Patron: Count John McCormack
Hon. President: Seamus Kearns
Please make special effort to be present - the larger the attendance, the better the debate for the development of the society.
Interested in knowing more about John McCormack or the aims of the Society!! if so - why not come along and be entertained by good music - knowledgeable McCormack fans - pleasant company - we promise you will not be disappointed.
These excellent recitals are not restricted to members only: all are invited.
Dear Member,
I hope you enjoyed the Christmas season and best wishes for a happy and peaceful 2008.
1) ANNUAL LUNCH
DATE: Saturday, 16th February 2008
VENUE: Buswells Hotel, Molesworth Street
TIME: 12:00 pm for 12:30 pm
It has been necessary to change the venue for the Annual Lunch this year. As you can see the venue is Buswells Hotel, Molesworth Street, (opposite entrance to Dail Eireann.) Tables will be reserved for members and it is important to be there on time. The lunch will be a three course carvery meal (main course, dessert and tea or coffee.) This arrangement will allow for a greater choice of menu and at the lower cost of £22 per person.
Early bookings as soon as possible to Ita Hackett please, either by a cheque in the post or at the recital on Monday21st January or by telephone~ 01-6689245.Early booking is essential to facilitate arrangements with the hotel and not later than Wednesday 30th January please. Ita's address is: 20 Morehampton Terrace, Donnybrook, Dublin 4.
2) RECITALS FOR THE NEXT FOUR MONTHS:
Date Time Venue Presenter
Monday 21 Jan 8pm United Arts Club, 3 Upr Fitzwilliam St., Dublin 2 Aideen OKeeffe
Monday 25 Feb 8pm United Arts Club, 3 Upr Fitzwilliam St., Dublin 2 Sean Callan
Monday 31 Mar 8pm United Arts Club, 3 Upr Fitzwilliam St., Dublin 2 Joe Clarke
Monday 21 Apr 8pm United Arts Club, 3 Upr Fitzwilliam St., Dublin 2 Jim Conway
3) MONDAY 31TH MARCH -SPECIAL MEMORIES RECITAL
The idea for this recital is based on a suggestion at a recent committee meeting that there are many members who have very special memories of a particular McCormack song or several songs which they might like to share with other members. The March recital will give you the opportunityto share,such a memory. . If you have a special memory and expect to be at the March recital please ring Joe Clarke on O1-8324123 or write to him at 51 Grange Park, Baldoyle, Dublin 13 and let him know the song and the memory relating to it and he will endeavour to include it in the recital.
As it is likely that some members may nominate the same song you should, if possible, name a maximum of three songs. Your special memory, which you will share at the recital, will be the introduction to the song.
4) SPECIAL FOUR DAY BREAK 5TH MAY - 9THMAY
Yes it is that time again and Ita Hackett (our Chairman) has been working hard over recent weeks to arrange a suitable venue and package for the members annual break. I think you will agree that she has come up trumps again with an excellent price for a hotel of this standard.
DATE Monday 5thMay to Friday 9thMay
VENUE Whites Hotel, Wexford
PACKAGE Four nights including Bed, Breakfast and Evening Dinner
COST €240 per person sharing - single supplement extra
Most members will be familiar with Whites Hotel and its quality of service over many years as a four star hotel. Recently there has been a major investment in refurbishment etc. The refurbished hotel now includes a state of the art leisure centre as well as other facilities including an underground car park. The location provides many options for
coach tours if desired, at extra cost.
Early booking with Ita Hackett - ~ 01-6689245, 20 Morehampton Terrace, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, is essential to ensure the hotel holds the required number of bedrooms for Society members. So please make your booking with Ita as soon as possible but not later than Monday 28th February.
The best time to ring Ita are before 10am in the morning and between 6pm and 8pm in the evening.
4) THOMAS MOORE'S IRISH MELODIES
BICENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION EVENTS 2008
To celebrate the first appearance of Thomas Moore's Irish Melodies in 1808,.a series of events is being organised throughout.2008. The enclosed documentation will be of interest to members. .
The programme includes a competition for young singers with bursaries totalling €lO,OOO. The final of the competition will be held in the National Concert Hall on Tuesday 22nd January at 8pm sharp. Admission €15; Concessions €1O.
Thomas Moore's Irish Melodies have stood at the vanguard of national song for almost two hundred years. They are among our greatest national treasures.
Who was Thomas Moore?
Thomas Moore was the most famous Irishman of his day and one of the most important cultural figures of the nineteenth century. While his talents were literary, it was Moore's Irish Melodies, published in several collections which made his name. The Irish Melodies were a source of national pride; they became famous all over the world, defining Irish culture througout the nineteenth century. The first of these collections appeared in 1808, so we are approaching the bi centenary of the first edition of the Irish Melodies. The name might not mean that much nowadays, but Moore is to Ireland what Stephen Foster is to America. S0, if you have ever heard The Minstrel Boy, The Last Rose of Summer, Meeting of the Waters, Believe Me if all those Endearing Young Charms or My Gentle Harp, then you will know Moore's Melodies. In his songs, Moore accessed revolutionary sentiments and other political commentary and many of these are still relevant in the modem world.
Why a new recording of Moore's Melodies?
Although Moore's Melodies continue to be recognisable and well-known internationally, Moore's reputation in Ireland decreased considerably during the twentieth century. So, as the recording industry became ever more prominent, Moore's songs have become increasingly neglected. While collections have been recorded, this activity has been largely confined to a dozen or so of the best-known melodies. It may be surprising to find that Moore wrote 124 in total, most of which are never performed nowadays and it is also virtually impossible to buy the sheet music. So, despite his importance as the writer of Ireland's most famous and enduring songs, Moore's Melodies are largely unavailable
to performers and listeners alike.
Moore's Irish Melodies and the Symbol of the Harp
Moore allied his lyrics to the ancient harp music of Ireland, mostly taken from Bunting's collections made after the Last Harp Festival in Belfast in 1792. The harp melodies are the richest historical anthology of our national music and include many of the greatest Moll Roe in the Morning, Gramachree, I Once Had a True Love, Savourneen Deelish, Banks of Banna, Kitty of Coleraine, Garyone and the Groves of Blarney. Little wonder then that Moote 's Melodies have survived the passing of two hundred years. There can be few countries in the world boasting a musical instrument as their national symbol and the harp continues to be a potent motif of national identity and a reminder of Ireland's rich musical heritage. Furthermore, as we have seen, the harp and its significance lies at the core of Moore's Irish Melodies. Not oniy did Moore use these airs, he also made frequent reference to the harp in the words of his songs.
Why are the Melodies no longer performed?
John Stevenson and Henry Rowley Bishop's original accompaniments of the Irish Melodies are rarely heard today, although their value as historical documents is immeasurable. Almost as soon as they were written, the accompaniments of the Irish Melodies were subjected to criticism. However, it would be invaluable to have all 124 of these songs available to the public as a modern-day collection in order to demonstrate how Moore's original listeners would have experienced his work. Michael William Balfe, whose bicentenary occurs also in 2008, made new versions of the songs in the 1850s and Charles Villiers Stanford issued his restored' settings in 1895.
Details of Commemoration Proposals
1) Early in 2008, a national festival devoted to the interpretation of Moor's Irish
Melodies will be held. The festival is open to yonng singers, born or living in Ireland, aged 18 to 26. A number of bursaries, ranging in value from €500 -€2000 will be awarded to male and female singers, chosen from among the participants. Bursary holders may be invited to perform at concerts in Dublin and around the country, on the commemorative CD My Gentle Harp from RTE lyric fm and participate in the Thomas Moore Hypermedia Archive recording project. The Conservatory of Music and Drama, Dublin Institute of Technology will host the preliminary rounds and secure international
representation on the jury. A gala night will be held .at the end of the festival at the National Concert Hall when all bursary holders will be announced.
2) The performers for the recording of My Gentle Harp CD by RTE lyric fin may be chosen from among the bursary holders. The settings used will be drawn from the 87 arrangements completed by the Irish opera composer, Michael William Balfe, in 1859. This will be a World Premiere Recording as these arrangements of the songs have not been previously released on CD and 2008 also celebrates the bicentenary of the birth of Balfe. The disc will be promoted nationally and internationally as part of RTE lyric fm's commercial catalogue. It will be edited and mastered by lyric :fm and promoted through RTE webshop and lyric fin's Irish distributor,' Cosmic Sounds. The release date has been fixed for October, in time for the Christmas market.
3) An exhibition, which will run for a period of two and a half months during the summer period, will be held at the Royal Irish Academy, Dawson Street Dublin. Barracudas telling the story of Moore's Irish Melodies will be mounted in the public space along with exhibits of the tirstedition of Moore's songs, preserved in the National Library of Ireland, other Moore publications, memorabilia and the documentary film on Moore, One Faithful Harp, made by Hummingbird Productions for RTE in association with the Irish Film Board. The Royal Irish Academy in Dawson Street Dublin also have Moore's harp, a Royal Portable Harp by the Irish maker Charles Egan and Thomas Moore's personal library, donated to the Academy by his widow at the time of the poet's death. Moore was a member of the Royal Irish Academy. Lunchtime concerts featuring Moore's Irish Melodies are also being proposed in conjunction with the exhibition.
4) The Thomas Moore Hypermedia Archive is a web site devoted to Thomas Moore a1 NUl Galway. The archive will be online in 2008, providing wide access to scholarship and information about Thomas Moore. There will be many different formats including sampling of definitive recordings of the Irish Melodies. A conference will be held at NUl
Galway to coincide with the launch of the web site and it is envisaged that recordings 0:all 124 of the original versions ofthe songs will be available as a free download from the website by the end of2008 or early in 2009.
5) A proposal will be made to Music Network's Performance and Touring Award scheme to tour a programme of Moore's Irish Melodies to a number of arts centres and other venues throughout Ireland. It is envisaged that the moveable parts of the proposed exhibition will tour with the performers and may also be made available for the
conference at NUl Galway in September.
6) Thomas Moore will feature in the 15th Biennial International Conference on Nineteenth-Century Music to be held at UCD between 25 and 28 June 2008. This prestigious event is being held in Ireland for the very first time and offers an opportunity to promote Thomas Moore in an international forum as one of Ireland's truly important cultural figures.
7) A complete set of recordings of the original settings of all 124 Moore's Irish Melodies will be made for the ThoIl\as Moore Hypermedia Archive. None of the existing recordings of Moore's Irish Melodies form a complete collection of the original settings by Stevenson and Bishop, so this historic recording of all 124 songs will be the first of its kind ever to be made. These will be available for free download from the website along with a selection of digital facsimiles of the music and other information and research documentation. Some bursary holders will be invited to participate in this project along with a number of professional singers. DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama will coordinate the project, provide their recording studio and equipment free of charge for ten days of recording sessions and will be credited for their involvement in the project on the Thomas Moore Hypermedia Archive website. -
Dr Una Hunt 26 November 2007
On behalf of
Artistic and Executive Committee .
Dr Una Hunt (Artistic Director), pianist, broadcaster and Irish music specialist Brid Grant, Head ofDIT Conservatory of Music and Drama; Donald Helme, senior advertising executive and broadcaster; Anne-Marie O'Sullivan, Head of Vocal, Opera and Drama Studies, DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama; Dr Cliona Doris, Head of
Orchestral Studies, DIT Conservatory of Music anq Drama; Dr Sean Ryder, Moore 1nstitute for the Humanities and Social Studies, NUl Galway; Colette McGahon, opera singer, voice teacher and vocal coach, Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin
Best Wishes
DonalO'Sullivan
Honorary Secretary
81 Walkinstown Road
Dublin 12
Tel 01 - 4501219
Interested in knowing more about John McCormack or the aims of the Society!! if so - why not come along and be entertained by good music - knowledgeable McCormack fans - pleasant company - we promise you will not be disappointed.
These excellent recitals are not restricted to members only: all are invited.
As you can see we now have our own website! Please come forward and submit your suggestions and interests. The editor John Scally looks forward to hearing from you. He may be contacted by email at : john_sc@hotmail.co.uk
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Padriac O'Hara, compiler of "Letters of a Legendary Singer" has embarked on a new book based on the letters and correspondence of John McCormack. If you have letters or copies of letters or postcards writtten by or to john McCormack, Padriac would be most grateful if you would let him have a copy; he will refund the cost of postage and photocopying. His address is "Choc Muise" Church Road, Ballina, Co. Mayo.
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Dear Member,
Following the sale of QV2 Restaurant, the Society wishes to take this opportunity to wish the McCormack family well and expresses it's gratitude to them for providing a venue for recitals and meetings for so many years.
The Society is happy to announce that it is relocating to another city centre venue. The Teacher's Club at 36 - 37 Parnell Square, Dublin who have agreed to hire a room to the society.
The address 37 Parnell Square has special significance
for John McCormack fans, as it was there 100 years ago, in 1903, that a young
John McCormack received his first singing lesson from his famous teacher and
friend, Dr. Vincent O'Brien.
Our inaugural recital will take place on Wednesday 19th March and will be a joint presentation between John Allen and Elizabeth O'Brien whose late husband, Oliver was the son of Vincent O'Brien.
All members are reminded that fees are due in January/February
€20
Payment please to Patricia Kelly. (address below)
Chair: Tom Dowling Vice-Chair: Ita Hacket
Hon Secretary: Donal O'Sullivan, 81 Walkinstown Road, Dublin 12
Treasurer: Patricia Kelly, 23 Dollymount Avenue, Dollymount Dublin 3
Joe Clarke, Dermot McDevitt, Marie Tully, Etttie Drumm, Elizabeth O'Brien, Dorothy Dennis, Aideen O'Keeffe, Donal McNally, Paul Duffy, Tom Faulkner, Risteard de Barra.
For Membership Information please contact: Dermot McDevitt, 157 Briar Walk, Martello Estate, Portmarnock, Co. Dublin.Telephone: 01-8462225