Page 149 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2024. Glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes ▪︎ Music Criticism – Yesterday and Today. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 7
P. 149
music criticism in ireland
on the same evening, with the paper stipulating that “a large attendance
upon both occasions will testify public appreciation of their merits”.6 This
almost sounds as if the paper is putting pressure on its readers to attend
the performances. The announcement does not mention anything about
the group or the programme they will perform; all the information we
get is about the event as a social occasion – particularly that the morning
performance is associated with the Lord Lieutenant and will be attended
by him, so attendance will offer an occasion to meet or at least be in the
same room as this luminary. Nothing appears more important to the (un-
named) Irish Times writer than that. What is not mentioned in this brief
announcement is that “Buckley’s Serenaders” were a US-based blackface
minstrel troupe consisting of James Buckley and his three sons, who in
1860−1861 undertook their second tour of England and Ireland.7 That they
offered two performances on the same day in Dublin indicates that they
were well received in the Irish capital.
Under the heading “Morning Concert”, the paper offers a more ex-
tended review of a recital featuring five singers and a pianist. Its success, it
argues, stemmed from the “excellence of the programme,” the singers and
“the favourable condition of the weather.”8 The (mainly Italian) perform-
ers presented a range of Italian pieces and also a few Irish songs. The fo-
cus here lies on the interaction of Italian and Irish cultures and musicali-
ty. For example, Madame Grisi’s rendition of the Irish song “Home, Sweet
Home” was “characterised by true feeling and pathos, and, although sup-
ported by the richest cultivation, lost nothing of the simplicity and ‘nature’
at her hand.”9 Signor Mario’s version of “Goodbye, Sweetheart” was, on
the other hand, “a little Italian”, yet “nevertheless, met with an enthusias-
tic reception.”10
What does the juxtaposition of “cultivation” and “Italian” style versus
Irish “true feeling” and “simplicity” mean? Michael Murphy reports an ar-
gument made against the Italian style by the journal The Theatre in a re-
view of a vocal recital in 1831. The reviewer castigates the “scientific embel-
lishments” which destroyed the “natural pathetic ease and the softness of the
6 Ibid.
7 Robert B. Winans, “Buckley Family,” in Grove Music Online, https://doi. org/10.1093
/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2234604.
8 Anon., “Morning Concert,” The Irish Times, September 22, 1860, 2.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
149
on the same evening, with the paper stipulating that “a large attendance
upon both occasions will testify public appreciation of their merits”.6 This
almost sounds as if the paper is putting pressure on its readers to attend
the performances. The announcement does not mention anything about
the group or the programme they will perform; all the information we
get is about the event as a social occasion – particularly that the morning
performance is associated with the Lord Lieutenant and will be attended
by him, so attendance will offer an occasion to meet or at least be in the
same room as this luminary. Nothing appears more important to the (un-
named) Irish Times writer than that. What is not mentioned in this brief
announcement is that “Buckley’s Serenaders” were a US-based blackface
minstrel troupe consisting of James Buckley and his three sons, who in
1860−1861 undertook their second tour of England and Ireland.7 That they
offered two performances on the same day in Dublin indicates that they
were well received in the Irish capital.
Under the heading “Morning Concert”, the paper offers a more ex-
tended review of a recital featuring five singers and a pianist. Its success, it
argues, stemmed from the “excellence of the programme,” the singers and
“the favourable condition of the weather.”8 The (mainly Italian) perform-
ers presented a range of Italian pieces and also a few Irish songs. The fo-
cus here lies on the interaction of Italian and Irish cultures and musicali-
ty. For example, Madame Grisi’s rendition of the Irish song “Home, Sweet
Home” was “characterised by true feeling and pathos, and, although sup-
ported by the richest cultivation, lost nothing of the simplicity and ‘nature’
at her hand.”9 Signor Mario’s version of “Goodbye, Sweetheart” was, on
the other hand, “a little Italian”, yet “nevertheless, met with an enthusias-
tic reception.”10
What does the juxtaposition of “cultivation” and “Italian” style versus
Irish “true feeling” and “simplicity” mean? Michael Murphy reports an ar-
gument made against the Italian style by the journal The Theatre in a re-
view of a vocal recital in 1831. The reviewer castigates the “scientific embel-
lishments” which destroyed the “natural pathetic ease and the softness of the
6 Ibid.
7 Robert B. Winans, “Buckley Family,” in Grove Music Online, https://doi. org/10.1093
/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2234604.
8 Anon., “Morning Concert,” The Irish Times, September 22, 1860, 2.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
149
