John Kinsella (born 1932)

[vandermolen]

The correct answer is: 7! How often will you force me to repeat it? 

Ok Ok - I'll listen to it again since you're making such a song and dance about it!

[JBS]

How about No.4?

3,4,6 remain my favourites

Oh dear...forgot 4. well, 4 is midway between 3 and 6.

[vandermolen]

The correct answer is: 7! How often will you force me to repeat it? 

Clearly I do rate No.7 very highly (see opening post of this thread  ). I'm listening to nos 6 and 7 again now.

[André]

Just ordered this disc directly from the Irish Chamber Orchestra website:

.

This week I listened to symphonies 5 and 10. That last symphony is an enigmatic work which brought to mind other fascinating but cryptic, hard to fathom works such as Nielsen's 6th or RVW' s last two symphonies. All these works are written in an easily embraceable idiom, but they seem to relish being 'different'. The Kinsella 10th is written in three contrasted movements of equal length, each one with a distinct character. It's the connection between them that is elusive. They seem to inhabit different Musical ZIP codes.

The 5th is an absolutely terrific work. The spoken/sung poems are perfectly woven into the complex musical fabric (lots of stuff is happening in the orchestra, particularly in the cellar - low brass and winds). Their deeply probing interplay produce a huge, sweeping arc. I found it both moving and beautiful. The interpreters are absolutely grand, whether it's the Hagen-voiced Gerard O'Connor or the nobly sonorous speaker Bill Golding. I also like the way they have been recorded, voices and orchestra occupying distinct acoustical spaces. The mix is very well done. Outstanding.

[vandermolen]

Am enjoying the excellent Symphony 6.
Here is an article I came across about the composer:
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/2.749/a-lifetime-of-obsession-with-symphonies-1.497868

[JBS]

I have a problem with "speakers" reciting over music, and Kinsella's Fifth did not get out of the gate with me.  But I thought the Tenth was worth getting the CD.

[André]

Listened to today: symphony no 2 (1989). From youtube. Superb !


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht1fJhAVeRI

[vandermolen]

Listened to today: symphony no 2 (1989). From youtube. Superb !


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht1fJhAVeRI

Sounds excellent  - reminds me of Symphony 3. Why is this not on CD? Thanks for posting it Andre.

[André]

Cross-posted from the WAYL thread:

The art cover may lead one to expect something jolly and colourful. It is not. These are works for strings only and are almost all deadly serious in tone. Lest that sound like a thumbs down, it is not either. In fact it's one of the most impressive discs of Kinsella's music I've heard.

The 9th symphony is a major work. I was reminded of other dark works like Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, Shostakovich's 14th (minus the vocals), Sibelius 4th, Arnold's 9th, but in a very concentrated, elliptic way - it is in 7 continuous sections lasting 31 minutes. The central slow movement is among the most desolate, barren musical utterances I can think of. It's also amazingly beautiful.

The other works on the disc have been carefully chosen to follow in that direction while providing welcome contrast to the main offering. The small orchestra (19 strings, with a slight bias toward the lower voices) play splendidly and is very well recorded. Stunning quality all around.

[JBS]

Other CDs with music by John Kinsella (I acquired them all, recently ):

The Cello Concerto (2000):                                                                         

I've listened to this CD once, will need to hear ot a couple of times more before my opinion settles itself...but I found the Kinsella to be quite good, and worthy of being coupled with the Shostakovich (CC1). (The Garrido that comes in the middle was too modernist in its idiom for my taste...but that may be more a reflection of me than the concerto itself.) It deserves being taken up by other cellists, and deserves another recording, especially if this one is OOP.

Arkivmusic (from whom I got it) says they currently have it in stock...
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=126161

[Papy Oli]

Cross-posted from the listening thread, hope you guys don't mind   0:) Judging by the 11th, it looks like another composer I need to discover further.

John Kinsella: Symphony No. 11 [RTE National Symphony Orchestra/Deroyer]





On Friday 29th November I had the privilege to be present at the world premier of Kinsella's Symphony No. 11. I know that there are one or two Kinsella fans here and I can report to them that it was a very memorable night.  John Kinsella himself was present. After the performance he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award 2019. Kinsella gave a speech at the end of the ceremony on stage which merely reaffirmed how unassuming a man he is.

Kinsella's Symphony No. 11 is a standard three movement work [fast, slow, fast] and it is scored for a medium sized orchestra. This work is something of an homage to Kinsella's musical idol, Sibelius, and in particular the projected Eight Symphony. To quote Kinsella himself, "I freely constructed motifs from the sketches and built the work from them". One can hear clear echoes of Sibelius in Kinsella's Symphony No. 11 but it is a work which has a clear and distinctive voice of its own. The music is powerful, dramatic, thrilling and noble. The performance was also dramatic, thrilling and very exciting from a very committed orchestra who gave their heart and soul to the performance.

How interesting to read, aligreto! Certainly I'm one of those fans. It looked like a most fascinating experience as you say. Now let's hope a CD recording of that work.

Jens retweeted an article link to this premiere some days back, with a video of it :

https://www.rte.ie/culture/2019/1129/1095980-the-lyric-concert-john-kinsellas-11th-symphony-premiered/

How exciting! I'm very jealous Fergus. Some years ago he sent an absolutely charming reply to my letter to him (c/o RTE Dublin) telling him how much I'd enjoyed the Marco Polo CD featuring his Third and Fourth symphonies, which is still my favourite CD of his music, much as I enjoyed the others as well. He also very kindly arranged to me be sent a couple of CDs of music by Irish composers. It didn't surprise me to read of your favourable impression of the man himself. Thanks for posting this.

[aligreto]

Yes, very appropriate to move that anthology of posts to this thread.

[André]

Excellent idea!

It would appear that symphonies 1, 2 and 11 are the only ones not available on disc. They are on youtube for our convenience. Now if only RTÉ would oblige us with the real thing...

[vandermolen]

Excellent idea!

It would appear that symphonies 1, 2 and 11 are the only ones not available on disc. They are on youtube for our convenience. Now if only RTÉ would oblige us with the real thing...

RTE Dublin were very helpful when I was attempting to pester John Kinsella with my fan letter.

[André]

I've never dealt with RTÉ, but when I ordered the disc of the 9th symphony from the Dublin based orchestra's website they included a sampler disc and a handwritten thank you note. The Irish seem good at PR 

[vandermolen]

I've never dealt with RTÉ, but when I ordered the disc of the 9th symphony from the Dublin based orchestra's website they included a sampler disc and a handwritten thank you note. The Irish seem good at PR 

I agree. I had very nice communications with them.

[Maestro267]

I always get a happy feeling when I learn of a brand new symphony being brought into the world. The form still has plenty to offer us, centuries down the line.

With 11 to his name, Kinsella must be among the more prolific among living symphonists. I look forward to exploring his music more.

[vandermolen]

I always get a happy feeling when I learn of a brand new symphony being brought into the world. The form still has plenty to offer us, centuries down the line.

With 11 to his name, Kinsella must be among the more prolific among living symphonists. I look forward to exploring his music more.

What a nice post!

[Christo]

Wonderful news indeed! With the prolonged silence that befell us after the Tenth Symphony of 2012 I presumed it had been his final statement in this form -  and how much I like it, not completely at the same level of inspiration of No. 9 for strings from 2004, another indication that his symphony cycle had come to an end.
And now, after more than seven years of almost total silence, he reappears alive and kicking. Honestly I'm moved and really hope to be able to hear his Symphony No. 11 in due time (before he'll be able to finish yet another one).
I really consider Kinsella a superp composer, with symphonies like his No. 3 and 7 among the finest in the genre, with a strong individual stamp, eclectic but certainly not derivative, one might cite the example of Sibelius but more than an example he is not. John Kinsella, a very fine composer from Ireland, may he live long.

[Papy Oli]

Honestly I'm moved and really hope to be able to hear his Symphony No. 11 in due time (before he'll be able to finish yet another one).

Christo, unless you meant listening to it live or on CD, did you see the link above. It included a YT video of the 11th premiere ?