks, purple hat, yellow notebook for St Patrick’s Day, celebrating in Leuven, Brussels and London

Tuesday, 17^th of March 2026

#composing #composernotebook #Tide #SeaSymphony 

Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh! 

Irish roots run deep, especially in Tide which opens with an ancient Irish melody, at once celebrating and fearing the sea. So it was appropriate to start our St Patrick’s Day celebrations at the Irish College in Leuven, created by the connections (by sea) between Ireland, Spain and Brabant in 1600. There we enjoyed performances by Les Fous de Bassan, Aindrias de Staic and Carrickfergus Grammar School Choir. En route, we stopped at De Metafoor and I couldn’t resist writing some music on the beer mat. 

The next day, we were in the Hairy Canary, an Irish bar in Brussels, watching Ireland beat Scotland in the Six Nations. Green socks, purple hat, yellow notebook. 

On the day itself, I was in London, enjoying a cool Guinness. 

Here’s London Repertoire Orchestra playing Tide and talking about that ancient Irish melody. 

London Repertoire Orchestra playing Tide from my Sea Symphony - YouTube 

And, here’s Tide (4^th movement of my Sea Symphony) on MP3 playback 

https://c8associates-my.sharepoint.com/:u:/p/dominic_mcgonigal/IQAEtqUSzHzBQK_Ur6sM5wNvAV5tw3MJ_L6Hz0SQ5MY87CU?e=c5T9bV