Ina Boyle in Waterford Gallery of Art's "Muscles & Mind" exhibition.

Waterford Gallery of Art exhibits "Muscles & Mind: Irish Art Olympians" (July 26th - November 26th 2024) featuring Ina Boyle's chamber work, ‘Lament for Bion’ (1944-45). In the 20th century, Pierre De Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics, championed the link between sport and arts. Medals were awarded in architecture, music and literature and in 1948, Boyle's Greek-themed chamber work, ‘Lament for Bion’ was awarded a commemoration medal and Diplome d’Honneur in the music category of the Olympic Art Competition.

"Muscles & Mind: Irish Art Olympians" (July 26th - November 26th 2024)

“…gentle Miss Ina Boyle from Enniskerry obtained a diploma in the music section for her ‘Lament for Bion’.”
— Máirín Allen (Honorary Secretary, Arts Section) account of the 1948 Olympic Games.

Waterford Gallery of Art writes, “The revival of the modern Olympic Games by Pierre De Coubertin embodied the ideal of a marriage between ‘Art and Sport, Muscles and Mind’. This exhibition features artists from the Waterford Art Collection who competed for Ireland in the Olympic Games from 1924-48 including: Jack B. Yeats, Letitia Hamilton, Séan Keating, Mainie Jellett, Fr. Jack P. Hanlon, Desmond Broe, Flora Vere O’Brien, Sir John Lavery, Sir William Orpen and more. Also featuring is the newly commissioned portrait of Olympic silver medal winner John Treacy by Sammy Kane, and ten open-call selected contemporary works on the theme of competition, representation and nationhood.” – Waterford Gallery of Art. Read more on the "Muscles & Mind" exhibition, here.

"Muscles & Mind: Irish Art Olympians" (July 26th - November 26th 2024) Waterford Gallery of Art.

Dr. Ita Beausang explores the background to Ina Boyle's commemoration medal and Diplome d’Honneur awarded in 1948. Click here to read more on our website.

‘Ina Boyle and her World’ performance in County Wicklow

Ina Boyle’s music was recently performed in her home county of Wicklow at the ‘Music in Calary Summer Series’ concert.

Sponsored by Wicklow County Arts, and staged in Calary Church, ‘Ina Boyle and her World’ was a stunning program with accomplished performances from Aileen Cahill, piano, Dr Orla Shannon, soprano and David Scott, baritone.

Music in Calary: ‘Ina Boyle and her World’

“I was particularly delighted to speak to some audience members who knew Ina from their childhood in Enniskerry.”
— David Scott

David Scott commented, "After many years of research and work on Ina Boyle's songs, it was a joy to perform them in her home county of Wicklow to such an enthusiastic audience at Calary Church. I was particularly delighted to speak to some audience members who knew Ina from their childhood in Enniskerry."

Aileen Cahill, David Scott and Dr. Orla Shannon

“Performing Boyle’s songs just ten minutes away from her home estate in Enniskerry was an extraordinarily intimate experience”
— Dr. Orla Shannon

Soprano, Dr Orla Shannon on the concert; “Performing Boyle's songs just ten minutes away from her home estate in Enniskerry was an extraordinarily intimate experience. It felt deeply authentic and heartwarming to share a selection of her vocal works from our recently published songbook in a setting so closely connected to the composer's life and with an audience so genuinely invested in her legacy.

Personally, the highlight for me was meeting attendees who had memories of Boyle as children; their stories allowed me to embody her songs with renewed sincerity and emotional understanding of both the elusive nuances and expressive depths that underpin her music. A true privilege.”

‘Ina Boyle and her World’

The evening included Ina Boyle’s music, Sleep Song, Joy of Earth and The Mill-Water, and the concert also featured works by Hamilton Harty, Charles Villiers Stanford, Rhoda Coghill and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

‘Ina Boyle and her World’ program

Ina Boyle at the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival

IBSL was thrilled the music of Ina Boyle, including ‘The Stolen Child’, ‘Roses’ and ‘Himself and his Fiddle’, were part of the Irish Melodies event at this year’s Blackwater Valley Opera Festival in Villierstown Church, Co. Waterford.

This beautiful recital was performed by Laura Aherne, soprano, Stephen Walker, tenor, Georgia Cassidy, piano and Frasier Hickland, piano.

Laura Aherne - soprano | Stephen Walker - tenor | Georgina Cassidy - piano | Frasier Hickland - piano

Photo Credit: BVOF 24

This Irish Melodies event was a celebration of female Irish composers and also featured works by Rhoda Coghill and Elizabeth Maconchy, who along with Ina Boyle “represent vital threads in the fabric of Irish music, each composer offering a unique lens through which to explore Irish identity, musical innovation, and artistic expression.” (BVOF 2024)

BVOF Irish Melodies Recital:  Soprano Laura Aherne with Frasier Hickland on piano.

Photo Credit: BVOF 2024

BVOF Irish Melodies Recital: Tenor Stephen Walker with Georgina Cassidy on piano.

Photo Credit: BVOF 2024

“These female composers stand out for their exceptional contributions within classical and contemporary classical genres”
— BVOF 2024

For more information, please visit www.blackwatervalleyopera.ie

Murrihy and Martineau at Wigmore Hall review

Murrihy and Martineau at Wigmore Hall

A wonderful review by David Nice at The Arts Desk of Irish mezzo Paula Murrihy and Scottish pianist Malcolm Martineau’s recent performance at Wigmore Hall, that included selected songs from Ina Boyle’s Looking Back.

“Ina Boyle’s Looking Back, penned shortly before her death in 1967, stilled any questions about originality with the poetic essence so finely conjured, especially in the two timeless numbers about quiet and sleep.”
— David Nice, The Arts Desk

The full article is available to read on The Arts Desk site here.

Appointment of Emma Coulthard as new Chair of Ina Boyle Society

Appointment of Emma Coulthard as new Chair of Ina Boyle Society

As the Founder and chair of Ina Boyle Society I am delighted that Emma will take over from me as Chair. She is not only a practicing musician but also brings her experience in music administration and education in Ireland and the UK. We also welcome Róisín Jones as Coordinator (part time). She brings wide experience that includes Irish cultural projects.

Ina Boyle Society is at a time of change to meet the growing demand for the music of Ina Boyle and other Irish composers, particularly women. I look forward to working with Emma and Róisín, my fellow trustees, members of the Artistic Advisory Committee and our Patrons  in the exciting days ahead. 

Katie Rowan, Founder Ina Boyle Society Limited.

Ina Boyle First Performances



Ina Boyle First Performances

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

Ina Boyle album played by Piatti Quartet wins prestegious Presto Music Prize

Ina Boyle album by Piatti Quartet wins Presto Music Award

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.”

Ina Boyle Songbook Launched at Marylebone Church NW1

Ina Boyle Songbook Launched at Marylebone Church NW1

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 can be purchased from Chimes Barbican and CMC (Contemporary Music Centre Ireland).

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.

www.inaboyle.org

inaboylecomposer@gmail.com

Ina Boyle Songbook Launch with Irish Heritage

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.

Ina Boyle's The Stolen Child to be performed at Irish Heritage concert

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?

Elegy performed at Irish Heritage Spring Concert

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.

BBC Music magazine May 2023: fantastic review of Piatti Quartet CD

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’.