Page 99 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2019. Vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju - The Role of National Opera Houses in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 3
P. 99
opera in ireland – a continuing struggle for acceptance
Two operas from this productive first decade of the twentieth century
deserve special attention for they pursue the goal of the Gaelic League in
two different way, representing the first attempts to not only engage with
Irish mythology but also do it in the Irish language. The first one of these
was Thomas O’Brien Butler’s Muirgheis, written in 1903. It was, however,
to be performed in English for pragmatic reasons – many audience mem-
bers would not have been fluent enough in the language to be able to fol-
low a performance in Irish; it is also not clear how fluent the composer
himself (who wrote the opera during a stay in India) was in the language.14
The opera was not successful; the Irish Times’s critic commented that “Mr
O‘Brien Butler has not yet attained the art of writing a good opera [...].”15
Robert O’Dwyer’s Eithne was more successful; after its premiere in Au-
gust 1909 it was revived for a number of performances in May 1910 (only
to have its run cut short by the funeral of Edward VII).16 O’Dwyer was a
more accomplished composer, and the reviews were much more enthusi-
astic than in the case of O’Brien Butler. Still, after 1910 Eithne remained
forgotten too until it recently received a concert performance in Dublin
in October 2017.17 This performance revealed an eclectic approach with
influences from many sides, including a partly Wagnerian sound world
(some of the High King of Ireland’s music reminds of Lohengrin) as well
as Slavonic touches (some choruses have a Dvořákian flavour). Klein sees
the reason for the failure of Muirgheis and Eithne mainly in a lack of com-
positional skills (in the case of O’Brien Butler), poor libretti and a “very
underdeveloped public musical taste of the time”.18 While Geoffrey Moly-
neux Palmer wrote a few more operas in Irish in the early and mid-1920s,
ultimately the experiment of writing music theatre in the Irish language
has to be regarded as a failure.
14 A recent conference presentation hinted at the possibility that the O’Brien Butler set
the music to accompany the English words while the Irish translation was created
separately at a later stage – leaving us with the question as to how well the Irish words
might fit the music. David Scott, “Rediscovering Muirgheis: The First Grand Opera
in Irish”, SMI/ICTM-IE Annual Postgraduate Conference, Maynooth University, 20
January 2018.
15 Klein, “Stage-Irish”, 56.
16 Gavan Ring, “Robert O'Dwyer: A Colourful Life”, in Robert O'Dwyer, Eithne, pro-
gramme booklet, Opera Theatre Company / RTÉ, 2017, 6-7: 7.
17 The 2017 performance of Eithne can be watched on Youtube; see https://www.you-
tube.com/watch?v=vTtCcOwmIXo; accessed on 26 August 2018.
18 Klein, “Stage-Irish”, 56.
97
Two operas from this productive first decade of the twentieth century
deserve special attention for they pursue the goal of the Gaelic League in
two different way, representing the first attempts to not only engage with
Irish mythology but also do it in the Irish language. The first one of these
was Thomas O’Brien Butler’s Muirgheis, written in 1903. It was, however,
to be performed in English for pragmatic reasons – many audience mem-
bers would not have been fluent enough in the language to be able to fol-
low a performance in Irish; it is also not clear how fluent the composer
himself (who wrote the opera during a stay in India) was in the language.14
The opera was not successful; the Irish Times’s critic commented that “Mr
O‘Brien Butler has not yet attained the art of writing a good opera [...].”15
Robert O’Dwyer’s Eithne was more successful; after its premiere in Au-
gust 1909 it was revived for a number of performances in May 1910 (only
to have its run cut short by the funeral of Edward VII).16 O’Dwyer was a
more accomplished composer, and the reviews were much more enthusi-
astic than in the case of O’Brien Butler. Still, after 1910 Eithne remained
forgotten too until it recently received a concert performance in Dublin
in October 2017.17 This performance revealed an eclectic approach with
influences from many sides, including a partly Wagnerian sound world
(some of the High King of Ireland’s music reminds of Lohengrin) as well
as Slavonic touches (some choruses have a Dvořákian flavour). Klein sees
the reason for the failure of Muirgheis and Eithne mainly in a lack of com-
positional skills (in the case of O’Brien Butler), poor libretti and a “very
underdeveloped public musical taste of the time”.18 While Geoffrey Moly-
neux Palmer wrote a few more operas in Irish in the early and mid-1920s,
ultimately the experiment of writing music theatre in the Irish language
has to be regarded as a failure.
14 A recent conference presentation hinted at the possibility that the O’Brien Butler set
the music to accompany the English words while the Irish translation was created
separately at a later stage – leaving us with the question as to how well the Irish words
might fit the music. David Scott, “Rediscovering Muirgheis: The First Grand Opera
in Irish”, SMI/ICTM-IE Annual Postgraduate Conference, Maynooth University, 20
January 2018.
15 Klein, “Stage-Irish”, 56.
16 Gavan Ring, “Robert O'Dwyer: A Colourful Life”, in Robert O'Dwyer, Eithne, pro-
gramme booklet, Opera Theatre Company / RTÉ, 2017, 6-7: 7.
17 The 2017 performance of Eithne can be watched on Youtube; see https://www.you-
tube.com/watch?v=vTtCcOwmIXo; accessed on 26 August 2018.
18 Klein, “Stage-Irish”, 56.
97
