An Evening of Irish Music
Monday, February 24, 2014
Sunday, 16 March 2014, 6 pm, Ev.-Luth. Wartburgkirche
Hartmann-Ibach-Straße 108, 60389 Frankfurt am Main
John Sigismond Cousser: Serenata teatrale
Matthew Dubourg: Violin Concerto in D
Timothy Geary: Six Canzonetts
Paul Alday: Grand Symphony (German premiere)
Mezzo-soprano: Sharon Carty
Piano: Jonathan Ware
Violin: Frank Plieninger
Junge Sinfoniker Frankfurt Conductor: Bernhard Lingner
On the eve of St. Patrick’s Day, this concert of Irish music will feature the first symphony that was composed in Ireland. French-born composer Paul Alday (ca. 1763-1835) lived and worked in Dublin at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The complete music to this symphony was recently rediscovered and performed at a symposium last year for the first time after almost 200 years. Kerry Houston, director of the Research Foundation for Music in Ireland (RFMI), will be present to introduce the work and talk about this exciting discovery. This will be the first performance of the symphony outside of Ireland.
On 20 April 2013, the first performance since the early nineteenth century of Alday’s first symphony took place in Dublin to widespread acclaim and international news coverage. The symphony had been composed in Dublin by Alday c 1816 and was one of two he wrote during this period. Alday’s symphony had been something of a mystery: while it was known that some parts were held at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (IRL-Dam), they were not enough for a full evaluation of the piece, let alone a performance. However, researchers involved in a RISM Ireland/RFMI scoping study of the uncatalogued music at the National Library of Ireland (IRL-Dn) uncovered the remaining parts. All the parts were then digitally transcribed by undergraduate students of the Dublin Institute of Technology’s Conservatory of Music & Drama (IRL-Dit) in preparation for its much-awaited performance.
Other rarities will allow a glimpse into the musical life of Ireland through the centuries. Both John Sigismond Cousser (1660-1727) and Matthew Dubourg (1703-1767) held the office of Master of the State Music. In this central function, they were responsible for music at Dublin Castle.
The soloist in Matthew Dubourg’s Violin Concerto in D will be Frank Plieninger, member of the Frankfurt Opern- und Museumsorchester.
The Irish mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty was a member of the Frankfurt Opera Studio from 2010-2012 and impressed audiences in the role of Dido in Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. She will sing songs by Timothy Geary (1775-1801) that were popular at the beginning of the nineteenth century, accompanied by American pianist Jonathan Ware.
For two of the works to be performed, the music was transcribed from original sources especially for this occasion.
This concert is being organized in cooperation with the RISM Zentralredaktion, RISM Ireland and the Research Foundation for Music in Ireland (RFMI). The RFMI promotes the dynamic musical life of Ireland, manifested in performance, musicology, pedagogy, and composition. The term ‘Music in Ireland’ includes the broadest spectrum of musical experience in this country; that is both music in Ireland and music of Ireland. Given the centrality of music to Ireland’s culture, the research foundation advances the study and performance of music in Ireland to national and international audiences, to the scholarly community and to the music industry.
Entrance is free.
Photos from top to bottom: Title page to Alday’s Grand Symphony, Sharon Carty, Jonathan Ware, Frank Plieninger. Alday image courtesy of the RFMI; photographs courtesy of the artists.
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