Tír Na HiFi

Brian Boydell:

Brian Boydell was born in Dublin in 1917 and was educated at Cambridge University (where he graduated in Natural Sciences), the University of Heidelberg, the Royal College of Music and the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He was awarded the MusD degree of Dublin University in 1959 and was Professor of Music at Trinity College from 1962 to 1982.
He was a man of wide ranging interests and abilities who painted, wrote plays and even formed a commercial company to fuel cars with charcoal. However he soon directed his energies to music as a singer, pianist and oboist. His compositions include four string quartets, a violin concerto, orchestral, chamber and choral works. However, Boydell was proudest of his string quartets, stating in 1992 that they were the works that he would save if everything else was lost. In the quartets he developed his personal musical language. He died in Dublin in 2000.



Orchestral Music:





In Memoriam Mahatma Gandhi:

Deeply moved by the death of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, Brian Boydell immediately began this composition which was completed in that year. Since its first performance, shortly after it was completed, it has become the most widely performed of his works.
Formally, the work consists of a Prelude and Funeral March, with a Coda based on the ideas contained in the former. The Prelude sounds a note of human tragedy, and after the Funeral March builds up to a big climax, the final section transforms the mood into one of unearthly peace.

[This is a really wonderful work and very accessible; it is well worth a listen for its rich scoring, melodies and wonderful harmonies].

Violin Concerto:

The Violin Concerto received its first performance on October 1st 1954 with Jaroslav Navecek, to whom the work is dedicated, as soloist. Boydell worked in close collaboration with Professor Vanecek, who offered many valuable suggestions, particularly regarding the solo part. As a result, Boydell subjected the work to a thorough revision before beginning the scoring. However, since the first performance Boydell undertook considerable further revision which was nearly all in the direction of compression and concision, and chiefly affects the last movement.

Masai Mara:

Boydell says of this work “At the beginning of Masai Mara, I would like the listener to imagine the feeling of being on a vast open plain, where the bird calls evoke a timeless and mysteriously peaceful world, as it was before human beings began to disturb its natural beauty.
Shortly after the beginning, disturbing elements begin to intrude, giving rise to alarm calls and cries of anguish. The disturbing music becomes increasingly dominant, and leads to a threatening middle section in much faster tempo with vigorous uneven rhythms. The final section, is a passionate prayer for a positive resolution of the struggle against destructive forces, culminates in a mood of unearthly peace, with birds calling once again in a peaceful, timeless landscape”. This work was commissioned by RTE.


Megalithic Ritual Dances:

At various places in Ireland, circles of immense stones remind us of the strange religious rituals which took place before the arrival of St. Patrick. The fascination of these rituals, with their dark hints of human sacrifice, suggested the title of these orchestral dances. The work, which received its first performance on February 12th 1956, was commissioned by RTE.

(Notes by Fred May and Brian Boydell).



The String Quartets:






String Quartet No.1:

The first String Quartet is dated Dublin June/July 1949 and Boydell recalled that it was with this work that he began to establish his individual compositional style (his influences included Berg, Vaughan Williams, Sibelius, Mahler and Bartok). The main idea for all three movements is derived from the opening notes in the cello and each movement ends in C. Boydell was awarded the Radio Eireann Chamber Music Prize in 1949 for this quartet and it was first performed in the Gresham Hotel in Dublin in February 1952 by the Cirulli String Quartet.


String Quartet No.2:

This two movement quartet was written in 1957 and first performed in 1959 by the Benthien String Quartet to whom it was dedicated. The first movement is very lyrical, the second movement places the emphasis firmly on rhythmic features (reflecting Boydell’s great admiration for the Bartok quartets).



String Quartet No.3:

Boydell described his third Quartet (written in 1969) as being an avowal of his musical beliefs. Although the Quartet is in one continuous movement, it can be divided into three sections. It was first performed in September 1970 in the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin by the RTE String Quartet to whom the quartet is dedicated.


Adagio and Scherzo for String Quartet:

These two movements were written in 1991 at the request of Professor Hormoz Farhat for the Quartercentenary celebrations in 1992 of Trinity College Dublin. Boydell dedicated the piece to Alan Smale and the Degani String Quartet in recognition of their services to contemporary Irish music.

(Notes by Gareth Cox).

Arthur Duff:





Arthur Duff (1899-1956) enjoyed a varied career as conductor, arranger, and music producer. He was also an occasional composer most at home in smaller styles and strongly influenced by vocal writing and the music of earlier periods.



Echoes of Georgian Dublin:





This elegant piece of short movements [from the above compilation] is essentially pastiche of the most attractive kind. These are not so much pictures as exquisite distillations of the idealized mood of a age, the imaginative listener might find in the well crafted movements echoes of Duff’s longing for the gracious living of Handelian Dublin.

(Notes by Joseph J. Ryan)

[Pastiche it may well be but I think that this is a really lovely and well crafted work and it is the only work by this composer that I own at the moment].

Seán wrote:John Field



John Field (1782 -1837) was an Irish pianist, composer, and teacher. He was born in Dublin into a musical family, and received his early education there. The Fields soon moved to London, where Field studied under Muzio Clementi. Under his tutelage, Field quickly became a famous and sought-after concert pianist; together, master and pupil visited Paris, Vienna, and St. Petersburg. The Russian capital impressed Field so much that he eventually decided to stay behind when Clementi left, and from about 1804 was particularly active in Russia.
Field was very highly regarded by his contemporaries and his playing and compositions influenced many major composers, including Frédéric Chopin, Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, and Franz Liszt. He is best known today for originating the piano nocturne, a form later made famous by Chopin, as well as for his substantial contribution, through concerts and teaching, to the development of the Russian piano school.
Notable students include Prussian pianist and composer Charles Meyer.
The name Nocturne is usually attached to Romantic character pieces for the pianoforte, written in a somewhat melancholic or languid style, with an expressive melody over broken-chord accompaniment.


Nocturnes:

A very fine example of Field's and Chopin's Nocturnes may be found in this set of Nocturnes performed on the piano by Bart van Oort:

[I just want to add some background detail to the competent notes that Seán has already written above.]

John Field was born in Dublin in 1782, the son of a theatre violinist. He was taught the piano first by his father and then from the age of nine by the Neapolitan composer and impresario Tommaso Giordani. Field made his début as a pianist in Dublin on 24th March 1792 at the Rotunda Assembly Rooms.
In 1793 the Fields moved to Bath but by the autumn of the same year they had moved again to London. Here Field’s father played as a violinist in the Haymarket Theatre orchestra and found the substantial sum of a hundred guineas to buy his son an apprenticeship with Muzio Clementi. Haydn, in a diary entry of 1795, records his impression of “Field a young boy, which plays the pianoforte extremely well”.
1801 saw the end of Field’s seven year apprenticeship and the following year Clementi set out for Paris, taking Field with him. From there they travelled to Vienna where lessons in counterpoint were arranged with Albrechtberger, Beethoven’s former teacher. Clementi had intended to leave Field in Vienna while he travelled to Russia but Field begged to be allowed to accompany him and Clementi agreed.
Things did not go well at first but Field eventually found it possible to establish himself after Clementi’s departure in 1803. In March 1804 Field gave the first performance in Russia of his Piano Concerto No. 1, which was well received. Field enjoyed great success as a performer, in a style that had more in common with Hummel than with the virtuosity of the younger players like Liszt. He became a very effective teacher and, with concert appearances, became quite well to do. However, his private life was not as successful; he drank too much, was careless with his money and separated from his wife.
In 1831 ill health forced Field to return to London where he appeared in concerts as well as in Manchester. He attended the funeral of Clementi in Westminster Abbey and then travelled to France and Italy, giving concerts. His health deteriorated during the journey and he spent nine months in hospital in Naples before a Princess Rakhmanova took him back to Russia. He died on 23rd January 1837.

(Notes by Keith Anderson)



Piano Music Vol. 1:

Coupled with the excellent CD that Seán has listed I can also highly recommend the following....





This was my introduction to the music of John Field and it includes Nocturnes 1-9 along with Piano Sonatas Op. 1 Nos. 1 & 2. This music, if you have not heard it, is beautifully lyrical and is very well played here by Benjamin Frith who has a lovely touch and interprets the music with a beautiful grace and charm.

jaybee wrote:
I have the wonderful John O'Conor playing the Nocturnes....,

I have already added that CD to my Wish List and I have also identified a big gap in my collection and that is the absence of Field’s Piano Concertos from my collection. This I will also rectify.

John Kinsella:





Born in Dublin in 1932 John Kinsella combined composition with a career in music administration until 1988 when he left his position as Head of Music at RTE to concentrate on composition. Since then he has composed ten symphonies, a second violin concerto, a ‘cello concerto and a fourth and fifth string quartet, all of which have been publicly performed, and many solo and chamber works. Until the 1970s his style was governed by an adherence to serial techniques, but since then his music has become freer and more overtly expressive. He has been commissioned by, among others, The Irish Chamber Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Dublin International Piano Competition and The Arts Council of Wales.


Symphonies No. 3 & 4:





Symphony No. 3:

Kinsella’s third Symphony was written between October 1989 and April 1990 and is played without a break. It consists of two movements, a Presto and an Adagio, framed by a central Intermezzo, a Prologue and an Epilogue. It is dedicated with gratitude to the composer’s parents and, while it is not a programme symphony, is, nevertheless, a personal expression of certain aspects of the joy of life. It was first performed on 10th September 1991.

Symphony No. 4:

Kinsella’s fourth Symphony was written between June 1990 and April 1991. The first performance took place on 20th November 1992 and the work was revised in 1993. It is dedicated to the composer’s six children. The general idea was to sketch some impressions of the four Irish provinces in the order in which they are likely to be touched by the prevailing South-West wind: Munster, with its high peaks and broad fertile grasslands; Connacht, with contrasts of warmth of feelings and sharply etched horizons; Ulster, where human tragedy overshadows all other impressions, and Leinster, where there has been such strong centralisation.

(Notes from the CD liner and from the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland)

An excellent selection Fergus, well done.

Seán wrote:An excellent selection Fergus, well done.

Thank you Seán.

Robert Lamb:





Robert Lamb was born in Cork in 1931 and is one of the best known trombonists in Ireland and the UK. He also pursued a career as composer and arranger. He has played in thousands of broadcasts with such famous names as Woody Herman, Charlie Barnet, Stan Kenton, Buddy Rich and Dizzy Gillespie as well as performing with the BBC Radio and Philharmonic Orchestras and appearing in concerts and broadcasts with famous artists from Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra to Kiri Te Kanawa and Placido Domingo. He has played on the soundtracks of over two hundred films for MGM, United Artists and Paramount. Robert Lamb has been a guest conductor with RTE and has directed orchestras in London, Germany, Denmark, Belgium and Norway. Since 1982 he has been Director of Jazz Studies at Trinity College of Music and serves also as Professor of Contemporary Music Studies in Detmold. As a composer he is prolific, with many works, including film scores, concertos and orchestral suites and he has added significantly to the trombone repertoire with a concerto for the instrument and a double concerto for violin and trombone.


The Children of Lir:





Robert Lamb has based this large symphonic work on the translations of Eugene O’Curry (1883). Drawing on the text and verses, he has created a tone poem with narrator providing a commentary throughout. For this purpose he has modified the legend slightly.

(Notes taken from CD liner notes)

John Larchet:






John F. Larchet was born in Dublin in 1884. He studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music where his teachers included Michele Esposito. He received his MusB in 1915 from Dublin University and completed his MusD in 1917. Larchet was Director of Music at the Abbey Theatre from 1907 to 1934 and was professor of harmony and counterpoint at the Royal Irish Academy of Music from 1920 to 1955. He was also professor of music at University College Dublin from 1921 to 1958.

As a teacher, Larchet was influential in developing a school of Irish composers, many of whom went on to become important figures in Irish composition. Irish traditional music was a source for many of his works and his output includes several choral, orchestral and vocal works. He died in 1967.

(Notes from the Contemporary Music Centre Ireland)


By the Waters of Moyle:





John Larchet was essentially an occasional creative voice most often heard in smaller forms such as the nocturne for orchestra By the Waters of Moyle (Ar Thaobh sruth na Maoile). This is a late orchestral piece completed in 1957 and scored for small ensemble and it is a fair example of Larchet’s lyrical and conservative writing style.

(Notes by Joseph J. Ryan)

Padraig O’Connor:

Another Irish composer that is featured on the wonderful CD above is Padraig O’Connor. I can find very little information on him other than the fact that he was born in 1942 and was principle viola in the RTE Sinfonietta. The O’Connor work that is featured on the CD is a beautiful orchestral setting of a bridge passage in a piano sonata written in 1978. The orchestral setting was first performed in 1992. (Notes written by Joseph J. Ryan)

If anyone has any information on biography or discography I would really appreciate it if they shared that information.