April/May 2010

The Princes of Serendip

The Princes of Serendip

The Princes of Serendip

"Memory is more of a narrative, a plausible story, than an exact recording of events or circumstances", writes Ciaran Carson.

Published on 1 April 2010

Ciaran Carson (1948–2019) was a poet, prose writer, translator and flute-player. He was the author of Last Night’s Fun – A Book about Irish Traditional Music, The Pocket Guide to Traditional Irish Music, The Star Factory, and the poetry collections The Irish for No, Belfast Confetti and First Language: Poems. He was Professor of Poetry at Queen’s University Belfast. Between 2008 and 2010 Ciaran wrote a series of linked columns for the Journal of Music, beginning with 'The Bag of Spuds' and ending with 'The Raw Bar'.

From Memory

From Memory

From Memory

"If you don’t have a friend who is an artist, you’re wasting your time." Kevin Volans remembers Morton Feldman

Published on 1 April 2010

Kevin Volans is a composer living in Ireland. His work, principally in the field of chamber and orchestral music, has been performed at the Berliner Festwochen, Vienna State Opera, Salzburger Festspiele, Lincoln Center, New York, Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the BBC Proms.

Beyond Murder

Beyond Murder

Beyond Murder

A new book on the composer Carlo Gesualdo shows that he was centuries ahead of his time, writes Raymond Deane.

Published on 1 April 2010

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...'.

Letters: Let Go of the Language of the Past

Letters: Let Go of the Language of the Past

Niall Keegan’s article, which dealt with the ‘language’ of traditional music, set me thinking about the term ‘sean-nós’ in reference to traditional singing. ‘Sean-nós’ means ‘old style’ and...

Published on 1 April 2010

Pádraig Ó Cearbhaill is employed as a placenames researcher in the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. Pádraig’s solo CD of traditional song, Amhráin na Séad /Jewels and Pathways was released in 2006.

Editorial: Tell us another

Editorial: Tell us another

‘I mbliana ní raibh aon urraíocht ar fáil faraor, leis an tseachtain ealaíne is oidhreachta a reachtáil mar a bhíonns againn go hiondúil.’ Or, in English: ‘Unfortunately, no sponsorship was...

Published on 1 April 2010

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.

This is Serious

This is Serious

"The story of how Cowell came to love ‘Jedward’ is the story of how capital, given enough time, consumes even that which appears to be inconsumable." Despite its cheapness, music is the winner in The X Factor, argues Stephen Graha

Published on 1 April 2010

Stephen Graham is a lecturer in music at Goldsmiths, University of London. He blogs at www.robotsdancingalone.wordpress.com.