Irish Composers

Started by Lethevich, January 31, 2010, 05:31:03 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Darwin

Sean O'Riada is an interesting Irish voice. He was primarily involved in the resurgence of Irish traditional music; after his premature death his band became The Chieftains. If you want to hear what they sounded like before superstardom and commercial excess got their claws into them, try the album "O'Riada sa Gaiety" on the Claddagh label.

O'Riada also produced some film music (notably for the film Mise Eire, about the 1916 Easter Rising) and a little formal concert music, of which I have heard his work for string orchestra Hercules, Dux Ferrariae. It's quite astringent when compared with his music in a more populist vein, but definitely worth hearing at least once. It indicates that, although stuck at the end of the world (which Ireland, culturally speaking, certainly was in the 1960s), he was unusually cosmopolitan in his outlook for an Irishman of his time.

vandermolen

#41
Quote from: Darwin on May 21, 2012, 01:11:49 AM
Sean O'Riada is an interesting Irish voice. He was primarily involved in the resurgence of Irish traditional music; after his premature death his band became The Chieftains. If you want to hear what they sounded like before superstardom and commercial excess got their claws into them, try the album "O'Riada sa Gaiety" on the Claddagh label.

O'Riada also produced some film music (notably for the film Mise Eire, about the 1916 Easter Rising) and a little formal concert music, of which I have heard his work for string orchestra Hercules, Dux Ferrariae. It's quite astringent when compared with his music in a more populist vein, but definitely worth hearing at least once. It indicates that, although stuck at the end of the world (which Ireland, culturally speaking, certainly was in the 1960s), he was unusually cosmopolitan in his outlook for an Irishman of his time.

Hello again!

You might like the 'Romantic Ireland' CD on Marco Polo too (especially 'Introspect' by Padraig O'Connor) + the Kinsella Symphony 3 and 4 (if you like Tubin or Lilburn).
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Mirror Image

I bought these the other night:







I really look forward to hearing these recordings. They have flown under my radar for quite some time. In fact, I believe I saw Erato at one point listen to the Frederick May recording I bought.

snyprrr

Quote from: Mirror Image on December 30, 2012, 05:37:03 AM
I bought these the other night:







I really look forward to hearing these recordings. They have flown under my radar for quite some time. In fact, I believe I saw Erato at one point listen to the Frederick May recording I bought.

Ah, Flieschmann, what a wonderful Irish name! ;)

The new erato

Quote from: Mirror Image on December 30, 2012, 05:37:03 AM

I really look forward to hearing these recordings. They have flown under my radar for quite some time. In fact, I believe I saw Erato at one point listen to the Frederick May recording I bought.
Yes I dis. You should buy the Kinsella disc on the same label, it' very good.

Mirror Image

Quote from: snyprrr on December 30, 2012, 09:04:44 AM
Ah, Flieschmann, what a wonderful Irish name! ;)

I know. :) The interesting thing about Fleischmann is the fact that he built his career in Ireland. He's as Irish as Guinness.

Mirror Image

Quote from: The new erato on December 30, 2012, 01:27:03 PM
Yes I dis. You should buy the Kinsella disc on the same label, it' very good.

I'll definitely check it out, Erato. Thanks. Besides the May, do you own the other two I bought?

The new erato

Quote from: Mirror Image on December 30, 2012, 05:51:37 PM
I'll definitely check it out, Erato. Thanks. Besides the May, do you own the other two I bought?
No. I bought a couple of discs last time the label was on offer, and will revisit when and if that happens again.

Mirror Image

#48
Quote from: The new erato on December 30, 2012, 09:10:06 PM
No. I bought a couple of discs last time the label was on offer, and will revisit when and if that happens again.

I bought these three recordings for $12 each. Is that a pretty good deal? I didn't do much comparison shopping. Since you own the May recording, what is your opinion of the music? Thanks.

The new erato

That's pretty close to what I paid, from an mdt offer.

As I said on the purchases thread, I found the May pretty strong stuff (aside from a suite of pretty traditional irish music), I even played the disc thrice, no mean feat in the avalanche of discs arriving. On reflection I think (with lots of caveats, this is some time ago), that I found the Kinsella even better.

Mirror Image

Quote from: The new erato on December 31, 2012, 12:05:46 AM
That's pretty close to what I paid, from an mdt offer.

As I said on the purchases thread, I found the May pretty strong stuff (aside from a suite of pretty traditional irish music), I even played the disc thrice, no mean feat in the avalanche of discs arriving. On reflection I think (with lots of caveats, this is some time ago), that I found the Kinsella even better.

Thanks for the feedback. It should be noted that I own the Kinsella Marco Polo recording but didn't think much of the music at the time, but I should definitely revisit it at some point. I'm looking forward to hearing these three recordings I have coming. Not to discount the other two recordings, but the Fleischmann sounded particularly good to me from listening to the audio samples. I read more on Fleischmann and the man wrote a lot of ballet of music. My mouth drools at the possibility of this music being recorded one day.

vandermolen

#51
Quote from: Mirror Image on December 31, 2012, 08:20:14 AM
Thanks for the feedback. It should be noted that I own the Kinsella Marco Polo recording but didn't think much of the music at the time, but I should definitely revisit it at some point. I'm looking forward to hearing these three recordings I have coming. Not to discount the other two recordings, but the Fleischmann sounded particularly good to me from listening to the audio samples. I read more on Fleischmann and the man wrote a lot of ballet of music. My mouth drools at the possibility of this music being recorded one day.

Do you know the Archibald Potter CD on Marco Polo?  As a VW fan you would, I think, like the Symphony 'De Profundis' - rather in the spirit of VW Symphony No 6 (Potter was a VW student I think).
[asin]B00005AULA[/asin]
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Mirror Image

Quote from: vandermolen on January 01, 2013, 01:36:04 PM
Do you know the Archibald Potter CD on Marco Polo?  As a VW fan you would, I think, like the Symphony 'De Profundis' - rather in the spirit of VW Symphony No 6 (Potter was a VW student I think).
[asin]B00005AULA[/asin]

Thanks, Jeffrey. I've heard of this composer when I was searching Irish composers a couple of years ago. Looks like this recording is quite expensive and I don't want a CD-R or download of it, so I'll just wait on it. By the way, have you heard those recordings I bought?

vandermolen

John,

The Potter CD is available for £10.84 on the www.Amazon.co.uk site.

I have the O Raida CD on the strength of the lovely 'The Banks of Sulan' which featured, in a different performance, on another very nice Marco Polo CD 'Romantic Ireland'. I would be interested to hear what you think of the Fleischmann CD. I was curious as I know he was a close friend of Bax (Bax died whilst visiting him in Ireland). However, I read a rather negative review of the CD which rather put me off. Do try the Kinsella No 3 and 4 again when you get the chance.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Mirror Image

#54
Quote from: vandermolen on January 01, 2013, 02:07:23 PM
John,

The Potter CD is available for £10.84 on the www.Amazon.co.uk site.

I have the O Raida CD on the strength of the lovely 'The Banks of Sulan' which featured, in a different performance, on another very nice Marco Polo CD 'Romantic Ireland'. I would be interested to hear what you think of the Fleischmann CD. I was curious as I know he was a close friend of Bax (Bax died whilst visiting him in Ireland). However, I read a rather negative review of the CD which rather put me off. Do try the Kinsella No 3 and 4 again when you get the chance.

Thanks, Jeffrey. I would be interested in reading this negative review of the Fleischmann recording, especially since the review on MusicWeb gave it incredibly high marks. Go listen to the sound samples of the Fleischmann recording. They sounded fantastic.

Here's a link to the MusicWeb review I read that was very positive about the music:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/June10/Fleischmann_rtecd127.htm

vandermolen

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 01, 2013, 02:11:02 PM
Thanks, Jeffrey. I would be interested in reading this negative review of the Fleischmann recording, especially since the review on MusicWeb gave it incredibly high marks. Go listen to the sound samples of the Fleischmann recording. They sounded fantastic.

Here's a link to the MusicWeb review I read that was very positive about the music:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/June10/Fleischmann_rtecd127.htm

Thank you John - I see what you mean. Probably snooty 'Gramophone' gave it a poor review.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Mirror Image

Quote from: vandermolen on January 01, 2013, 02:27:40 PM
Thank you John - I see what you mean. Probably snooty 'Gramophone' gave it a poor review.

I never take what Gramophone say too seriously. If I'm going to read a review, I like to go to MusicWeb and read a thorough unbiased view of the music.

Mirror Image

Finally got the recordings of O'Riada, Frederick May, and Fleischmann in the mail today (they came from an overseas UK seller). Listening to this one now:



Listening to Sunlight and Shadow. Very nice so far.

vandermolen

#58
Just discovered an interesting composer - Brian Boydell (1917-2000):
His 'In Memoriam Mahatma Gandhi' (1948) is a powerful, tonal, craggy, searching and eloquent work - it is on You Tube if you want to sample it. The Gandhi work reminded me in places of Braga Santos ('Elegy for Vianna da Motta').
The other works sound equally impressive. I liked the old Marco Polo label as I made so many interesting discoveries through it (Sauguet, Braga Santos, Kinsella, G. Devreese, etcetc) and it is nice to discover a new composer (with an inexpensive CD available) on this fine and long gone CD label.
[asin]B00000465O[/asin]
PS I couldn't find it on You Tube when I looked just now but I did hear it on there last week.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Christo

Quote from: vandermolen on September 20, 2015, 12:59:47 AMJust discovered an interesting composer - Brian Boydell (1917-2000): His 'In Memoriam Mahatma Gandhi' (1948) is a powerful, tonal, craggy, searching and eloquent work - it is on You Tube if you want to sample it. The Gandhi work reminded me in places of Braga Santos ('Elegy for Vianna da Motta'). The other works sound equally impressive. I liked the old Marco Polo label as I made so many interesting discoveries through it (Sauguet, Braga Santos, Kinsealla, G. Devreese, etcetc) and it is nice to discover a new composer (with an inexpensive CD available) on this fine and long gone CD label.
[asin]B00000465O[/asin]
PS I couldn't find it on You Tube when I looked just now but I did hear it on there last week.

In any case: it is on Spotify. Great tip! Overlooked it completely, thus far, but find him to be a composer of my lking too.  ;)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948