Trustees of Ina Boyle Society congratulate Michael Traynor of Piatti Quartet on their performance of the String Quartet E flat at Kings Place.
The Piatti Quartet acknowledge the applause for their performance of the String Quartet E Flat at Kings Place.
E. VOCAL MUSIC
`Snow-flakes' (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow), 'The winds as at their hour of birth' (Tennyson), 'Cradle song' (St John Lucas), 'A song of a nest' ( Jean Ingelow) (1903)
`The cry' (L. G. Moberly), 'Sea Wrack' (Moira O'Neill) (1905)
`Scythe song' (Andrew Lang) (1906)
`Do you remember still?' (L. G. Moberly), 'A cradle song' (T.J.H.), 'The high tide' (Joan Ingelow) (1907)
`Not yet' (L. G. Moberly) (1908)
`The lost water, 'Roses, 'The well at the world's end' (Eva Gore-Booth), 'The wind of dreams, life's harvest' (R. M. Marriott Watson) (1909)
`Hungarian song' (M. Byron), 'In prison' (William Morris), 'A soft day, thank God' (Winifred M. Letts), 'Potter's song' (Longfellow) (1912)
`Midwinter' (Kujohara No Fukayabu, tr. Clara Walsh), 'The last invocation' (Walt Whitman) (1913)
`Lullaby' (Maurice Hime), 'The joy of earth' (George Russell (Æ)) (1914) First performance: 5 May 1915, Arcadia Barracks Bray, Nora Borel soprano, Rev. Arthur Oulton piano
`Have you news of my boy Jack?' (Rudyard Kipling) (1916)
First performance: 9 November 2015, Fr McNally Recital Room, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Paidi O Dubhain baritone
`A song of enchantment, 'A song of shadows' (Walter de la Mare) (1922)
Published: Stainer & Bell (1923, 1926)
Dedicated 'To my Mother'
First performance: 13 October 1947, Radio Eireann, Jean Nolan mez sop, Rhoda Coghill piano
`If you let sorrow in on you' (W. M. Letts) (1922)
Dedicated to Sylvia Duckworth
First performance: 23 August 2013, Kilruddery House, Regina Nathan soprano, Anne Cullen piano
`Cum invocarum' (Philip Sidney) (1923)
`Sleep song' [`Deirin De] (1923) (tr. from the traditional Irish by P. H. Pearse, published The Irish Review, May 1911, 139ff.) First performed: Radio Eireann, 13 October 1947, Jean Nolan mez sop, Rhoda Coghill piano
Two Christmas Songs 1. 'So blyssid be the tyme' (Sloane MS), 2.. `Tyrle tyrlow' (Balliol MS) (1923)
Dedicated 'For Mother. Christmas 1923'
`Eternity' (Robert Herrick) (1924)
Dedicated 'In memory of Rev. H.S. Mecredy' [incumbent Powerscourt 1907-2.4], d. 14 December 1924
First performance: 13 October 1947, Radio Eireann, Jean Nolan mez sop, Rhoda Coghill piano
`Since thou 0 fondest and truest' 'Spring goeth all in white' (Robert Bridges) (1924)
`Longing' (George Herbert) (1925), 'The bringer of dreams' (Edith Sitwell) (1925, revised 1927)
`The stolen child' (W. B. Yeats), 'Blow, blow, thou winter wind' (Shakespeare), `They went forth' (Eva Gore-Booth) (1926)
`When Mary thro' the garden went' (Mary Coleridge) (1927)
Dedicated 'For Mother's birthday'
First performance: 5 June 2010, Documentary From the Darkness, RTE Lyric FM, Sonya Keogh, mez sop, David Brophy piano
`A mountain woman asks for quiet that her child may sleep' (P. H. Pearse, tr. T. MacDonagh), 'Blessing' (Austin Clarke) (1928)
First performance: 23 August 2013, Kilruddery House, Regina Nathan soprano, Anne Cullen piano
`The Land: Prelude, Winter, Spring' (Vita Sackville-West) (1928)
All Souls' Flower' (Pamela Grey of Falloden), A Christmas carol (1928)
Dedicated 'Written for my mother at Christmas, the last of her Christmas or birthday songs ... I used the tune of this in the third movement of my violin concerto, dedicated to the memory of my mother.'
First performance: 5 June 2010, Documentary From the Darkness, RTE Lyric FM, Sonya Keogh mez sop, David Brophy piano
`Himself and his fiddle' (E. L. Twiss) (1929)
Five Sacred Folksongs of Sicily (translated Grace Warrack) i. 'Eternal love; 2. 'In the desert, 3. 'The yoke, 4. 'Lord in that love, 5. 'At the altar' (1930)
`Dust' Epigram (1933)
`Praier of Pieus Mirandula unto God' (Thomas More) (1937)
`Easter snow' (W. M. Letts) (1940) Dedicated 'In memory of S. who died 12 Nov. 1939'
`With sick and famished eyes' Song by Henry Purcell (George Herbert) ed. Ina Boyle for voice with piano (or harpsichord) and violoncello ad lib.
Published: OUP (1943)
Three Mediaeval Latin Lyrics (1953) 1. 'Sleep; 2. 'Storm, 3. 'Evening on the Moselle' (translated Helen Waddell) (1953)
Dedicated 'Written for Sophie Wyss'
First performance: 4 April 1955, Drawing Room Arts Council, Joan Gray mez sop, Eric Stevens piano
Two Songs of the Woods (1954) I. 'Dirge in the woods; 2. 'Enter these enchanted _ woods' (George Meredith)
First performance: 4 April 1955, Drawing Room Arts Council, Joan Gray mez sop, Eric Stevens piano
Three Songs by Walter de la Mare (1956) i. 'Song of the mad prince; 2. 'The pigs and the charcoal-burner, 3. 'Moon, reeds, rushes'
Dedicated 'For Ina Jephson' First performance: 2 January 1968, Radio Eireann, Patricia McCarry sop, Rhoda Coghill piano
Looking Back (1961-66) 1. `Carrowdore (St John Ervine), 2. 'All Souls' night' (Frances Cornford), 3. 'O ghost that has gone' (James Stephens), 4. 'The Mill Water' (Edward Thomas)
First performance: 'O ghost that has gone, 5 June 2010, Documentary From the Darkness, RTE Lyric FM, Sonya Keogh mez sop, David Brophy piano
On 7th December Piatti Quartet’s album “Ina Boyle: String Quartet plus works by Vaughan Williams, Moeran & Ireland”, won a spot in Presto Music’s 'Top Ten Recordings of the Year’, after first becoming a finalist in their 100 best albums of 2023. A fitting tribute to Ina and the wonderful Piatti Quartet.
You can see the full list here.
More about the album:
“Until recently, Rubicon were unaware of the rich output of Irish composer Ina Boyle, who was never quite forgotten because she was the only woman composer to be published in the Carnegie Collection of British music with her atmospheric orchestral rhapsody, The Magic Harp of 1919.
Boyle spent her life living at the substantial family home at Bushey Park, near Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, and she only left it for brief visits to London, including lessons with Vaughan Williams.
At the end of the First World War, she produced a brief choral elegy, Soldiers at Peace, which was widely sung at the time although rejected by the Carnegie Committee (revived in Hampstead in 2018).
The Magic Harp dates from 1919, and a programmatic symphony, In the Wicklow Hills, the mid-1920s. During the 1930s she produced a notable violin concerto (in memory of her mother), a Second Symphony, an Overture for orchestra and several stage works including the ballet Virgilian Suite, The Dance of Death (a masque for dancing after Holbein) and the mimed drama, The Vision of Er. A third symphony followed, setting Edith Sitwell for contralto and orchestra.
In 1934 she completed her String Quartet in E minor. Boyle’s Quartet is in three movements and has a distinctive slightly Spartan character. This is the world premiere commercial release of this work.
A fascinating recital from the Piatti Quartet is completed with the Welsh Hymn Tunes arrangements by Vaughan Williams, and John Ireland’s The Holy Boy in his arrangement.”
From left to right: Georgina Cassidy (Piano), Frasier Hickland (Piano), Laura Aherne (Soprano), Conor Campbell (Baritone). Photo credit: Noel Mullen.
The Ina Boyle Songbook was launched on 11th Oct 2023 by the Ina Boyle Society in collaboration with Irish Heritage. The launch took place in the surrounds of Marylebone Church NW1, where talented young Irish Heritage musicians performed a selection of the songs. The programme also included songs by two of Ina's women contemporaries, Rhoda Coghill and Elizabeth Maconchy.
The Songbook contains 26 of Ina Boyle’s songs. Ina wrote over 70 songs, the majority of which were never performed in her lifetime.
The Ina Boyle Society wishes to thank everyone who has made the Songbook and the Launch a reality.
Thanks to Irish Heritage and Brian Hughes - the Artistic Director and their wonderful young artists. Editorial Committee;- Editors; Dr Orla Shannon (Dublin City University and Royal Irish Academy of Music) and David Scott (TUDublin Conservatoire.); Dr. Ita Beausang (Biographer of Ina Boyle) Dr. Kerry Houston (Research Foundation Music in Ireland), John W. Griffith and Joseph Hookway (Songbook format), Jessica Mallalieu (Graphic Designer), and Roy Stanley (Music Librarian Trinity College Dublin).
The Songbook can be purchased from Chimes Barbican, and CMC (Contemporary Music Centre Ireland).
“I think it is most courageous of you to go on with so little recognition. The only thing to say is that it does come finally.” Letter to Ina Boyle from Vaughan Williams 4 May 1937.
From left to right: Angela Brady OBE; Irish Ambassador Martin Fraser; Dr Orla Shannon and Michael Alen-Buckley. Photo credit: Noel Mullen.
Michael Boyle (Director) and Katie Rowan (Chair) of the Ina Boyle Society. Photo credit: Noel Mullen.
Ina Boyle Society Ltd. Promoting the music of Ina Boyle and other neglected Irish women composers whose music deserves to be heard, more widely.
inaboylecomposer@gmail.com
Wednesday 11th October 2023
19:30 - 21:30
St Marylebone Church, NW1 5LT
Laura Aherne Soprano
Conor Campbell Baritone
Georgina Cassidy Piano
Frasier Hickland Piano
Selected Songs by Ina Boyle will be performed by Emerging Irish Artists, alongside songs by Rhoda Coghill and Elizabeth Maconchy, contemporaries of Ina who have been programmed as part of our mission to not only promote the music of Ina Boyle, but also women composers of her generation.
Irish Broadcaster and Community Music advocate, Evelyn Grant, shares a wonderful insight from Singer and Song Writer, Chris de Burgh about living in Bushy Park, once home to Ina Boyle, her life and music as well as featuring A Soft Day [00:14:25], Psalm for Cello and Orchestra [00:59:15] and Wild Geese [01:12:55].
Irish Heritage will be hosting their annual summer concert on July 6th at 19.30 in Leighton House in the Kensington area of London, and one of their bursary winners (Laura Aherne, winner of the Irish Heritage Brackaville Bursary for Vocal Studies, current Masters student at the Royal College of Music) will be performing Ina Boyle’s song The Stolen Child, which will feature in her songbook to be released in October this year in an event in collaboration with Irish Heritage. This will be the first live performance of this particular song.
Event details can be found here:
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/irishheritage/892744?
On April 26th, Irish Heritage held their annual spring concert at the Royal Overseas League in London. In the concert was programmed Ina Boyle’s Elegy, especially arranged for viola and piano. Jamie Howe who studies at the Royal Academy of Music was the violist, and he was accompanied by Luke Lally Maguire on piano, who is currently studying at Guildhall. Jamie was this year’s joint winner of the Irish Heritage Homan Potterton Bursary for Strings, and Luke was the overall winner of the main music bursary.
On Sunday 28th of May at 5pm in the Church of the Good Shepherd in Churchtown, the Dublin Orchestral Players will be performing their summer concert, and we are thrilled that in the programme will be Ina Boyle’s Overture.
We are delighted that Irish Heritage will host the London launch of the first Ina Boyle songbook, with a selection of songs to be performed by young Irish artists studying in the UK. Date, venue and performance details to be announced over the coming weeks.
The recent release of the Piatti Quartet’s CD was reviewed by Geoff Brown in the Chamber Reviews section of the BBC Music magazine, May 2023.
‘From Ireland itself comes the slightly reticent but gripping String Quartet of 1934 by the gifted and newly discovered Ina Boyle’.
‘The Piatti Quartet bring to this repertoire a passion, symphathy and a carefully balanced ensemble sense guaranteed to make each of the composers shine.’
‘Boyle’s String Quartet in its premiere recording fascinates the most, with its mix of lean textures, carefully wrought argument and moments of lyrical magic from a soaring violin flying high over fluttering notes below’.
“The Joy of Earth” has been released by the Halle Orchestra on the album “Shropshire Lad - English songs orchestrated and performed by Roderick Williams,” conducted by Sir Mark Elder. It is now available at Amazon.
The Piatti Quartet have released a new recording of Ina Boyle’s String Quartet on the Rubicon label, along with other works by Vaughan Williams, Moeran, and Ireland.
Available at:
Presto Music
Apple Music
Amazon
The Carice Singers gave a performance as part of the Ralph Vaughan Williams 150th Anniversary Celebrations at the Wigmore Hall on 12 October, 2022.
The IBSL is delighted to announce that the Society for Music in Ireland Council has awarded the Irish Research Council Harrison Medal 2022 to Dr Ita Beausang, a patron of the IBSL, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to contextual studies of music in Ireland, from the late-eighteenth to the mid-twentieth century.
London chamber choir Londinium, which under its Musical Director Andrew Griffiths has established a particular reputation for adventurous programming of 20th- and 21st-century British a cappella repertoire, toured to The Netherlands for the first time in August 2022 with concerts in Amsterdam and Leiden of British choral music celebrating the uplifting power of song.
Simon Heffer has written an important article on the history and visibility of female composers, with a particular focus on Ina Boyle. Simon Heffer also gives his own extremely complimentary insights into Ina’s music, complimenting her orchestral writing on The Magic Harp (1919) and Colin Clout (1921). He notes the influence of her teacher, Ralph Vaughn Williams, but also highlights how her ‘idiom goes far beyond that of her teacher.’
