Focus

Meeting Ó Riada Meeting Ó Riada Jürgen Simpson A new book on Seán Ó Ríada's life and work.
New Music: Style Crisis John McLachlan 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 Composition and Criticism Patrick Zuk 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... Sirs William, Jack and Thomas... Seoirse Bodley 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 Barra Ó Séaghdha 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 Hammy Hamilton A new book by Gary Hastings on the fife and Lambeg drum tradition of the North of Ireland.
Good Listeners Dermot McLaughlin New albums by The Tap Room Trio (Jesse Smith, Harry Bradley and John Blake) and Mick O'Brien and Caomhín Ó Raghallaigh.
Into the Twilight: Arnold Bax and Ireland Into the Twilight: Arnold Bax and Ireland Séamas de Barra 'And in a moment the Celt within me stood revealed,' wrote the English composer Arnold Bax on reading Yeats in 1902. But what really was Arnold Bax's relationship with Ireland? Is it true that Ireland was incapable of responding to his music? Just over fifty years since this intruiging figure died in Cork, Irish composer Séamas de Barra looks at his life and music, and his infatuation with Ireland...
Young Composers' Collective David Flynn The background to the newly established YCC.
Artists Left Stranded by the Drying Up of Myth Desmond Fennell In the latter part of his essay ‘The Search for Samhita’ (JMI, November-December) Benjamin Dwyer wonders ‘what the role of the artist might be in a Western contemporary society dominated by technology’. Specifically, he speculates on...

Pages