Page 207 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2023. Glasbena društva v dolgem 19. stoletju: med ljubiteljsko in profesionalno kulturo ▪︎ Music societies in the long 19th century: Between amateur and professional culture. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 6
P. 207
music societies in ireland during the nineteenth century
centuries. 70 per cent of the collection consists of a cappella music, the re-
maining 30 per cent of vocal music with instrumental/orchestral accom-
paniment and pure instrumental music.42 Overall Handel is the composer
represented most prominently in the archive, yet five per cent of all piec-
es are by Mendelssohn and two per cent by Haydn. Of the vocal pieces,
80 per cent are anthems and services. A surprising third of all compos-
ers of vocal music is English, and almost half of the vocal pieces archived
in the collection are by English composers, most prominently Thomas At-
twood, William Boyce, John Goss and Maurice Greene.43 Eight of the com-
posers were organists based in Armagh. The most prominent of these is
John Clarke (also known as John Clarke-Whitfield), later professor of mu-
sic in Cambridge.
The instrumental music in the collection reaches from the early Ba-
roque to the early Romantic age, with composers such as Corelli, Haydn,
Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Rossini and Mendelssohn well represented.44
It is much more conservative than the vocal collection, apart from Men-
delssohn post-Beethovenian composers are rare – exceptions are the Irish
singer and composer William Balfe and Jan Křtitel Václav Kalivoda (often
spelled Kalliwoda; he was also popular in Dublin and Belfast). Only two
per cent of instrumental music is by English composers. Many of the in-
strumental pieces are arranged for chamber ensemble; a string quartet plus
flute or clarinet is very common. Brass instruments are rarely used; trum-
peters, horn players and trombonists may have been in short supply in the
small town. Instrumental pieces (except organ music) were not performed
in the cathedral, yet the musicians active in the cathedral would also have
been involved in secular musical events.
The first regular extra-religious space for the performance of music
was the Music Hall on Vicar’s Hill, as indicated by an entry in a contempo-
rary minute book:
weekly practices, commonly called concerts, were held in the Mu
sic Hall, Vicar’s Hill, by members of the Cathedral Choir, under the
42 Slightly confusingly Dempsey calls the first category “vocal” and the second one “in-
strumental”, which would make Messiah an instrumental piece. See: Dempsey, “The
Armagh Cathedral Collection”, 131–40.
43 Ibid., 132.
44 Ibid., 139–40.
205
centuries. 70 per cent of the collection consists of a cappella music, the re-
maining 30 per cent of vocal music with instrumental/orchestral accom-
paniment and pure instrumental music.42 Overall Handel is the composer
represented most prominently in the archive, yet five per cent of all piec-
es are by Mendelssohn and two per cent by Haydn. Of the vocal pieces,
80 per cent are anthems and services. A surprising third of all compos-
ers of vocal music is English, and almost half of the vocal pieces archived
in the collection are by English composers, most prominently Thomas At-
twood, William Boyce, John Goss and Maurice Greene.43 Eight of the com-
posers were organists based in Armagh. The most prominent of these is
John Clarke (also known as John Clarke-Whitfield), later professor of mu-
sic in Cambridge.
The instrumental music in the collection reaches from the early Ba-
roque to the early Romantic age, with composers such as Corelli, Haydn,
Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Rossini and Mendelssohn well represented.44
It is much more conservative than the vocal collection, apart from Men-
delssohn post-Beethovenian composers are rare – exceptions are the Irish
singer and composer William Balfe and Jan Křtitel Václav Kalivoda (often
spelled Kalliwoda; he was also popular in Dublin and Belfast). Only two
per cent of instrumental music is by English composers. Many of the in-
strumental pieces are arranged for chamber ensemble; a string quartet plus
flute or clarinet is very common. Brass instruments are rarely used; trum-
peters, horn players and trombonists may have been in short supply in the
small town. Instrumental pieces (except organ music) were not performed
in the cathedral, yet the musicians active in the cathedral would also have
been involved in secular musical events.
The first regular extra-religious space for the performance of music
was the Music Hall on Vicar’s Hill, as indicated by an entry in a contempo-
rary minute book:
weekly practices, commonly called concerts, were held in the Mu
sic Hall, Vicar’s Hill, by members of the Cathedral Choir, under the
42 Slightly confusingly Dempsey calls the first category “vocal” and the second one “in-
strumental”, which would make Messiah an instrumental piece. See: Dempsey, “The
Armagh Cathedral Collection”, 131–40.
43 Ibid., 132.
44 Ibid., 139–40.
205
