November/December 2006

Home Sweet Home: Classical Music Culture in Ireland, Britain & America

Home Sweet Home: Classical Music Culture in Ireland, Britain & America

Sparked by a recent book on musical life in America over the past two centuries – Joseph Horowitz’ Classical Music in America: A History of its Rise and Fall – Barra Ó Séaghdha considers the classical music experiences of the US and Britain

Published on 1 November 2006

Barra Ó Séaghdha is a writer on cultural politics, literature and music.

Wild Air: The Music of Kevin Volans

Wild Air: The Music of Kevin Volans

Wild Air: The Music of Kevin Volans

Originally from South Africa, Kevin Volans was a student of Stockhausen, a close friend of Morton Feldman, and a recording by the Kronos Quartet of his work White Man Sleeps, on Pieces of Africa, spent twenty-six weeks at the top of the cla

Published on 1 November 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.

Letters: Chorus for Change

Letters: Chorus for Change

Rosaleen Molloy, on behalf of the Board of CNC, Cork, writes:The Board of CNC/Association of Irish Choirs welcomes the publication of ‘Chorus for Change’ by Michael Mc Glynn (JMI, Sep–Oct ’06) in which he raised a number of pertinent...

Published on 1 November 2006

Rosaleen Molloy is the Director of Music Generation.

Notes

Notes

NEW CMC CD & SEMINARThe Contemporary Music Centre has released Contemporary Music from Ireland Volume Six, showcasing works composed over the last five years by eleven Irish composers, including Linda Buckley, Ian Wilson, Ed Bennett, Si

Published on 1 November 2006

Editorial: Freefall

Editorial: Freefall

Public-service broadcasting is a vital two-way conduit for those seriously interested in music.

Published on 1 November 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.

Recent Publications: Listings from the Irish Traditional Music Archive

Recent Publications: Listings from the Irish Traditional Music Archive

Continued from JMI Sept–Oct 2006CDs PUBLISHED 2006Brock, Paul, & Enda Scahill, accordion & banjo, Humdinger, Brill Music BMCD001Broderick, Pat, & Ann Marie Murray, uilleann pipes, whistle, & bodhrán, The Good Friday Session,

Published on 1 November 2006

Live Reviews: Sean Carpio, Simon Jermyn and Joachim Badenhorst

Live Reviews: Sean Carpio, Simon Jermyn and Joachim Badenhorst

Sean Carpio, Simon Jermyn and Joachim BadenhorstSean Carpio’s front room14 September 2006It was the first evening of three on which drummer Sean Carpio and a varying selection of musical accomplices were due to play in his flat as part of t

Published on 1 November 2006

Barra Ó Séaghdha is a writer on cultural politics, literature and music.

Live Reviews: Cork Folk Festival

Live Reviews: Cork Folk Festival

Cork Folk FestivalVarious venues, Cork City5-10 September 2006After last year’s lavish Capital of Culture edition, Cork Folk Festival 2006 presented a positively minimalist face to the world. Gone were the big concerts in the big venues.

Published on 1 November 2006

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

Neighbour Relations

Neighbour Relations

Composer John McLachlan's regular comment column on the new music scenes in Ireland and abroad – includes a review of 'Opera', a new CD of work by British composers performed by Irish musicians Darragh Morgan (violin) and Mar

Published on 1 November 2006

John McLachlan is a composer and member of Aosdána. www.johnmclachlan.org

Gathering of the Gaeltachtaí

Gathering of the Gaeltachtaí

Oireachtas na Gaeilge takes place this year in Derry from 1-5 November and celebrates one hundred and ten years in 2007. Sean-nós singer Lillis Ó Laoire casts an eye over its development since 1897 and its current state.

Published on 1 November 2006

Lillis Ó Laoire retired from his post as professor of Irish at the University of Galway in 2023. He has published widely on song. His most recent book, a collection of essays written in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, edited with Philip Fogarty and Tiber Falzett, is 'Dhá Leagan Déag: Léargais Nua ar an Sean-nós' (Cló Iar-Chonnacht 2022).

Letters: Organic Music: Remembering B'Ween Kay Li

Letters: Organic Music: Remembering B'Ween Kay Li

Fergus Johnston, Dublin 2, writes: I am baffled as to why you bothered to print such a stupid piece of writing as the letter titled ‘Organic Music’ on the eponymous composer B’ween Kay Li, (buíon céilí, or céilí...

Published on 1 November 2006

Fergus Johnston is a Dublin-based composer. His CD Ard Fhearta has just been released and is available in Tower Records, the National Concert Hall shop, and the Contemporary Music Centre.