Page 212 - 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
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glasbena društva v dolgem 19. stoletju: med ljubiteljsko in profesionalno kulturo
“Feis Ceoil” (Music Festival) took place under the guidance of Annie Pat-
terson. This annual series of competitions still continues today. Although
inspired by the Gaelic Revival movement, its initially 32 (and nowadays ca.
180) different competitions focused mainly on classical music; in 1897 just
three of them were dedicated to traditional music. Its categories include in-
dividual performers as well as all sorts of ensembles.57 In 1904 James Joyce
won a Bronze medal for singing at the Feis. The competition’s location ini-
tially alternated between Dublin, Belfast and Cork; yet Dublin quickly be-
came its permanent home.58
The Gaelic Revival movement influenced the development of music in
Ireland directly – through the institutions just mentioned – yet also indi-
rectly in that the existing music societies started to orient themselves to-
wards including more music by Irish composers (sometimes even commis-
sioning pieces), as well as performing more music based on Irish tunes or
with Irish subject matters. The period also witnessed an expansion of musi-
cal research, particularly aiming to uncover the history of Celtic music and
of musicians in Ireland. A first major result of these efforts was William
Henry Grattan Flood’s A History of Irish Music.59 Published in 1905, the
book was a landmark in the development of musical research in Ireland.
Conclusion
Music societies played an important part in Ireland’s musical life, possibly
more so than in that of many other European regions and countries – par-
ticularly given that there were no state-sponsored opera houses or orches-
tras. Apart from the churches they were pretty much the only providers
Press, 2013), 768.
57 Part of the reason the Feis Ceoil had a strong classical orientation was – alongside
the advice of Annie Patterson – the influence of Michele Esposito, an Italian pia-
nist, composer and educator who played a dominant role in Dublin’s musical life be-
tween 1882 and 1928. He also established the “Dublin Orchestral Society” (active
1899–1914), Dublin’s foremost orchestra in the early twentieth century. See: Philip
Shields, “Dublin Orchestral Society,” in The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland, vol. 1,
eds. Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 2013),
329–30; Jeremy Dibble, “Michele Esposito,” in The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland,
vol. 1, eds. Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: University College Dublin Press,
2013), 358–61.
58 Karol Mullaney-Dignam and Jimmy O’Brien Moran, “Feis Ceoil,” in The Encyclo
paedia of Music in Ireland, vol. 1, eds. Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: Uni-
versity College Dublin Press, 2013), 372–3.
59 William Henry Grattan Flood, A History of Irish Music (Dublin: Browne and Nolan,
1905).
210
“Feis Ceoil” (Music Festival) took place under the guidance of Annie Pat-
terson. This annual series of competitions still continues today. Although
inspired by the Gaelic Revival movement, its initially 32 (and nowadays ca.
180) different competitions focused mainly on classical music; in 1897 just
three of them were dedicated to traditional music. Its categories include in-
dividual performers as well as all sorts of ensembles.57 In 1904 James Joyce
won a Bronze medal for singing at the Feis. The competition’s location ini-
tially alternated between Dublin, Belfast and Cork; yet Dublin quickly be-
came its permanent home.58
The Gaelic Revival movement influenced the development of music in
Ireland directly – through the institutions just mentioned – yet also indi-
rectly in that the existing music societies started to orient themselves to-
wards including more music by Irish composers (sometimes even commis-
sioning pieces), as well as performing more music based on Irish tunes or
with Irish subject matters. The period also witnessed an expansion of musi-
cal research, particularly aiming to uncover the history of Celtic music and
of musicians in Ireland. A first major result of these efforts was William
Henry Grattan Flood’s A History of Irish Music.59 Published in 1905, the
book was a landmark in the development of musical research in Ireland.
Conclusion
Music societies played an important part in Ireland’s musical life, possibly
more so than in that of many other European regions and countries – par-
ticularly given that there were no state-sponsored opera houses or orches-
tras. Apart from the churches they were pretty much the only providers
Press, 2013), 768.
57 Part of the reason the Feis Ceoil had a strong classical orientation was – alongside
the advice of Annie Patterson – the influence of Michele Esposito, an Italian pia-
nist, composer and educator who played a dominant role in Dublin’s musical life be-
tween 1882 and 1928. He also established the “Dublin Orchestral Society” (active
1899–1914), Dublin’s foremost orchestra in the early twentieth century. See: Philip
Shields, “Dublin Orchestral Society,” in The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland, vol. 1,
eds. Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 2013),
329–30; Jeremy Dibble, “Michele Esposito,” in The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland,
vol. 1, eds. Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: University College Dublin Press,
2013), 358–61.
58 Karol Mullaney-Dignam and Jimmy O’Brien Moran, “Feis Ceoil,” in The Encyclo
paedia of Music in Ireland, vol. 1, eds. Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: Uni-
versity College Dublin Press, 2013), 372–3.
59 William Henry Grattan Flood, A History of Irish Music (Dublin: Browne and Nolan,
1905).
210
