January/February 2006

The Irish Harp: Centre Stage

The Irish Harp: Centre Stage

The Irish Harp: Centre Stage

Our national instrument for a thousand years, the Irish harp has undergone an extraordinary renaissance over the last four decades, reaching new heights with Ireland’s hosting of the World Harp Congress in 2005.

Published on 1 January 2006

Aibhlín McCrann has had a long association with the Irish harp, both as a performer and teacher. As secretary of Cairde na Cruite and director of its internationally acclaimed summer school, An Chúirt Chruitireachta, she has played a lead role in integrating the Irish harp with mainstream Irish traditional music. A music graduate of University College Dublin, she is currently a member of the Board of the Irish Traditional Music Archive. 

A Job with No Clock: Séamus Ennis and the Irish Folklore Commission

A Job with No Clock: Séamus Ennis and the Irish Folklore Commission

A Job with No Clock: Séamus Ennis and the Irish Folklore Commission

At just twenty-three years of age, Séamus Ennis went on his first collecting field-trip to Conamara on behalf of the Irish Folklore Commission.

Published on 1 January 2006

Ríonach uí Ógáin is a lecturer in Irish Folklore at University College Dublin. In addition to her work on traditional song in Irish, her publications include Immortal Dan which is a study of Daniel O’Connell in Irish folk tradition. Her CD productions include Beauty an Oileáin: Music and Song from the Great Blasket and Sorcha – the songs of the Conamara singer Sorcha Ní Ghuairim.

Minimalism Schminimalism

Minimalism Schminimalism

Minimalism Schminimalism

In February 2006, Steve Reich came to Ireland for the fourth RTÉ Living Music Festival of which he was the featured composer. In this article, published at the time, Bob Gilmore discusses Reich's work and the ideas around it.

Published on 1 January 2006

Bob Gilmore (1961–2015) was a musicologist, educator and keyboard player. Born in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, he studied at York University, Queen's University Belfast, and at the University of California. His books include Harry Partch: a biography (Yale University Press, 1998) and Ben Johnston: Maximum Clarity and other writings on music (University of Illinois Press, 2006), both of which were recipients of the Deems Taylor Award from ASCAP. He wrote extensively on the American experimental tradition, microtonal music and spectral music, including the work of such figures as James Tenney, Horațiu Rădulescu, Claude Vivier, and Frank Denyer. Bob Gilmore taught at Queens University, Belfast, Dartington College of Arts, Brunel University in London, and was a Research Fellow at the Orpheus Institute in Ghent. He was the founder, director and keyboard player of Trio Scordatura, an Amsterdam-based ensemble dedicated to the performance of microtonal music, and for the year 2014 was the Editor of Tempo, a quarterly journal of new music. His biography of French-Canadian composer Claude Vivier was published by University of Rochester Press in June 2014. Between 2005 and 2012, Bob Gilmore published several articles in The Journal of Music.

E-debate: Music Education

E-debate: Music Education

Ita Beausang’s article on music education in the Sept-Oct issue of JMI evoked a strong letter from Richard Pine in our last issue. In this email debate we bring the two together to further discuss the future of music education in Ireland.

Published on 1 January 2006

Ita Beausang has recently retired from the School of Music and Drama in the Dublin Institute of Technology, where she held various teaching and administrative positions. Her research interests include music education in Ireland, Anglo-Irish music and music criticism.

E-debate: Music and Society – Raymond Deane and Ronan Guilfoyle

E-debate: Music and Society – Raymond Deane and Ronan Guilfoyle

E-debate: Music and Society – Raymond Deane and Ronan Guilfoyle

If pulse-based music is the norm in our society, are most contemporary composers hopelessly out of touch? Does choosing to create pulse-based music mean one is succumbing to American cultural imperialism?

Published on 1 January 2006

Raymond Deane is a composer, pianist, author and activist. Together with the violinist Nigel Kennedy, he is a cultural ambassador of Music Harvest, an organisation seeking to create 'a platform for cultural events and dialogue between internationals and Palestinians...'.

Live Reviews: Musical Migrations – Irish Voices

Live Reviews: Musical Migrations – Irish Voices

(Paddy in the Smoke – Irish traditional music from England; Iarla Ó Lionáird & Band; Donal Lunny & Friends)Various venues, Cork , 23–26 November 2005Irish Voices, the third and final instalment in the Musical Migrations series,...

Published on 1 January 2006

Pat Ahern is a musician and producer. He lectures in mathematics at Cork Institute of Technology.

Live Reviews: Dublin Electronic Arts Festival 4

Live Reviews: Dublin Electronic Arts Festival 4

Various Locations, Dublin, 27 – 31 October 2005 The annual Dublin Electronic Arts Festival has tried in its four years of existence to appeal to both the punters who just want to go out and dance and those of a more sedentary disposition.

Published on 1 January 2006

Paul Watts is a DJ, promoter and radio host. He lectures in theoretical physics at UCD.

Beyond the Obvious

Beyond the Obvious

There is a new and very large advertisement for alcohol on the main street in my town, and the image is of a stylish and very contemporary-looking Irishman, dreadlocked and in his twenties, moodily playing a harp which has been painted Iris

Published on 1 January 2006

Toner Quinn is Editor of the Journal of Music. His new book, What Ireland Can Teach the World About Music, is available here. Toner will be giving a lecture exploring some of the ideas in the book on Saturday 11 May 2024 at 3pm at Farmleigh House in Dublin. For booking, visit https://bit.ly/3x2yCL8.