Newsletter

November 2005

AIC Concerts in November

Thursday 24th November 8pm
Airfield House, Upper Kilmacud Road, Dundrum, Dublin 14

A Tribute to the late James Wilson
Violin & Piano with Darragh Morgan & Mary Dullea

The Association of Irish Composers pays tribute to its former Honorary President, in a concert featuring his chamber music. Also including works by composers closely associated with him. The evening will include a wine reception.

Programme

James Wilson Sonata No V
James Wilson Colloquy
James Wilson Breeze and Calm
Anthony Payne Of Knots and Skeins
Henri Dutilleux Le Jeu des Contraires
Igor Stravinsky Elegie
Igor Stravinsky Ballad from The Fairy's Kiss
John Buckley new work (dedicated to James Wilson)
Martin O'Leary Jim's Air

Friday 25th November 8pm, Airfield House.

Clarinet & Violin Recital with Paul Roe & Leonie Curtin

A concert with leading Irish musicians, clarinettist Paul Roe and violinist Leonie Curtin, featuring music commissioned by Paul Roe from Irish composers. Works for clarinet and violin, solo/duo, with/without tape.

Programme

Derek Ball Xiao Yen Tze
Stephen Gardner It's the hole that kills you not the bullet
Reich Violin Phase
Jane O'Leary A Piacere
Derek Ball Seven Pillars
Ronan Guilfoyle Music for Bass Clarinet
Zack Browning Sole Injection
Ed Bennett Monster

Tickets E8 / E5
for bookings contact Airfield: Tel: (01) 298 4301 / booking@airfield.ie tickets also available at door.

AIC AGM notice

Please make a note in your diary: the next AIC AGM will be held in conjunction with the second AIC concert. Date: Friday 25th November. Time: 6pm. Venue: Airfield House (see above for address).
The agenda will include:
Presentation of Annual Report and Accounts
Strategy for 2005
If you have a topic you wish to see discussed please email it or post it, ahead of the meeting, to AIC.

James Wilson (1922-2005)

James (Jim) Wilson died after a short illness in Loughlinstown Hospital on August 6th this year. He was the Honorary President of the Association of Irish Composers, and a vital force in contemporary music in Ireland. Although born in London, he took out Irish citizenship in 1999, having lived here for over fifty years. I was privileged to work alongside Jim for a number of years in the Irish Composition Summer School (or the Ennis Composition Summer School, as it was then called), and from that working relationship a close friendship developed. Though he would have laughed at the notion (Jim's laugh, once heard, was unforgettable) he was a father figure to me, and doubtless to many of his composing colleagues and friends. His youthful spirit belied the whole notion of him being an elder statesman. Jim, quite simply, never seemed old - he remained open and excited by new possibilities to the end.

Jim was a gifted composition teacher, as many of his students have attested. His patience and encouragement were (seemingly) unending, and the clearest sign of his gifts as a teacher lies in the fact that none among those who studied with him wrote music that sounded like his. (This would have horrified him.) Instead, he had a knack for coaxing the students into writing what they wanted to write. I attended several of his lectures during the course of the summer school, and noted his easy but informative manner, often sprinkled with humour. His insight into matters of orchestration and vocal writing in particular were of great benefit to the students. Jim loved the contact with young, aspiring composers offered by the school - I think this kept him fresh in his outlook.

To mark the year of his 70th birthday, the school sprang a surprise concert on him. His fellow course directors (John Buckley, Michael Alcorn and myself) planned the whole thing with military precision. Michael was to give a lecture on semiotic analysis, for which Jim was asked to play the last of Schoenberg's 6 little piano pieces as an illustration (the pretext for getting him to the hall). I can still see the look on Jim's face as he noticed how Michael's penetrating analysis of this piece (which Jim had yet to play) resulted in the letters of 'Happy Birthday' being spelt out backward on the writing board! The concert which followed this disclosure featured ten world premières, all written in Jim's honour by colleagues and students. I played piano, as did Michael Alcorn, and the latter and John Buckley also sang and danced in a piece by Peter Michael Hamel (who specified pink umbrellas as part of the dance). Jim was both touched and amused by this group of tributes, collectively entitled Jimnopedies. This was an appropriate combination of emotions, often engendered by Jim himself - any excessive display of sentiment would not have been to his taste.

Jim had a lightness of touch - personally and in his music - which was part of his gentlemanly demeanour. He was the quintessential English gentleman, but was also unmistakeably Irish in his wicked sense of humour. He was a modest man, but this should not lead one to underestimate his determination and single-mindedness as a composer. Success came to him slowly (with the performance of 'The Hunting of the Snark' in 1965, seventeen years after he settled in Ireland) but I never detected any anger in Jim about this initial lack of recognition. He was genuinely delighted when one complimented him on his music, and always looked forward to the next performance with great anticipation. Ever working at something when I visited him ('tinkering away', as he would say) the extensive output he left behind is a great testament to his capacity for hard work, a very substantial and generous creative legacy still to be fully assessed.

His Viola Concerto 'Menorah' (1989) is one of his most moving and eloquent works, inspired by a visit to the children's Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. I visited this harrowing place in 1996, and Jim's musical response is typically understated, alluding to, but never stating Brahms' famous lullaby in the final movement. But there is a tensile strength to the music, and one senses the outrage just beneath the surface. This superb work avoids two of the chief pitfalls of memorial music - sentimentality and bombast.

Thankfully 'Menorah' is available in a fine recording on Marco Polo. On the same CD, his Concertino (1993) shows his delightful lightness of touch and mastery of orchestral forces. The modest scale and title are disarming - there's a concentrated vitality to this piece achieved by a combination of restraint and resourcefulness unique to Jim. I have played his Five Preludes, op 87 for piano (1982) - a cycle that shows several sides of his musical personality, from the humorous (no.4 is titled 'It was working alright yesterday') to the exploratory (the final piece, entitled 'Homeward'). It is good to see that his work is being celebrated in concerts since his death. The memorial concert on October 16th in the John Field Room will be followed by a tribute from the AIC on November 24th (details elsewhere), and his music will also be featured in upcoming Mostly Modern Concerts. The sad thing is that he won't be there to take a bow after his work beguiles and charms us. The comfort is that he will be present in a way that would have pleased him, as people gather to listen to music (not just his). I'm sure he would be thrilled to know that his music lives on, his greatest and most lasting gift to us. Thanks, Jim.

Martin O'Leary

ISCM news Stuttgart

The news for Ireland from the ISCM World Music Days 2006 (Stuttgart) is mixed. The good news is that we are assured that Jennifer Walshe and Andrew Hamilton will represent Ireland with substantial new commissions from German ensembles - that is a testament to the active careers and energies of these two talented composers. The bad news, from the point of view of the International Society for Contemporary Music and AIC, its Irish Section, is that no Irish piece from our national submission was deemed worthy for inclusion, nor indeed any individual submission. We worked extra hard this year to ensure a very strong submission, and it is a huge disappointment to our selection jury and to the composers who go to the trouble of submitting. The story seems to be that Musik Der Jahrhundert, who are the agency organising the festival, have their own rather non-ISCM concerns (which is to be expected up to a point). This seems to extend to a rather chauvinistic view of music: that if there is not some existing connection with Germany or another major musical nation (through studies, for example) then it's of secondary interest. The extreme irony of the festival theme, 'without borders', will not be lost on anyone! Many other national sections are in a worse position than Ireland, with nothing at all picked as yet, though the organisers are still finalising the programme with a view to including as many countries as possible. But this will not remove the impression that the international jury (with its extremely impressive membership) and its work were somehow sidelined. AIC expects that the ISCM General Assembly in Stuttgart will include a very lively discussion of the matter!
Furthermore please do not get discouraged about future ISCM festivals, each has its own entirely separate organiser, and each signs up to ISCM procedures and usually follows them reasonably well, so it is always worth sending your scores. 2007 is almost certain to be held in Hong Kong, by the same organisers who put up an exemplary show in 2002.

Artists tax exemption latest

Included with your AIC news is a leaflet that AIC produced in association with the Sculptors' Society and the Playwright and Screenwriters' Guild. Some composers have already been very publicly active in advocating the retention of the Artists' Tax Exemption Scheme. Hopefully some have sent letters to the Arts or Finance Ministries. This newsletter has discussed it at length in the past; soon the budget estimates and the budget itself will reveal the government's next move on the issue.

New members

AIC welcomes new members Linda Buckley, Peter Moran, Peter Fahy and Mary Kelly

Competitions

1. IMRO/Mostly Modern Young Irish Composers' Composition Competition 2006

Prize
€500

Age and nationality
The composer must be Irish and be under 30 by the deadline date

Instrumentation

The piece must be a duet for two of the following three instruments: flute, violin and piano.

2. AIC/Mostly Modern International Composition Competition 2006

Prize
€600

Instrumentation

Flute, violin and piano. Score must use all three players

Other conditions for entry, for both competitions

Deadline
Scores to be sent to the Association of Irish Composers not later than February 10th 2006

Duration
Not more than five minutes

Entry fee
€15, payable to the Association of Irish Composers

Other conditions
The piece must be previously unperformed and unrecorded. Scores to be under pseudonym, with a sealed envelope containing the composer's real name, address and date of birth. Year of composition must be marked on the score. The competition being entered must be clearly stated. Midi realisations of scores may be included with materials. Scores and other materials will not be returned.

Other details
The winning work will receive a performance by the Vox21 Ensemble in the Mostly Modern Series on Sat March 4th 2006 at the Bank of Ireland Arts Centre, Dublin. The Judges reserve the right to make no award if the entries are deemed to be of insufficient standard.

Address for entries/information
Association of Irish Composers, C/O IMRO, Copyright House, Pembroke Row, Dublin 2, Ireland. E-mail info@composers.ie Web www.composers.ie

Other competitions

There are many competitions sent to AIC for distribution to members. Most are valuable opportunities and not all carry age restrictions or require specially written works. There are too many to include all of them here, as Autumn/Winter seems to be the peak time for announcements of this kind. AIC sends occasional emails about the competitions, so please let us know your email address if you have never received such an email from us. Surprisingly, not all AIC members have provided AIC with an email address. Please take a moment to check if we have emailed you before, and, if not, email AIC to say hello. This will help you to get the most of your membership. Some very interesting competitions follow, further details on line:

Polish orchestral competition 'Tansman' Prize
Prizes $12000, $8000, $4000, $2000
Deadline11th Sept 2006
http://www.tansman.lodz.pl

Brunel Bicentenary Competition
Call for proposal for 12' work for solo cello with live electronic transformation, and string orchestra.
Deadline Monday 16th January 2006
www.brunel.ac.uk/artscentre or email jay.wilkinson@brunel.ac.uk

Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra Competition
Two prizes: 1. E5000, 2. An orchestral commission
Deadline May 31st 2006
www.foerderverein-brandenburger-symphoniker.de

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