Classical Music
As in the visual arts, Ireland has a strong classical music tradition, though it's little-known outside the island. The dominant instrument of early music was the harp , though we know lilttle of how it was played since no written record has survived. However, more than two hundred works by the poet, harpist and composer Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738) have survived. His work, together with the performances of the participants at the 1792 Belfast Harp Festival , transcribed and published by Edward Bunting , were the prime sources of the airs which have formed a major component of Irish music since that time. During the eighteenth century, Dublin became an important musical centre and attracted many European composers, including Handel , who staged the premiere of the Messiah in the capital in 1742. The first native classical composer of note was John Field (1782-1837), who, as a child prodigy, was apprenticed to Clementi to demonstrate pianos. He taught in Europe for several years and produced a significant body of keyboard work, especially his 19 Nocturnes which considerably influenced Chopin and other Romantics. Another precocious child was Michael Balfe (1808-70), who made his debut as a violinist at the age of nine, though he had already begun composing two years earlier. During the 1820s, he studied under Rossini and became converted to the opera form. Numerous compositions followed and his The Bohemian Girl was a success of the time. From 1846, he was conductor of the London Italian Opera. Similarly popular were the operas of Waterford man Vincent Wallace (1813-65), particularly Maritana and Lurina . This Irish operatic tradition was continued by Victor Herbert (1859-1924), a cellist who played in the orchestras of Joseph Strauss before emigrating to the US to join the New York Metropolitan Opera Company. His forte was the comic opera and he became popular for songs such as Sweet Mystery of Life before settling down to pen more serious work. Most prolific in this period, however, was Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924), who was organist at Trinity College, Cambridge. After a stint teaching at the Royal College of Music he became Professor of Music at Cambridge and taught numerous young British composers of the era. In his own right he adapted Tennyson's poetry to choral settings, wrote a number of operas and religious pieces. His origins are reflected by his Irish Symphony and Six Irish Rhapsodies . In the first half of the twentieth century, Hamilton Harty (1880-1941), from Hillsborough, Co. Down, attained a degree of fame through his conducting of the Halle Orchestra from 1920 to 1933 and revived Handel's popularity through his arrangements of the Fireworks and Water Music suites. However, his own work, including an Irish Symphony utilizing the strains and melodies of traditional songs, is less well known. A.J. Potter (1918-80), the son of a blind Belfast piano-tuner, was Professor of Composition at the Royal Irish Academy of Music for almost twenty years and his own eclectic style influenced many of his students. Other notable figures have included the popular conductor Brian Boydell (b.1917) whose works for orchestra and string quartet are influenced by Bartok and Hindesmith, and Gerard Victory (1921-1995), who became well-known via his work with the RTE Symphony Orchestra from 1967 onwards. Head of Music at the RTE for some of the same time was John Kinsella (b.1932) until he resigned in 1988 to devote himself to full-time composition, subsequently producing a number of influential works. Seoirse Bodley (b.1933) has written five full symphonies and numerous other works revealing influences ranging from the European avant-garde to traditional song. Gerald Barry (b.1952) studied composition under Stockhausen and has had many works commissioned by the BBC, additionally penning operas for the ICA and Channel 4. The flautist John Buckley (b.1951) has produced a range of works for solo instruments and various ensembles. Intriguingly, the latest generation of composers producing influential work includes a significant number of young women , including Elaine Agnew, Rhona Clarke, Siobhan Cleary and Deirdre Gribbin - a trend which bodes well for the future. Finally, the more popular end of the home market has come to be dominated recently by composers experimenting with adaptations and reformulations of Irish traditional music. Notable exponents include Patrick Cassidy, Michael Alcorn and Shaun Davey . While Michael O Suilleabhain 's recordings in this genre, such as The Dolphin's Way and Flowing , have attained considerable success. However, without any doubt, the most famous (or notorious, depending on your viewpoint) is Bill Whelan , responsible for the Riverdance phenomenon and a huge increase in the sale of dancing shoes.
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