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Conquest of Ireland
Conductor's score and parts on hire
978-0-19-361418-5
13 February 1996
Price: Available on request
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for bass voice and orchestra Forces or CategoryBass soloist and orchestraDuration21 minutesDifficultyDifficultOrchestration3 fl (II+picc, III+picc&alto), 2 ob, ca, 2 cl, bcl, 3 bn (III+cbn), 4 hn, 3 tpt, 3 tbn, tba, perc (BD, SD, mba), pn, strProgramme NotesWorld Première (BBC Commission) 10
January 1996 by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Stephen Richardson (bass) at the Maida Vale Studios, Delaware Road, London.
Written in 1995, The Conquest of Ireland is a setting of texts taken from the book of that name by the Welshman Giraldus Cambrensis (c.1146-1223). He was a prolific writer, a figure of international stature in the twelfth century Renaissance and a member of one of the leading Norman families involved in the invasion of Ireland. One commentator saw him as having the single-minded vanity of an ambitious flatterer, the haughty contempt of one who came with his family to reform and invade, and an apparent credulity which must have delighted the hearts of the Irish. Much of The Conquest is taken up with descriptions of the leading soldiers involved, many of whom
were related to Giraldus by blood or marriage. There is a strangeness about the formality of these descriptions, a feeling of objects observed too intently:
"Maurice was a man with a high complexion and distinguished features, in stature moderately short, for he was taller than short men usually are but shorter than those of medium height. He was a man whose body and spirit alike were of modest dimensions, for the one was not gross nor the other arrogant."
This vertiginous quality is mirrored throughout by a tension between an ostensible objectivity and a fetishistic obsession with the laying out of details. This simultaneity of distance and closeness contributes to the sense of imbalance. Everything is stated with complete assurance, with a reasonable madness. It
is a tableau vivant without perspective, with everything in the foreground. There is a continual narcissistic engaging of the reader in a pattern of advancing and withdrawing:
"In every literary endeavour, my Muse has deliberately chosen a popular style of writing, and one which is readily clear to all, but which is, nevertheless, decked out with ornaments that are peculiarly mine."
In his History and Topography of Ireland Giraldus speaks of Irish music, of quivering measures, of a concord achieved through elements discordant. The perfection of their art seems to lie in their concealing it. An art revealed brings shame.
© Gerald Barry
Reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
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Gerald Barry (b.1952) Gerald Barry was born in Ireland in 1952 and studied composition with Stockhausen and Kagel. He first came to public attention in 1979 with his radical ensemble works __________ and 'Ø.
Barry's music has been performed at the Warsaw Autumn, Musik Triennale Köln, Musica Viva, Festival Présences, Huddersfield and St Denis Festivals, the ISCM and many others. His music has been recorded on the NMC, Largo, Black Box, Marco Polo and Challenge labels.More on Gerald Barry from The Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland
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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.
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