Thomas Joseph Gerard Victory (24 December 1921 – 14 March 1995) was a prolific Irish composer. He wrote over two hundred works across many genres and styles, including tonal, serial, aleatoric and electroacoustic music.

Biography

Victory was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland, in 1921 the son of a shopkeeper Thomas Victory and his wife, Delia (née Irwin). After schooling, he read Celtic Studies at

University College, Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

and Music at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, earning a doctorate in 1972. In April 1948 Victory married Geraldine Herity, they had five children: Alma, Fiona, Isolde, Raymond, and Alan. Victory died in Dublin on 14 March 1995, aged 73. His papers are held in Trinity College and the Contemporary Music Centre hold a number of his scores.

Career

In terms of composition, Victory was mostly self-taught, although he received some formal training from John F. Larchet, Alan Rawsthorne and Walter Beckett. He also attended the "International Summer Courses for New Music" in Darmstadt, Germany. In 1948 he was joint composer of music for a song in a play by Irish playwright

Teresa Deevy Teresa Deevy (21 January 1894 – 19 January 1963) was an Irish dramatist and writer, who was deaf from the age of 19. Best known for her works for theatre, she was also a short story writer, and writer for radio. Early life Teresa Deevy w ...

called Light Falling, this was performed by the Abbey Experimental Theatre Company in the Peacock Theatre, Dublin. His work was also part of the music event in the art competition at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

. Victory's career was primarily in music administration, serving as Director of Music for Ireland's national broadcasting station RTÉ from 1967 to 1982. He was a president of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

International Rostrum of Composers The International Rostrum of Composers (IRC) is an annual forum organized by the International Music Council that offers broadcasting representatives the opportunity to exchange and publicize pieces of contemporary classical music. It is funded by c ...

, a Fellow of the

Royal Irish Academy of Music The Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) in Dublin, Ireland, is one of Europe's oldest music conservatoires, specialising in classical music and the Irish harp. It is located in a Georgian building on Westland Row in Dublin. An institution whic ...

and a recipient of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and German Bundesverdienstkreuz.

Legacy

The ''Gerard Victory Commission'' is a prize has been named in his honour awarded to the most promising individual composer.

Selected works

Orchestral

Ensemble

Solo piano

Vocal

Operas

Band

Mixed media

Recordings

*''Three Irish Pictures'', performed by RTÉ Sinfonietta, Proinseas Ó Duinn (cond.), on Marco Polo 8.223804 (CD, 1996). *''Ultima Rerum'', performed by

Virginia Kerr Virginia Kerr (born 14 May 1954) is an Irish soprano who appears frequently in concerts, opera, oratorio and recitals. She has sung with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Opera House Co ...

(S),

Bernadette Greevy Bernadette Greevy (3 July 1940 – 26 September 2008) was an Irish mezzo-soprano. She was founder and artistic director of the Anna Livia Dublin International Opera Festival.''The Irish Times'', "Festival seeks to promote opera among young peopl ...

(Mez), Adrian Thompson (T), Alan Opie (Bar), RTÉ Philharmonic Choir, National Chamber Choir, Cór na nÓg, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Colman Pearce (cond.), on: Marco Polo 8.223532-3 (CD, 1997). *''An Old Woman of the Roads'', performed by

(Mez) and Hugh Tinney (pf), on: Marco Polo 8.225098 (CD, 1998). *''Revel in Reel Time'', performed by RTÉ Concert Orchestra, on: Celtic Collections CCD 135 (CD, 1999). *''Songs from Lyonnesse'', performed by National Chamber Choir of Ireland,

Colin Mawby Colin Mawby KSG (9 May 1936 – 24 November 2019) was an English organist, choral conductor and composer. From 1961 he was Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral, then from 1981 he was the choral director at Radio Telefís Éireann. He co ...

(cond.), on: Black Box BBM 1030 (CD, 2000). *''Moresca'', performed by Geraldine O'Doherty (hp), David O'Doherty (vn), Moya O'Grady (vc), on: Absolute Music o label code(CD, 2009). * ''Prelude and Toccata'', performed by Hugh Tinney, on
RTÉ lyric fm CD 153
(CD, 2016).

External links

* Gerard Victory a
The Teresa Deevy Archive
* Gerard Victory a
The Abbey Theatre Archive

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Victory, Gerard 1921 births 1995 deaths 20th-century classical composers Composers for piano Irish classical composers Irish male classical composers Irish opera composers Male opera composers Musicians from Dublin (city) Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century male musicians Olympic competitors in art competitions