The Irish Musical Monthly

The Irish Musical Monthly

Front cover (recto and verso) of the first issue of The Irish Musical Monthly, an early twentieth-century Dublin periodical

The Irish Musical Monthly. A Journal Devoted to the Interests of Music in Church and School seems to be the first specifically musical periodical published in Ireland, although a very wide variety of Irish periodical literature had included notated music and consideration of music since the eighteenth century. Published in Dublin and edited by the German musician the Rev. Heinrich Bewerunge, professor of Church Chant and Organ at the national Roman Catholic seminary of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, the slim magazine ran for twelve issues in one volume, from March 1902 to February 1903. Each issue carried free sheet-music supplements in two series, secular and sacred. Although it gave some prominence to church music, the magazine covered a range of interests: music in schools and conservatories, Gaelic League feiseanna, choral singing, and Irish traditional music and other music publications. A regular historical series by W.H. Grattan Flood formed the basis of his History of Irish Music of 1905. Prominently featured in the Monthly were notices and reviews of contemporary concerts, services, and lectures on music.

Published on 1 June 2009

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