Focus
The Real Alternatives
A review of two new piping albums.
Must Music be Accessible?
The accessibility of music is a political issue, not an aesthetic one, writes composer Raymond Deane
For Two Euros More?
Traditional musician Diarmaid Moynihan reports on some 'creative' attempts at publicity that his band witnessed during their recent trip to Germany.
New Music: Style Crisis
The premiere of a new work by Stephen Gardner and recent CDs of the music of Frank Corcoran, Eric Sweeney and John Gibson.
Composition and Criticism
Last November, JMI published an article by composer and pianist Patrick Zuk on the ‘rather chaotic state of contemporary composition and criticism’. A response by composer Ian Wilson was published in the Jan-Feb issue. Here, Patrick Zuk offers his response to Ian Wilson’s criticisms.
Sirs William, Jack and Thomas...
In an extract from a major new book, The Cork Choral Festival 1954-2004, edited by Ruth Fleischmann, Irish composer Seoirse Bodley shares his memories of the Festival’s seminar on contemporary music through the years as well as his experiences of being a festival adjudicator. This article is an edited version of a conversation between the composer and Anne Fleischmann.
RTÉ Living Music Festival 2004
The weekend of 20-22 February saw the RTÉ Living Music Festival 2004 at the Helix in Dublin. Last year's very successful Berio-centred event appears to have set the pattern for the festival. This year some major works by Boulez were highlighted, but a number of Irish composers and ensembles were able to show their wares alongside their French contemporaries.
The Many Sides of the Drum
A new book by Gary Hastings on the fife and Lambeg drum tradition of the North of Ireland.
Good Listeners
New albums by The Tap Room Trio (Jesse Smith, Harry Bradley and John Blake) and Mick O'Brien and Caomhín Ó Raghallaigh.