Robert O'Dwyer (in Irish: Riobárd Ó Duibhir) (27 January 1862 – 6 January 1949) was an Irish composer mainly known for having written one of the first operas in the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

Biography

Robert O'Dwyer was born to Irish parents in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England, where he received private musical education and acted as a chorister and assistant organist during the years 1872 to 1891. O'Dwyer's interest in opera manifested itself initially by becoming the conductor of a local amateur opera company in 1889, before he became a conductor of the Carl Rosa Opera Society (1891–97) and the Arthur Rousby Opera Company (1892–96), with which he undertook tours throughout the British Isles. After one such tour he settled in Dublin in 1897, where he held various positions as organist in the counties of Dublin and Wicklow. From 1899 he taught music at the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the ''University Education (Ireland) Act 1879'' as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London. A Royal Charter was issued on 27 Apri ...

and from 1901 conducted the choir of the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emer ...

, for which he wrote numerous arrangements of

Irish traditional music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there w ...

and

Sean nos song Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angliciz ...

s. He also wrote articles and concert reviews for ''The Leader'', which became an outlet for his increasingly nationalist views. O'Dwyer completed his major composition, the three-act opera ''

Eithne Eithne is a female personal name of Irish origin, meaning "kernel" or "grain". Other spellings and earlier forms include Ethnea, Ethlend, Ethnen, Ethlenn, Ethnenn, Eithene, Ethne, Aithne, Enya, Ena, Edna, Etney, Eithnenn, Eithlenn, Eithna, Ethni, ...

'', in 1909, on the strengths of which he was appointed Professor of Irish Music 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 collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

(1914–1939). Although he wrote (and published) a number of other works, including a second opera, none of his later works came near the success and significance of ''Eithne''. O'Dwyer died in Dublin.

Music

O'Dwyer is chiefly notable for having written the opera ''

'' (1909), one of the first full-scale operas written entirely in the Irish language. Although ''

Muirgheis ''Muirgheis'' is a 1903 opera by Thomas O'Brien Butler (1861–1915), written originally in the Irish language. Caving to market and political pressures of the time, the piece was mainly staged in English. Nonetheless, some consider it the first ...

'' (1903) by

Thomas O'Brien Butler Thomas O'Brien Butler (3 November 1861 – 7 May 1915; lost on the ''Lusitania''), was an Irish composer who wrote the Irish-language opera ''Muirgheis'' (1903). Biography O'Brien Butler, as he was generally known, was born in Caherciveen, Count ...

(1861–1915) was earlier, that work had initially been performed in an English translation, whereas ''Eithne'' was performed in Irish. After a small-scale performance in 1909, the first full performance took place at the

Gaiety Theatre, Dublin The Gaiety Theatre is a theatre on South King Street in Dublin, Ireland, off Grafton Street and close to St. Stephen's Green. It specialises in operatic and musical productions, with occasional dramatic shows. History In April 1871, the broth ...

, on 16 May 1910. A concert performance of the work took place at the

National Concert Hall The National Concert Hall (NCH) (An Ceoláras Náisiúnta) is a national cultural institution, sometimes described as "the home of music in Ireland". It comprises the actual concert hall operation, which in various chambers hosts over 1,000 ...

, Dublin, in October 2017 featuring the

RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO; previously known as RTÉ Symphony Orchestra and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra) is the largest professional orchestra in Ireland. Housed at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, since January 2022, it used ...

and singers Orla Boylan, Gavan Ring, Robin Tritschler and Eamonn Mulhall. The background to both ''Muirgheis'' and ''Eithne'' – and other works including ''Connla of the Golden Hair'' (1903) by William Harvey Pélissier, ''The Tinker and the Fairy'' (1909) by Michele Esposito, and to some extent ''Diarmuid and Gráinne'' (1901) by

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

– is the increasing recourse to Celticism in Irish culture as a means for national identification in the (cultural) struggle for independence. ''Eithne'' is one of the best pieces of its kind and would certainly deserve a modern revival. The composer's background in church music led to a number of works in this area, too, including ''Benediction Music'' (c.1924) and some works in the Irish-language collection of religious songs, ''Dánta Dé'' (1928), of which O'Dwyer was one of the editors. His second opera was a one-act piece called ''Cleopatra'' (1929) that was not successful. He also wrote a number of choral works, mostly arrangements of folksongs.

Selected works

Operas *''Eithne'' (Thomas O'Kelly), romantic Irish opera, 3 acts (1909; Dublin: Gaiety Theatre, 16 May 1910) (Dublin: Cramer, Wood & Co., 1910) *''Cleopatra'' (librettist unknown), opera, 1 act (1929) Instrumental *Overture in D major (1900) for orchestra *''Three Old Irish Melodies'' for violin & piano (Dublin: Cramer, Wood & Co., 1917) *''Rêverie à l'orgue'' (n.d.) for organ Choral *''Duan na Saoirse'' (trad.) (1902) for satb *''Péarla an Bhrollaigh Bháin'' (trad.) (1902) for satb *''Seaghán Ó Duibhir an Ghleanna'' (trad.) (1902) for satb *''Siubhail a Gradh'' (trad.) (1904) for 3 equal female voices *''Slán le Máigh'' (trad.) (1904) for satb *''Irish Lullaby'' (T. MacDonnell) (1913) for ssa & piano (London: Vincent Music Co.) *''Benediction Music'' in A flat (bibl.) (c.1924) for satb and organ (further ones in E flat and C) *''Deus tu conversus'' (bibl.) (c.1924) for satb and organ *three religious pieces for satb (nos. 49, 83, 84), in: ''Dánta Dé'', ed. Úna Ní Ógáin & Riobard Ó Duibhir (Dublin: Oifig an tSoláthair, 1928) Songs *''An Arab Love Song'' (F. Wood) (Dublin: Cramer, Wood & Co., 1905; also London: Bach & Co., 1913) *''Thoughts'' (D. O'Carroll) (London: Bach & Co., 1912) *''Sé ubhla as Ubhla de'n chraoibh'' (Robert O'Dwyer) (1926)

Bibliography

*Annie W. Patterson: "Feis Prize Winners for 1900: Mr Robert Dwyer", in: ''Weekly Irish Times'', 16 June 1900. *Joseph J. Ryan: ''Nationalism and Music in Ireland'' (PhD thesis, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, 1991; unpublished). *Axel Klein: ''Die Musik Irlands im 20. Jahrhundert'' (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1996). *Axel Klein: "Stage-Irish, or The National in Irish Opera 1780–1925", in: ''Opera Quarterly'' 21 (2005) 1, p. 27−67. *Axel Klein: "O'Dwyer, Robert", in: ''The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland'', ed. Harry White & Barra Boydell (Dublin: UCD Press, 2013), p. 760.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:ODwyer, Robert 1862 births 1949 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Irish musicians 20th-century Irish male musicians Academics of University College Dublin Classical composers of church music Choral composers Irish classical composers Irish conductors (music) Irish male classical composers Irish music arrangers Irish opera composers Male opera composers Musicians from Bristol Musicians from Dublin (city)