SIPTU Launches STOP67 Campaign

Sound Post VOLUME 18 NO. 1 - SPRING 2020

IN THIS ISSUE:

SIPTU launches STOP67 Campaign

National minimum wage increased to €10.10 per hour

SIPTU staff changes

TG4 Gradam Ceoil awards 2020

Irish harping recognised by UNESCO

SIPTU urges artists to apply for Job- At the launch of SIPTU’s STOP67 Campaign, in the Royal College of Physicians, seeker’s Allowance Dublin, on 23rd January 2020, from left: Joe Cunningham, SIPTU General Secretary; Maureen Kavanagh, Chief Executive, Active Retirement Ireland; Ethel Buckley, Concert celebrates Veronica SIPTU, Deputy General Secretary; Paddy Connolly, Chief Executive, Age Ireland; McSwiney’s musical life Orla O’Connor, Director, National Women’s Council of Ireland; and Michael Taft, SIPTU Economic Researcher. Photo: Jimmy Weldon Painting of RTÉ SO finds appropriate home

Reviews SIPTU LAUNCHES STOP67 Times Past Obituaries CAMPAIGN MUI RTÉ freelance daily rates

The SIPTU ‘STOP67’ campaign, which is supported by a coalition Interval Quiz of organisations, is calling for the repeal of the section of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act which provides for an increase in MUI RTÉ freelance orchestral daily the state pension age to 67 on 1st January 2021. It is also seeking rates the establishment of a stakeholders’ forum to discuss other issues David Orr on Riverdance of importance for retired workers. The other coalition members backing the SIPTU campaign include the National Women’s Lindsay Armstrong on the New Irish Council of Ireland, Age Action and Active Retirement Ireland. Chamber Orchestra

Berrie O’Neill on Percy French At the formal launch of the ‘STOP67’ coalition, in Dublin, on 23rd January, SIPTU General Secretary, Joe Cunningham, called on Fine John Swift on Franz Lehár Gael and Fianna Fáil to back the campaign. He said these two parties’ proposals concerning the rise in the pension age do not meet the demand to stop the increase to 67 next year or to 68 in 2028.

Continued on page 2

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In December 2019, Denis Hynes, Taft said: “Talk of a future pen- National SIPTU Arts, Culture, Print and sions time-bomb is a myth. Ire- Media Sector Organiser, was ap- land has the youngest population minimum wage pointed as the servicing official of in Europe and one of the highest the RTÉ orchestras. pension ages.” He added: “There increased to is no doubt that in the future we will have to increase resources to €10.10 per hour pay for pensions. The problem we have is that the scaremon-

gering that is used is actually The national minimum wage limiting the ability to have an evi- was increased by 30 cent, from dence-based debate on this €9.80 to €10.10 per hour, issue.” Taft added that effective from 1st February a stakeholders’ forum could con- 2020. It is estimated that some sider future costs of funding pen- 120,000 workers will benefit sions based on a stronger from the increase. Further economy. information is available at: Denis Hynes www.gov.ie/minimumwage. Members of the SIPTU District

Councils brought the message of

the STOP67 campaign directly to SIPTU Staff candidates in the recent General SIPTU STOP67 Election. The union has also en- changes sured that the voices of mem- CAMPAIGN bers directly affected by the

changes to pension entitlements In November 2019, Teresa Hannick Continued from page 1 have been widely heard in the was appointed Divisional Organ- media. These include former iser of SIPTU’s Services Division, “Most of the other political par- hospital worker, Sue Redmond, which incorporates the Musi- ties are supporting the ‘STOP67’ who retired at sixty-five years of cians’ Union of Ireland. campaign but Fine Gael clearly is age in 2017 at the end of her

not. Fianna Fáil has also stopped contract. She said: “When I fin- She replaces Karan O’Loughlin short of endorsing the campaign ished working, I had to go down who was appointed Divisional Or- by merely promising to defer the and sign on the dole and apply ganiser of the Union’s Transport, increase,” he said. for Jobseeker’s Benefit. I had to Energy, Aviation and Construc- tell the staff there that I was tion Division. Teresa Hannick has Joe Cunningham also called for looking for work or they wouldn’t previous held the posts of Divi- support for the stakeholders’ process my claim. This experi- sional Organiser of the SIPTU’s forum to discuss the wider is- ence made me feel absolutely Manufacturing Division, Sector sues affecting retirees. “This horrible. You are asked all sort of Organiser of the Wholesale, Re- forum must include trade unions, questions and must bring in bank tail and Distribution Sector, the employers, political and civic so- statements and other docu- Aviation Sector, the Agricultural, ciety. This is because the impact ments.” Food and Drink Sector and the of any change to the pension age Electronics, Engineering and In- is so widely felt and, in particu- SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, dustrial Production Sector. lar, by the most vulnerable in our Ethel Buckley, said: “SIPTU society.” members made the plan to raise the pension age to 67 one of the At the launch, SIPTU Researcher, major issues of this election Michael Taft, explained how stop- campaign.” She added: “If the ping the increase in the age of STOP67 campaign succeeds, as I entitlement to the state pension am sure it will, it should send a would cost €217 million per year clear signal to everyone that which should be funded out of there is power in our union.” the surplus in the Social Insur- ance Fund which is currently running at €1.4 billion a year. Teresa Hannick

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TG4 Gradam Ceoil 2020 Award Winners, clockwise from left: Ned Kelly, Josephine Marsh, Lillis Ó Laoire, Sharon Howley, Seamus Connolly and Laoise Kelly. Photo: TG4

Founder of the Achill Interna- The full list of winners is as follows: Laoise Kelly, tional Harp Festival, Laoise Kelly was also a founding member of Ceoltóir na Bhliana/ Musician of TG4 Gradam Fiddletree, a folk group from the the Year: Laoise Kelly USA, Ireland, Cape Breton and Ceoil Musician Scotland, all of whom play in- Ceoltóir Óg/Young Musician of struments made from the same the Year: Sharon Howley of the Year, tree. Fiddletree have released two albums, The Fiddletree Amhránaí na Bhliana/Singer of 2020 (2011) and The Unfathomable the Year: Lillis Ó Laoire Menagerie (2013)

Laoise Kelly (harp), a native of Cumadóir na Blians/Composer Kilfenora, County Clare-born Westport, County Mayo, is the of the Year: Josephine Marsh Sharon Howley (fiddle and cello) recipient of the 23rd TG4 was awarded the TG4 Young Tra- Gradam Ceoil traditional musi- Gradam Comharcheoil/Out- ditional Musician of year for 2020. cian of the Year Award, 2020. standing Contribution: Ned Kelly With a rich musical lineage, she One of Ireland’s finest harpers was immersed in traditional of her generation, she uses a Gradam Saoil/Lifetime Achieve- music from a young age. Her fa- style of playing combining the ment: Séamus Connolly ther sings and plays and both her techniques of fingerpads in the grandfathers, Micky McCormack bass and fingernails in the The awards were presented at and Michael Slattery, sang and melody on a thirty-four gut the TG4 Gradam Ceoil concert, in played music. Her wider relations strung Paddy Cafferky harp. the Waterfront Hall, Belfast, on include the Mulqueeneys and 23rd February 2020, which was McCormacks who performed She is a founder member of the presented by Doireann Ní with the older formations of the traditional group, Bumblebees, Ghlacáin and Dónal O’Connor famous Kilfenora Ceilí Band. who recorded two albums, Bum- and televised live on TG4. blebees (1997) and Buzzin (1999) and which toured extensively across Ireland, the UK, Continen- tal Europe, the USA and Canada.

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been joined by artists such as screen writers, film directors and film actors in being eligible to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance under this scheme. Eligibility for the scheme also include those involved in the theatre art form, specifically actors, costume designers, theatre directors, set designers and stage designers. Musicians, dancers, choreographers, opera composers and circus and street performers complete the list of artistic disciplines who are now included in the scheme.”

She added: “This development should greatly benefit artists, many of whom are in precarious working positions and due to the nature of their work have periods Harpists performing on the Calatrava-designed, 24-string ‘Harp’ Samuel Beckett Bridge, when a lack of earnings is a seri- Dublin, on Ireland’s first National Music Day, 16th April 2010. Photo: Matt Kavanagh/Irish Times ous problem. It should also mark a step forward on the path to recognition of the professional status The submission to UNESCO was and value of performing artists in UNESCO made by the Department of Culture, Ireland. However, we also need a Heritage and the Gaeltacht in part- broader discussion about the recognises Irish nership with Cruit Éireann/Harp working lives of artists and their Ireland. capacity to have longevity and dig- Harping nity in their careers. The way truly Commenting on UNESCO’s recog- to value artists is to ensure they nition of Irish harping, which follows Irish harping has been recognised can make a secure living from the listing of uilleann pipes and their work and that means the de- by UNESCO as part of the world’s hurling in 2017 and 2018, respec- “living heritage”, adding it to a velopment of a basic income tively, Aibhlín McCrann, Chairwoman scheme for them.” list that seeks to safeguard and of Cruit Éireann/Harp Ireland, said raise awareness of culturally im- it was “a wonderful honour.” In order to qualify for the scheme, portant activities. professional artists must apply for

This was announced following a and satisfy the qualifying condi- meeting in Bogotá, Colombia, on SIPTU urges tions for Jobseeker’s Allowance in- 12th December 2019, that the State’s cluding a means test. They must nomination of Irish harping had been be unemployed, capable of, avail- approved for a place on its repre- artists to apply able for and actively seeking work. sentative list of “the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.” for Jobseeker’s Applicants are also required to Recognition of the instrument as a provide a certificate/declaration key element of Ireland’s living her- Allowance from their professional body as to itage is intended to ensure that the their status as a professional artist. They must be registered as tradition is safeguarded for future SIPTU representatives have called generations. self-employed with the Office of on professional artists to avail of the Revenue Commissioners and an expansion in the categories of UNESCO said Irish harping “is at at least 50 per cent of their income those eligible to claim Job- should be derived from their art in the heart of the identity of the peo- seeker’s Allowance while they ple of the island of Ireland. The the previous year. Participants on focus on their artistic work and to the scheme can, on a voluntary harp is Ireland’s national symbol develop their portfolio. and has been played for more than basis, continue to avail of the supports of the Department of Employment 1,000 years; its bell-like sounds SIPTU Services Division Organiser, and music captivate all those who Affairs and Social Protection’s Teresa Hannick, said: “Visual Public Employment Service. hear it and are celebrated in Irish artists and writers have recently mythology, folklore and literature.”

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Salzburg and London, she em- Veronica barked on a successful musical career, a highlight of which was McSwiney at 80 her tour of the USSR, when she became the first Irish pianist to celebration perform in that state since its foundation in 1922. For some concert twelve years, Veronica McSwiney was Music Director of the Irish Irish concert pianist, Veronica National Opera Company. McSwiney, who turns eighty this year, was the principal performer at a concert celebrating her life in music, in the National Concert Ve ronica McSwiney Photo: NCH Hall, Dublin, on 7th January 2020. New MUI The concert was also a fundrai- ser for the 2021 Dublin Interna- Membership Benjamin Godard, McSwiney tional Piano Competition. performed piano duos with John Cards Among other artists who ap- O’Conor and chamber music and peared with McSwiney were her MUI members are lieder with her other musical daughter, Aisling O’Dea (violin), requested to supply a colleagues. Carla Vedres (viola), Violetta suitable, recent photograph

Muth (cello), John O’Conor of themselves to the MUI Veronica McSwiney played her (piano), John Finucane (clarinet) first concerto with the then Radio office for inclusion in new and Virginia Kerr (soprano). In Éireann Symphony Orchestra at MUI membership cards. addition to performing solo the age of fourteen. Following Email: [email protected] piano works by Chopin, Debussy, her musical studies in Dublin, John Larchet, John McCabe and

Painting commissioned by RTÉ in the 1960s of the then RTÉ Symphony Orchestra by Arklow-born artist, George Campbell. After being disposed of recently by RTÉ, the painting was acquired by the National Concert Hall (NCH), in January, from UK auctioneer, Sotheby’s, in London, for £25,000 (€29,300), plus fees of £7,250 (€8,500). Originally financed by RTÉ and the Arts Council, this latest transaction was funded by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The painting is now on display in the foyer of the NCH. Image: NCH

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The interval act, which was an With its fusion of Irish and Inter- Riverdance 25 – electrifying and innovative seven national music and dance, the minute dance piece, was such a show broke all box office records The show goes success and made such an impact during its world premiere run in that a year later, in 1995, River- Dublin, in 1995, and has contin- on! dance the Show was launched un- ued to set new records in packed der the direction of Moya Doherty theatres and arenas throughout By David Orr as producer, John McColgan as North America, Australia, New director and Bill Whelan as the Zealand, Asia, Europe, South

composer of the iconic music Africa and South America. Now For many people who witnessed that we all now recognise as a twenty-five years later the show the Eurovision Song Contest in much loved part of Irish culture. celebrates a quarter of a century, 1994 one of the things that made having toured the world in that an indelible impact was the in- The river, as in Riverdance, from period and performed in over 480 terval act which featured River- cloud to sea and to cloud again, venues worldwide and been seen dance with Michael Flatley and symbolises the life cycle and live by twenty-six million people Jean Butler. It was a seminal echoes the Irish experience of over that span of time. What a moment in the history of Irish emigration and renewal: people journey! In that period of time the Dance when the production who had left their homeland and show has attracted an audience brought to the world a youthful travelled across the sea, re- in many parts of the world that and vibrant dance format that turned in the 1990s to enrich were not even born when the has now been termed ‘River- Ireland with their talents and show was first launched…such is dancers.’ Of course, an added experience gained abroad. The the reputation and worldwide bonus on that memorable night show as a whole builds on this success that this show has now was the fact that Ireland won, yet idea, also exploring the way that generated. again, the Eurovision Song Contest people from different lands en- with Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids composed rich the countries they emigrate It’s interesting to note that also and sung by Paul Harrington and to, bringing with them their own over the years many dancers, Charlie McGettigan. culture, music and dance. musicians and back-up crew who

Riverdance Photo: Jack Hartin 6 Sound have worked on this show have gone on to do other things in the same artistic sector. But not always so, as we have seen many go on to qualify in the professional fields of pharmacy, ac- countancy, teaching and veterinary to name just a few. The discipline of a touring show and the dedication required for this has been fantastic training for a life after Riverdance.

There is an old saying that ‘what goes on tour stays on tour’ – however, over the years there have been many romances and there are now recorded directly from the show at least sixty mar- riages and an alumnus where former members keep in touch on social media platforms. Riverdance – Countess Cathleen Photo: Jack Hartin

Throughout the history of River- dance there have been many Park to a rapturous audience. February with a final Gala special and historic moments Another milestone in the history performance which was tele- and events. The show has per- of Riverdance! vised. From there the show formed for the current Chinese mtravelled to Belfast before President, Xi Jinping, during his As a part of the 25th Anniversary going on tour in the UK. Later visit to Ireland in 2013 and indeed the show has now been re- this year it will tour again in the show has a very special place designed to incorporate the most China. in China where it has been up to date technical and interac- performing on tour since 2008, tive designs covering lighting, Last in this list, but not least, is one of the first non-Chinese sound, costumes and projections the show’s annual season of shows to do so. and it has been termed ‘River- performances in the Gaiety dance as you have never seen it Theatre, Dublin. This has The Special Olympics, which before’. The fact that the show become one of the highlights on were held in Croke Park in 2003, continues to draw and excite au- the tourist trail when visitors was another very memorable diences is a tribute to every come to Ireland. event where Riverdance per- dancer, singer, musician, staff formed and when special people and crew-member who have So far it has been a wonderful from around the world congre- dedicated themselves to the journey, which has been a part gated for what was then de- show. This 25th Anniversary tour of the ‘New Ireland’, and scribed as one of the most is a thank you to our audiences Riverdance is proud to have successful events for that organi- and a celebration of what has contributed to this on the way. sation. been an incredible journey across a quarter of a century. And of course, in 2011, River- dance were proud to perform in Currently, the show is touring in the Convention Centre in Dublin Canada and North America hav- before Queen Elizabeth 11, Mary ing commenced in Montreal to a McAleese, the then President of sell-out show. The show contin- David Orr is a Director Ireland, and a very enthusiastic ues in that territory for the first of Abhann Productions audience. half of 2020. (Riverdance)

As a part of the visit of Pope To celebrate the 25th Anniversary the show had a limited perfor- Francis to Ireland in 2018 River- David Orr dance again performed in Croke mance run in the 3Arena in Photo: Alyson Orr

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grant, which gave a huge impe- after, it became known as the The New Irish tus to the orchestra’s develop- Irish Chamber Orchestra or ICO). ment. I continue the story by My eleven years as Manager of Chamber setting out the programmes of NICO were a period of immense the many performances NICO activity and great artistic satis- Orchestra – undertook throughout the 1970s, faction. There were many won- both in Ireland and abroad. derful experiences, but for me founded 50 These events are interspersed the following occasions are pre- with personal memories, com- eminent. I have expanded on years ago ments, anecdotes and press re- them in the ‘Tale’. views, and there is a substantial

number of photographs. 1970 - The inaugural concert in By Lindsay Armstrong the Examination Hall, TCD. I am very grateful to my wife The year 2020 is the 50th an- Gillian who prevailed on me to 1971- First concert with cellist Paul Tortelier, Festival of Music niversary of a significant musi- write this Tale. The deeper my in- in Great Irish Houses. cal happening in Ireland; volvement, the more I became namely the founding of the New convinced that an account of the The first commercial recording. Irish Chamber Orchestra early years of NICO was both (NICO). Its inaugural concert necessary and desirable. It came 1972 - Concert in St. Patrick’s was held on Monday, 18th May quickly and naturally to me that Cathedral, Dublin, in the pres- 1970, in the Examination Hall, this record should take the form ence of Shostakovich, playing his Trinity College, Dublin (TCD). of a narrative diary of the orches- Chamber Symphony in C minor. tra’s activities plus a number of As I was co-founder of NICO with detailed Appendices on matters First tour abroad (UK) including Conductor André Prieur, I de- such as Repertoire: (almost four concert in the Wigmore Hall, London. cided to write an account of the hundred works by ninety six orchestra during my time as composers), Discography: (which 1973 - Start of Bach Cantatas Manager, to mark this artistic includes that famous recording milestone. The book published by Series in St Ann’s Church, of the Mozart Flute Concertos Dublin, conductor John Beckett. Somerville Press and entitled: with Jimmy Galway), Tours: (nine- The Manager’s Tale: New Irish teen visits abroad, including Commercial recording of Chamber Orchestra 1970 – 1980, lengthy trips to the USA, the USSR Mozart’s Flute Concertos with was launched last October. and China), Finance: (grants from James Galway. the Arts Council and the Depart- The ‘Tale’ tells how the orchestra ment of Foreign Affairs) and fi- 1974 - First visit to France, including two concerts in the was established as an unintended nally Programmes: (a listing of consequence of an industrial Festival Estival de Paris. concerts from the conclusion of dispute in RTÉ and its successful the Tale, up to 1986 when the application to the Gulbenkian 1975 - First visit to Italy, two word ‘New’ was omitted from the public concerts in Rome. The Foundation for a substantial name of the orchestra and there-

NICO publicity photograph, St. Francis Xavier Hall, Dublin, 1972, Leader Mary Gallagher, Conductor André Prieur. String players, from left:

Clodagh McSwiney, Moninne Vaneček, Mary Gallagher, Sunniva Fitzpatrick, Thérèse Timoney, Alfonso Evangelisti, Ruth O’Donovan, Jack Leydier, Máire Breatnach, Máire Larchet. Brigid Mooney, Maureen Carolan, Betty Sullivan, Herbert Nowak. Wind players, from left: Tom Briggs, Victor Malirsh, Patricia Dunkerley, Helmut Seeber, Lindsay Armstrong, Gilbert Berg and Dieter Prodöhl. Photo: Gallagher-O’Rourke Collection

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NICO, Soloist, Mícéal O’Rourke; Leader, Mary Gallagher; Conductor, André Prieur, rehearsal of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major, K. 271, Glinka Kapelle, Leningrad, USSR, 3rd April 1979. Photo: Malirsh Collection first orchestral, the second a Tour of China. It was this spirit of fraternity, each performance of Messiah with Our person feeling that he or she Lady’s Choral Society, recorded Tour of Germany. made an equally valuable artistic for Italian television. contribution, together with a total Concert with Peter Pears. commitment to the music we Concert in the Queen Elizabeth performed, which sustained and Hall, London, which included I hope that The Manager’s Tale is unified the orchestra for so long. John Tavener playing his Piano a chronicle well worth reading, Concerto, a first public perfor- informative, entertaining and a I remember with affection all my mance. valuable source of reference. It dear colleagues, past and present, documents the history of an or- who played their hearts out for 1976 - Commercial Recording of chestra which made a signal NICO. This ‘Tale’ is my Song to Bach Arias with Bernadette Greevy. contribution to classical music- them for those happy times, in making in Ireland and helped which I was privileged to be a part. 1977 - Second visit to Italy with shape future important musical It was their gifts which moulded the Guinness Choir, the final developments in the country. NICO into an ensemble of high concert: Bach’s St John Passion Nearly fifty years after the birth excellence and made those early in Catania, Sicily. of NICO, I am glad that the Irish years so vibrant, so intense, so Chamber Orchestra, the contin- creative and so truly golden. BBC Recording of Bach’s ‘Hunt’ uum of NICO, is still enriching Cantata in the Masonic Hall, Dublin. the fabric of the nation’s musical In November of this year there life, both nationally and interna- will be special concerts in Dublin 1978 - Tour of USA/Canada. tionally. May it do so for at least and Limerick, to celebrate this another half century. 50th anniversary of NICO/ICO. 1979 - Tour of the USSR. NICO’s achievements were ac- Lindsay Armstrong is the author of The Manager’s All Bach programme, BBC complished by a group of utterly Tale: New Irish Chamber Promenade Concert in the Royal dedicated professional musi- Orchestra. He has held Albert Hall, London. cians, working as a co-operative the posts of Artistic and managed from a small room Director and Manager, 1980 - Bach’s St Matthew in a suburban house. I do not re- Orchestra of St. Cecilia; Lindsay Armstrong Passion in St Patrick’s Cathedral, call any dispute over money as Director, RIAM; General Manager, NCH; Manager, NICO, oboist and cor anglais Dublin. everybody in NICO, including the player, RTÉ SO; RTÉ Branch Committee Conductor and Manager, remember, Irish Federation of Musicians Two Concerts in the Flanders ceived the same fee per engage- and Associated Professions (1969-1973), Festival, Bruges, Belgium. ment, whatever it might be. serving as Vice-President in 1972-1973.

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24th January he passed away. rellys because it expressed for Percy French – The centenary of his death is him the common humanity of therefore being commemorated each Farrelly notwithstanding Songwriter, in various ways this year. their geographical, social or political background. Artist, What is it that makes Percy French, who was at his greatest In writing about Percy French for Entertainer as an artist, songwriter and en- Sound Post, it is most likely that tertainer over a century ago, so readers will have been led to the special to those of us devoted to joys of Percy French through By Berrie O’Neill his remembrance? What is ex- hearing one of his songs. It is

pressed in his prolific literary, surely the musical sound that “All the arts are brothers, each musical and artistic works that first catches the attention. And, one a light to the other” - appeals so much to us? We all of course, French himself, when Voltaire, French writer and probably have some song, paint- an unenthusiastic student at philosopher. ing, poem or recitation that has a Trinity College, Dublin, and hav-

special meaning, but why? The ing visited the then newly opened Percy French (William Percy answer is complex and partly at Gaiety Theatre for a comic opera, French), civil engineer, poet, least expressed In the words of was smitten by the singing of the songwriter, journalist, artist, en- the poet, Katherine Tynan: “Percy leading lady and as a result tertainer and lover of the people French was so versatile, so wrote: “music held me in its and landscape of Ireland was quick-witted, so extraordinarily magic spell”. born at Cloonyquinn, County accomplished in such a variety of Roscommon, on 1st May, 1854. In ways, so sensitive to human and Successful song-writing must of January 1920 he was returning to natural appeals…” Here it is course involve the creative bring- London from an entertainment worth noting that the founder of ing together of lyric and melody. engagement in Glasgow. Then in the Percy French Society, Oscar French found music for his lyrics his 66th year, frail and unwell, he Rollins, as a young man, was es- from all kinds of sources - some- stopped off at the home of his pecially impressed by French’s times it came from his own well friend Canon Johnny Richardson famous recitation The Four Far- of inspiration as in his famous in Formby, Lancashire, where on

Painting of the Mountains of Mourne by Percy French

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as a musical entrée to the social courting make no display’ and history of the times in which he ‘walk the other way’. Then in An lived. Here we might add Mrs. Emigrant’s Letter the sense of Brady, a song that reflects with sadness of the young emigrant, humour the then thirst for land when ‘the waves hid the last bit of ownership, whilst the finely ould Donegal’ is further deepened drawn gradations in Irish society by understated simile ‘I think the of the time are amusingly high- salt water’s got into me head’. lighted in The Night That Miss Cooney Eloped. In all, Percy French composed some eighty songs and wrote at French’s poignant poem, Gortna- least as many poems and paro- mona, inspired as it was by per- dies, mostly only published after sonal tragedy, is taken to an even his death in Chronicles and higher level of tenderness with Poems. His under-used short music by Philip Green, composed plays or sketches such as within hours of reading French’s Michael O’Ryan Gets the Pension poetic lament - surely an exam- and The Letter from the Front are ple of the ‘music of a poem’, a full of humorous compassion for phrase from the Aran Islands minor human weakness whilst quoted in J.L. Synge. Likewise, the monologue Carmody’s Mare the ancient Chinese philosopher, provides an almost visible word Confucius, must have had some- picture of a crowd at the races. thing similar in mind with his saying, “Let a man be stimulated Space does not permit other than by poetry, established by the a passing reference to his highly rules of propriety and perfected prolific output of watercolour Percy French at the height of his career, by music.” It is as if the spheres paintings wherein we can trace c. 1905] are conspiring. his colourful life and also see, like Katherine Tynan “...the soft However, for me, the and tumbled cloud through the Are Ye Right There, Michael?, a essential charm of chinks, In which the light came reflection of daily activity (or was French’s songs is based raining”. Likewise we can make it inactivity?) on the West Clare only the merest mention of such Railway. Alternatively, he rear- in his enviable ‘way with words’ into which are idiosyncratic skills as Smoke ranged ancient Irish airs (often Painting and Upside Down Draw- helped by his friend Dr. Houston woven a whimsical ings - talents which also con- Collisson) as in The Mountains o’ humour and a real tribute to our fascination with Mourne or by adapting the understanding of the Percy French and, more impor- rhythm of the Irish Washer- human condition, usually tantly, to his remarkable versatil- woman to suit his musical story colourfully illustrated ity and to his place as one of of the dilemma of one, McBreen, with philosophical tales. Ireland’s greatest entertainers. with two marriageable daughters but with only one heifer to pro- However, for me, the essential Berrie O’Neill was born vide as dowry as required by an in 1930 on a farm near charm of French’s songs is old Irish custom. Eyrecourt, County Gal- based in his enviable ‘way with way. He enjoyed a long words’ into which are woven a career with the Bank of Even more innovatively perhaps, whimsical humour and a real un- Ireland in Dublin and Percy French was successful in Berrie O’Neill Photo: derstanding of the human condi- Belfast for much of which Portrush Heritage parodying an American music tion, usually colourfully he was a member of the hall song Sweet Marie, where, in Irish Bank Officials Association. During illustrated with philosophical his words and fertile imagination, his career he served a term as president tales. In one of his finest songs the eponymous Sweet Marie be- of the Irish Association for Cultural, Eileen Oge the ‘Pride of Petra- Economic and Social Relations. He is now comes a racing mare in verses vore’ is swept off her feet by ‘the president of the Percy French Society that evoke the rhythm and hell hardest featured man in Petra- (in North Down). In 2016 he published an for leather excitement of point- vore’ - the moral for her many illustrated biography of Percy French to-point racing in Ireland. Indeed Tones That Are Tender - Percy French awe struck admirers is to play many of his songs can be seen 1854-1920. He lives in Belfast with his hard-to-get - ‘when you do your wife Gladys.

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of seven children of Franz and Franz Lehár: Christine Lehár (née Neubrandt). A competent violinist and horn The Land of player, Franz Lehár, Senior, was also a composer of dances and Smiles marches. His career as a military bandmaster in the Austro-Hun- By John Swift garian Army was preceded by a couple of years as a horn player

at the Theater an der Wien, In 2005, my wife, Adrienne, and I whose Musical Director was visited the attractive spa town of Franz von Suppé. Bad Ischl in Upper Austria. Much

of its fame derives from its asso- At the age of five, Franz Lehár, ciation with Emperor Franz Junior, commenced violin and Joseph who spent many sum- piano lessons with his father. mers there during the second Seven years later, he entered the half of the nineteenth century. Its Prague Academy of Music, study- appeal for me, however, was ing violin and theory, while taking ‘royalty’ of a different, more in- composition lessons privately. Franz Lehár 1934 teresting, more enduring, kind,

namely, Johannes Brahms, Following a brief period as a the- Johann Strauss, Oscar Straus, atre violinist, in 1888, Lehár was Franz Lehár and Richard Tauber, the ever-popular Gold and Silver. called up for military service. He all of whom had significant con- Over the following couple of joined the 50th Austrian Infantry nections with the town. On that years, several of his operettas Regiment, playing under his fa- visit, my focus was on Bad Ischl’s were performed in Vienna, with ther. In 1890, at the age of links with Franz Lehár. varying degrees of success. Then twenty, he was appointed Band- came Lehár’s greatest master- master of the 25th Infantry Regi- This year is the 150th anniver- piece, The Merry Widow, pre- ment in Losonez, Hungary, thus sary of Lehár’s birth. Born in miered at the Theater an der becoming the youngest ever Komárom, Hungary (now Wien, in 1905. One of the most bandmaster in the Austrian-Hun- Komárno, Slovakia), on 30th April successful and best-loved op- garian Army. Two years later, he 1870, Franz Lehár was the eldest erettas ever written, this work became conductor at the Theater heralded a new era in that genre. an der Wien, only to relinquish Continuing to compose operettas the post three months later. Ex- over the following five years, he cluding a brief break in the mid- achieved international success 1890s, Lehár remained a with The Count of Luxembourg bandmaster of various regiments and Gypsy Love. up to 1902, when he resigned from military service. After the First World War, Lehár enjoyed further success through In 1906, in Bad Ischl, Lehár, a his fruitful collaboration with the Roman Catholic, met his future celebrated Austrian tenor, wife, Sophie Paschkis, the Jew- Richard Tauber, who sang in many ish daughter of a Viennese car- of Lehár’s operettas. Giuditta, pet dealer. The couple married Lehár’s only entirely new stage some fifteen years later. Born in work after 1928, was composed 1878, Sophie, a divorcee, acceded for the Vienna State Opera and to Lehár’s demand for separate produced in 1934, with Tauber sleeping quarters, while appar- and Jarmila Novotná in the title ently turning a blind eye to his roles. It was broadcast live on amorous adventures with other 120 radio stations. women. During the Second World War, Meanwhile, in the early 1890s, in Lehár had a controversial rela- Franz Lehár (left) and Richard Tauber, Vienna, Lehár enjoyed success tionship with the Nazi regime. In Zürich, 1947 with his waltzes, Asklepios and composing his operettas he had

12 Sound Post | SPRING 2020 collaborated with Jewish libret- One day we had two men That Franz Lehár is universally tists, some of whom later died in knocking at the door. They were recognised as the undisputed concentration camps. The fact members of the Gestapo. ‘We heir to Johann Strauss is ar- that Lehár’s wife was Jewish gen- are to fetch your wife.’ Sophie, guably the greatest tribute that erated hostility towards the couple who was present, naturally could be paid to him. The two and his music. Hitler, however, fainted. I was in a desperate composers met once at a special was an enthusiast of The Merry state, so it occurred to me that concert honouring the sixty-five- Widow, and hostility diminished I could ring up Bürkel, the Nazi year-old Viennese Waltz King, in following Goebbel’s intervention Gauleiter at the time, though I Vienna’s Sängerhalle (Choral on the composer’s behalf. Sophie didn’t know him personally. I Hall), in May 1891. Bernard Grun was granted the status of described the situation in ex- has recorded that at the end of ‘Ehrenarierin’ (honorary Aryan by cited words. He said: ‘Send one the concert, Lehár, then twenty- marriage). In 1939 and 1940, of the men to the telephone.’ one, was one of two regimental Lehár received awards from Hitler, The man talked to him for a bandmasters who presented including the Goethe Award. After longish time, then turned to me Strauss with a large laurel the war, it emerged that, in 1938, and said: ‘We are to go.’ If I wreath. Greatly moved by this Lehár had given Hitler a birthday hadn’t happened to be at gesture, Strauss thanked and gift of a leather-bound booklet, a home, I should never have seen shook hands with his younger souvenir of the 50th performance my wife again… colleagues. Recalling this event of The Merry Widow. half a century later, Lehár said: Suffering ill health, Lehár moved None of this saved the Lehárs to Zürich in 1946, where Sophie I can still see him before me, from a terrifying encounter with passed away the following year. with tinted pitch-black hair and the Nazis. In his biography of After returning to Bad Ischl, in moustache. He was obviously Lehár, Gold and Silver, Bernard the summer of 1948, Lehár died tired and frail. But the moment Grun records Lehár’s account of in his villa, at the age of seventy- he went up on the high rostrum this appalling ordeal: eight, on 24th October. he suddenly changed. After the first bars of his waltz he was already beginning to move grace- fully with the rhythm. One had the impression of dance motions. Tremendous applause filled the vast hall, the orchestra was drowned by the cheers. This is my vision of Johann Strauss before he died - a true Waltz King, honoured and appreci- ated by his Viennese subjects.”

Franz Lehár was undoubtedly the greatest operetta composer of the twentieth century. While his numerous compositions include symphonic poems, a violin concerto, sonatas and marches, his fame derives primarily from his more popular operettas, particularly, The Merry Widow, and his Gold and Silver Waltz.

John Swift is a member and former Secretary of the Musicians’ Union of Ireland and author of Striking a Chord: A Trade Union History of Musicians in Sophie and Franz Lehár Ireland.

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to many of the top names in the Sandie Shaw and Cliff Richard, to BOOK music world. He does so, not in a name but a few. He was also a strictly chronological way, but regular visitor to the White REVIEW through many episodes in which House when Bill Clinton was he talks about the various events President and was a great friend By Gerry Noonan of his life, almost in a conversa- of John Hume. He famously tional manner. turned down an O.B.E from Margaret Thatcher! Phil showed a keen interest in music as a boy, growing up in He tends to hop back and forth in Derry and piano lessons were ar- telling his story, which does ranged, but the teacher and Phil make it slightly disjointed at did not see eye to eye and as Phil times. However, having read says, if he had persisted with him through the book, I now find it he may “very well have been quite enjoyable to be able to dip turned off music for good”! in and out of his story. He went on to study music in Queen’s University, Belfast. How- Coulter suffered a number of ever, he became more and more setbacks in his personal life; the involved in the social side of uni- untimely and tragic deaths of his versity, leading to the formation brother and sister; his son’s of his first band, summer jobs Downs Syndrome; the break-up and the seeds of a long career in of his first marriage. However, he Bruised, Never Broken the music industry. Not exactly deals with it all in a very sensitive what his music professor would manner and he is very frank have encouraged, but, as he says about his own difficulty in dealing By Phil Coulter himself, his wide taste in music with his son’s condition. There

began to be formed growing up are many lighter incidents and (Gill Books, Dublin 2019) in Derry and then blossomed he does not wallow in self-pity. Price €22.99 (hardback), during his time at Queen’s, en- He has found great happiness compassing everything from with Geraldine, his second wife, Available in all good bookshops Schubert to Palestrina, to Wag- and he takes great pride in all his ner, to Gregorian chant. This, children and their successes. coupled with his love of Irish traditional music, pop music, the I think it’s fitting to leave the last rhythms of the ‘60s and melody word to Phil himself. At the very

in general, all added up to make end of the book he says that he Until I read Phil Coulter’s new him equally adept in all genres. was asked recently what he at- autobiography, Phil Coulter’s tributed to his longevity in the Bruised, Never Broken, I must He never just relied on his talent; music business. His answer: admit that I knew far less about he has always had a tremendous “I turn up for work on Monday him than I realised. Yes, of work ethic and he firmly believes morning.” course I knew that he was a that this is the key to his success. renowned composer and that he Coulter takes us with him as he had had several successful hits, progresses from being a contract including The Town I Loved So songwriter, to Eurovision suc- Well, Scorn Not His Simplicity, cess, to running his own com- Ireland’s Call and Eurovision pany and on to his success as a favourites like Puppet On a performer. The famous and not- Gerry Noonan is a singer String and Congratulations; but so-famous performers he and singing teacher, with my knowledge of the man be- worked with along the way, in- wide experience in music hind all this was quite limited! clude many of the big names of theatre, opera and concert work. He is Choir Di- the last fifty plus years, both Irish In this book, Phil Coulter re- rector of a number of and international. Included are Gerry Noonan counts his journey from his Derry choirs, including ones for people like Luke Kelly, Christy older people and people who are living childhood to the heights of the Moore, Van Morrison, Sinéad with dementia. He also performs in the music industry, as a composer, O’Connor, Richard Harris, Billy very popular series of concerts: Dublin’s arranger, record producer, per- Connolly, The Bay City Rollers, Theatre Royal – Remembered. former and producer and friend

14 Sound Post | SPRING 2020

retrieval of Irish musical life in the perience of reading this extraordi- 1970s and early 80s, and, for want nary book is akin to summoning a BOOK of a better phrase, an absolutely temps perdu in Irish musical cul- REVIEW compelling orchestral biography. ture. From Clonakilty to China, the orchestra burgeoned to such a de- By Harry White It is challenging, within the space gree in its first decade that were it of a short notice, to convey the rich not for this dizzying record of con- seam of remembrance which Arm- certs, tours, recordings, soloists strong weaves throughout this and (occasionally hair-raising) chronicle. ‘In the absence of virtu- travel arrangements, one would be ally all official documentation’, hard pressed to believe that NICO Armstrong notes in his introduc- achieved so much in so compara- tion, ‘what I have written is drawn tively brief a timespan. But it is all from programmes in my posses- here in The Manager’s Tale: in his sion, press reviews, materials postlude (295-8), Armstrong privi- loaned to me by surviving perform- leges his own perceived highlights ers, and other sources as set out in from this lustrous record, including the Acknowledgements …But above the inaugural concert which took all, this account is drawn on my own place in the Examination Hall of memories’. (14) The result is a se- TCD on 18 May 1970, the inaugura- quence of eleven chapters (topped tion of the Bach cantata series in and tailed by a prelude and post- 1973, the French, Italian, American, lude) and eight appendices, which Canadian and Russian tours which The Manager’s Tale: document concerts, repertoire, took place between 1974 and 1979, grants in aid, performances which and NICO’s visit to China in 1980. New Irish Chamber NICO gave abroad between 1972 Orchestra 1970-1980 and 1982, a discography of record- Two such highlights must serve ings made between 1971 and 1982 here in lieu of countless others and a final list of concerts for the which adorn this book. One is the By Lindsay Armstrong period 1983-1986. performance of Shostakovich’s

chamber symphony in c minor in (Sommerville Press, Cork 2019) Readers of Sound Post may espe- St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, in

cially be interested to learn that the presence of the composer on Price €20 (paperback) NICO had its origins in a techni- 5th July 1972. The author’s vivid

cians’ strike in RTÉ early in 1970. and moving account of this concert Available from all good bookshops Soon afterwards, André Prieur, (68-70) is alone worth the price of principal flautist of the RTÉ Sym- admission. The second is the per- phony Orchestra, approached the formance of Bach’s St Matthew author of this book with the sug- Passion under John Beckett, again In Untold Stories (2005), the gestion that they form a chamber in St Patrick’s Cathedral, on 30 English writer Alan Bennett re- ensemble, with Prieur as conduc- March 1980. This certainly counts lates that he received his first real tor and Armstrong as manager. as one of the most memorable music education as a teenager in From the outset, the orchestra’s musical experiences of my life, in the early 1950s in Leeds Town mission was to provide an ensem- Armstrong’s words, ‘a truly mar- Hall, where he attended the weekly ble which would ‘fill a gap in the vellous event’. (256) concerts of the Yorkshire Sym- country’s musical resources’ (23) phony Orchestra. Sometimes he and tour throughout Ireland in that The Manager’s Tale is a hand- would see the musicians on his inspired enterprise. And most re- somely produced book, generously way home on the tram, and he re- markably, perhaps, it was agreed indexed and wonderfully well illus- alised that they were just like ev- that everyone in NICO, including trated. It is a unique and brilliant eryone else – shabbily dressed, the conductor and manager, would achievement, for which Lindsay and smoking. Half an hour earlier, receive the same performance and Armstrong and Somerville Press Bennett adds, these musicians rehearsal fees. As Armstrong him- deserve our ardent thanks. had been ‘artists and agents of the self notes, this arrangement con- Harry White is Professor sublime’. This superb chronicle of stituted ‘a real orchestral workers’ of Music at UCD and a co-operative’ (and to my knowledge the New Irish Chamber Orchestra Fellow of the Royal Irish (NICO) in its first, formative decade a unique one, at least in Ireland). Academy of Music. He evokes the same graceful senti- has been a member of ments. The Manager’s Tale is, For someone (such as myself) who Irish Federation of among much else, a heroic feat of was on the cusp of his teens when University Teachers Harry White Photo: Colm O’Riordan memory, an incomparably detailed NICO came into existence, the ex- (IFUT) since 1985.

15 Sound Post | SPRING 2020

by outlining the phenomenal vehicles that would further the in- BOOK growth of Belfast in the 19th cen- terest of Ireland’s working class. tury and, alongside this, Walker’s This obviously placed him in oppo- REVIEW family history. sition to James Connolly who ar- rived in Belfast in May 1911 as By Peter Connell That history places Walker’s father, Belfast Secretary of the Irish a boilermaker in Harland and Transport and General Workers’ Wolff’s, as part of a Protestant- Union (ITGWU). A seminal debate dominated labour aristocracy and between the two that year clearly William followed in his father’s defines Walker as a reformist in footsteps by taking up an appren- the mould of other British Labour ticeship in the shipyards in 1886, leaders such as Kier Hardy, to aged fifteen. Like his father, William whom he was particularly close. quickly became involved in trade Mecham’s analysis of Walker’s in- unionism, first as a member of the volvement in the Belfast Rech- Amalgamated Society of Joiners & abites, a highly organised temper- Carpenters (ASJ&C) and from 1901 ance movement, locates him with- as a salaried employee of the union. in an important tradition in the From the mid-1890s he was a reg- British labour movement influ- ular socialist speaker at Custom enced by Victorian notions of self- House steps, often coming under improvement and respectability. physical attack from loyalist mobs. His membership of a masonic William Walker: Social In 1900 he led an ASJ&C strike at lodge is, perhaps, less easy to rec- Activist and Belfast Clonard Foundary from which he oncile with his progressive politics, Labourist 1870-1918 was subsequently dismissed and although Mecham points out that blacklisted. A prominent member the membership of many Belfast By Mike Mecham of the Belfast Trades Council, he lodges was exclusively working was elected to the City Council as class, many craftsmen from the (Umiskin Press, Dublin, 2019) a Labour candidate in 1904 and shipbuilding industry. served as a Poor Law guardian and Price €25 (paperback) as President of the Irish Trades This biography is an attempt, not €35 (hardback) Union Congress in 1905. He was to rehabilitate Walker or to defend elected to the Executive Commit- him from accusations of pandering Available at [email protected] tee of the British Labour Party in to Protestant/unionist interests, 1907 but unsuccessfully contested but to understand the city and the three elections for a parliamentary society that shaped the man. For seat between 1905 and 1910. He example, Mecham suggests that withdrew from all political and trade Walker’s activism in part reflected Mike Mecham’s carefully crafted union activities in 1912 and took up his strategy to deal with the grief biography of Belfast-based trade the position of Inspector for the and insecurity that had seen his unionist and city councillor North East of Ireland for the newly father, mother and two sisters William Walker weighs up the instituted National Insurance Act. succumb to illness by the time he contribution of a largely He died in 1918 aged forty-seven. was seventeen years of age. As neglected figure in Irish labour such, it goes well beyond previous history. A prominent Labour In assessing Walker’s legacy, studies in revealing a socialist ac- politician and trade unionist, who Mecham references a wide range tivist who was a product of the tur- navigated the fraught politics of of labour historians from Henry bulent times in which he lived. his home city, Walker has at- Patterson to Emmet O’Connor and tracted contrasting assessments Pádraig Yeates. Their varied views Umiskin Press is to be commended by different labour historians. ranged from Patterson’s assertion on publishing this important study that Walker underestimated Belfast’s which complements its output on Like all the best biographies, sectarianism and failed to develop other key figures in Irish labour Mecham’s work is much more a unionist strategy for labour, to than a chronological account of O’Connor’s assertion that he was a Dr Peter Connell worked for Walker’s life but serves as a vehi- brave and principled social demo- thirty years in the IT department in TCD where, as a cle for exploring a wider canvas, in crat who on occasion had pan- member of the FWUI and this case civil society, politics and dered to Protestant extremists. then SIPTU, he served as a the labour movement in early 20th shop steward and member of the Education Branch century Ireland and Britain and the Walker opposed Home Rule and Dr Peter Connell committee. He recently particular challenges it faced in saw the British labour movement completed a PhD on the history of public Belfast. Mecham sets the context and the British Labour Party as the housing in Irish towns.

16 Sound Post | SPRING 2020

TIMES PAST AND PRESENT

Charles Byrne’s music shop, 21-22 Lower Stephen Street, Dublin, ‘Ireland’s oldest family-owned music shop’, was established circa 1870, on Dublin’s northside by the original proprietor, David Charles Byrne. In the early 1920s, the marriage of Charles Byrne to Christina Monaghan of Lower Stephen Street saw the shop relocate to her family’s premises, where it remains to the present day.

talent flourished. By the age of to funding from the Arts Council twelve he was organ assistant to and RTÉ, the National Chamber George Malcolm, Master of Music, Choir (NCC) had become a full- at the Cathedral. He continued his time professional choir with a resi- musical education at the Royal dency at Dublin City University. College of Music, London. He was appointed Master of Music at Colin was a prolific composer of Westminster Cathedral in 1961. both choral and organ music. His sacred choral works include sev- In 1981, Colin moved to Dublin to eral masses. Among his secular history.Colin Mawby take up the post of Choral Director works are two operas for children at RTÉ. By 1985 he had restruc- commissioned by the National tured the Choral Department and Chamber Choir. OBITUARY established the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir, RTÉ Cór na nÓg and the As a composer Colin wrote music RTÉ Chamber Choir. that could touch the heart and soul. He was charismatic, sensitive After five successful years the and a wonderful conversationalist. Colin Mawby Chamber Choir was disbanded due He had a sense of humour that to funding cuts within RTÉ, caused could at times be wicked (but by the 1990 Broadcasting Act. In never cruel). The large number of

(1936–2019) January 1991, following a failed, former NCC singers attending his high profile, campaign to save the funeral in Whitefriar Street The much loved choral conductor Choir, Colin and a group of sup- Church, on 30th November last, is and composer, Colin Mawby, died porters formed a trust, Friends of testament to the deep affection in in Dublin on 24th November 2019. Choral Arts, to raise funds. Out of which Colin was held by all who this small beginning the National worked with and were mentored by Colin received his early music edu- Chamber Choir of Ireland was him over the years. cation at Westminster Cathedral born as an independent, profes- Choir School where his musical sional ensemble. By 1996, thanks Karina Lundström

17 Sound Post | SPRING 2020

Karina Lundström

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