Turlough O'Carolan

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Turlough O'Carolan (Irish name Toirdhealbhach Ó Cearbhalláin, 1670 - March 25, 1738) was a blind, itinerant Irish harper and composer whose great fame is due to his gifts for composition and verse. He is considered by many to be Ireland's national composer and the last of the Irish bards. However, harpers in the old Irish tradition were still living as late as 1792, as thirteen, including Arthur O'Neill, Patrick Quin and Denis O'Hampsey, showed up at the Belfast Harp Festival, and O'Carolan's own compositions already showed influence from the style of continental classical music.

O'Carolan as depicted on the £50 note, Series B Banknote of Ireland.
O'Carolan as depicted on the £50 note, Series B Banknote of Ireland.

Contents

[edit] Biography

O'Carolan was born near Nobber, County Meath, and moved with his family to Ballyfarnan, County Roscommon, at the age of fourteen, where his father took a job with the MacDermott Roe family. Mrs. MacDermott gave him an education, and he showed talent in poetry. Blinded by smallpox at eighteen, O'Carolan was taught the harp for three years. Then, being given a horse and a guide, he set out to travel Ireland and compose songs for patrons. For almost fifty years, O'Carolan journeyed from one end of the country to the other, composing and performing his tunes.

O'Carolan is buried in the village of Keadue, County Roscommon, where the annual O'Carolan Harp Festival and Summer School commemorates his life and work.

[edit] Work

Carolan was primarily a songwriter, though as most of his songs were in the Irish language, and were dedicated to and about specific individuals, it is the tunes to which he sung them that have survived. Carolan's musical style shows a mix of folk and classical elements. His style of composition consisted of composing the tune first as he rode from place to place, then adding the words later. Many of the tunes attributed to him are older traditional melodies which he improved or lengthened. He frequently wrote works, which he called "planxties", in honor of some person. It is said that weddings and funerals were often delayed until he could arrive to perform. His music was first published in or after 1742, likely in Dublin. An undated and untitled section with 23 tunes survives at the National Library of Ireland, known as Compositions of Carolan or the Carolan-Delaney Fragment. At least 220 tunes which survive to this day are attributed to him, though most were not published or even written down in his lifetime; they survived in the repertories of fiddlers, pipers and the last of the old Irish harpers and were collected and published piecemeal in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Only in 1958 was his music collected by Donal O'Sullivan, and even then few lyrics were given. A definitive edition of early Irish harp settings matched with the Irish words of the songs has yet to be produced.

Some of his compositions are performed by many popular Irish musicians, such as Planxty, The Chieftains, and The Dubliners. In addition, O'Carolan's Concerto has been used as a neutral Slow March by the Foot Guards of the British Army during the ceremony of Trooping the Colour.

[edit] Notable Compositions

  • "Carolan's Concerto"
  • "Carolan's Draught"
  • "Carolan's Receipt (Dr. John Stafford)"
  • "Carolan's Welcome"
  • "Dr. John Hart, Bishop of Achonry"
  • "Eleanor Plunkett"
  • "Fanny Power"
  • "George Brabazon"
  • "Hewlett"
  • "John O'Connor"
  • "Mrs Mc Dermott" (alternatively known as "Princess Royal")
  • "Lord Inchiquin"
  • "Planxty Irwin"
  • "Sheebeg and Sheemore"

[edit] Reference

  • Donal O'Sullivan, Carolan - The Life, Times, and Music of an Irish Harper (1958)
  • Art Edelstein, "Fair Melodies: Turlough Carolan An Irish Harper" (2001)

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

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