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Classical music and Opera
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The most ancient Irish compositions (until that time the bards' music was never written) are the one by the blind harpist Turlough O' Carolan (Toirdhealbhach O' Cearbhallàin - 1670-1738), one of the last exponents of the bard's tradition of the wandering musicians. His music was strongly inspired by tradition, but it began also to be influenced by some European composers like Vivaldi and Corelli. Among his most famous pieces are "Gracey Nugent", "Mabel O'Kelly", "Carolan's Receipt" and "Carolan's Farewell to music". |
| John Field is born in Dublino in 1782 and since he was a child clearly appears his great pianist's gift. 10 years later he moves to London with his family and becomes apprentice of Clement, a piano's composer and constructor. He writes numerous concerti for piano always executing them in front of enthusiastic audience. He travels to Paris and Wien where introduces his works and he finally moves in Russia, becoming most popular in the aristocratic society of Moscow and St.Petersburg. After some travels to Paris, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy, his health got worse and he is forced to return to Moscow. Among his works there are the 7 Concerti for pianoforte and numerous solo pieces, some of which are collected with the name of Nocturnes; first example of this kind, these pieces will be taken as example by many composers like Chopin and Glinka. |
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William Michael Balfe
(1808-1870), born in Pitt St. in Dublino (now Balfe St.) he gains great success with the Opera
"The Bohemian Girl", 1843, one of the most famous Opera in English (Very famous is the aria "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls"). The other works (among which The Siege of Rochelle, Geraldine and Puits d'Amour) have fallen in the oblivion and Bohemian Girl itself is now rarely represented. A prolific composer, he has written 21 Operas in English, 4 in Italian and 3 in French. In Italy he collaborated with Francesco Maria Piave, librettist of Verdi, in the Opera Pittore e Duce, 1854, for the Teatro Comunale di Trieste. He was also a talented singer and in 1834 sung Iago in the Rossini's at La Scala di Milano with the soprano Maria Malibran. |
| Charles Viller Stanford, born in Dublin in 1852, becomes organist of the Trinity College in 1872 and music teacher 5 years later. He was a prolific composer of approximately 200 works among Operas, orchestral musics and chorales. Among the works that more reflect his Irish origins there are the
Irish Symphony and 6 Irish Rhapsodies.
Sir Hamilton Harty (1879-1941) was called the "Toscanini of Ireland" for his gift as conductor. He grows in the village of Hillsborough, near Belfast. Besides having written many orchestral works and violin and piano concerts, he is mostly remembered for the pieces inspired by Irish folk like the Irish Symphony. Among the other Operas written by Irish composers it is necessary to remember Maritania by Vincent Wallace (1812-1865) and Lily of Killarney, 1862 by Julius Benedict, now forgotten by the usual Opera tradition. |
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A.J.Potter (1918-1980) and Gerard Victory (1921-1995), director of the musical division of RTE (Radio Telefís Éireann) from 1967 to 1982 and author of some pieces inspired by famous writers' life (Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats and James Joyce) has been important figures in the scene of contemporary classic music, and, among the modern composers inspired by traditional music, Mícheal Ó Súilleabháin is worthy to be mentioned. |
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