Irish Choral Music: Problems and Possibilities

The August 2024 issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “Irish Choral Music: Problems and Possibilities” by Kevin Boushel. Following is a portion from the article’s introduction.
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Ireland features sparingly in the histories of choral music, and its choral music is not afforded much importance in histories of Irish music. This is unsurprising given that Ireland does not have any native form of multi-part vocal music. The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland does not feature an entry on choral music, despite featuring entries on many other genres and styles. Although it is impossible for any history of music to be exhaustive, the lack of representation of Ireland’s contribution to the genre is unfortunate and conspicuous. Besides the doctoral thesis of Bernie Sherlock, there has been little attention given to the history, development, and cultural connotations of choral music in Ireland beyond the confines of sacred music. This has undermined the work of Irish choral composers both in Ireland and internationally, obscuring the impact of choirs, composers, and choral educators on the development of music in Ireland and depriving the international choral community of an exciting and diverse corpus of repertoire.

The year 2024 marks the centenary of the death of Charles Villers Stanford (1852–1924), possibly the most celebrated choral composer born in Ireland. Born in Dublin to a distinguished Anglo-Irish legal family in 1852, Stanford left Ireland for Cambridge as a teenager on an organ scholarship, steeping himself in the Anglican choral and English classical traditions. His choral compositions, both liturgical and secular, have had a significant staying power in the choral canon, with Herbert Howells describing his partsong “The Blue Bird” as “an essential beauty in the hearts of unnumbered singers.” Stanford is often featured in anthologies of “British” music and is often listed under “England” in geographically organized choral history books.5 While this may irk some Irish musicians, it is likely that Stanford himself would agree with the association, given his Anglo-Irish heritage and his support for Unionism.

There is also a factual basis for this designation: the vast majority of Stanford’s career was spent studying, composing, and teaching in England. As professor of composition at the Royal College of Music, he taught Howells, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and other influential British composers of the twentieth century, situating him firmly in the development of English classical music. He occasionally incorporated Irish themes into his works, such as his folksong arrangements and his “Irish” Symphony No. 3, but they were written from afar and were not directly related to the Gaelic revival movement on the island of Ireland that presaged the War of Independence. The question of understanding Stanford in choral history as “English” or “Irish” is emblematic of the complex history of choral music in Ireland. This article explores the historical and cultural issues that have impacted choral composition in Ireland from the British colonial era to the present day and highlights the musical and cultural developments of a number of Irish choral composers, including some overshadowed female composers. The article examines whether there is a distinct “Irish idiom” of choral music and what that may be. Finally, the need for further research and revivalist work to disseminate Irish choral music is addressed.

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Read the full article in the August 2024 issue of Choral Journal. acda.org/choraljournal