Vincent O'Brien (composer)
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Vincent O'Brien (9 May 1871 – 21 June 1948), Irish organist, music teacher and composer. O'Brien was an important figure in early 20th-century Irish music. For some, he is mainly known as the first teacher of singers such as John McCormack, Margaret Burke-Sheridan and the writer
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
.


Life

O'Brien was born in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, the eldest child of
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church musician Richard Vincent O'Brien. In 1885, he first appeared in a public piano recital, and later in the year became the organist of
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parish church (until 1888). He held another organist's position at the Dublin Carmelite church (1897–99), but was chiefly known as organist and choir director of Dublin's largest Roman Catholic Church,
St Mary's Pro-Cathedral St Mary's Church (), known also as St Mary's Pro-Cathedral or simply the Pro-Cathedral, the Chapel in Marlborough Street or the Pro, is a pro-cathedral and is the episcopal seat of the Archbishop of Dublin (Catholic Church), Catholic Archbisho ...
, between 1903 and 1946. He was the founder (in 1898) and first director of the Palestrina Choir, originally all-male, which is still active, and which was financed for many years by
Edward Martyn Edward Martyn (30 January 1859 – 5 December 1923) was an Irish playwright and early republican political and cultural activist, as the first president of Sinn Féin from 1905–1908. Early life Martyn was the elder son of John Martyn of Tul ...
. O'Brien studied with Robert Prescott Stewart at the
Royal Irish Academy of Music Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roy ...
, where he was the first winner of the Coulson Scholarship (1888–90) and frequently performed as both tenor singer, piano accompanist, and organist in many public concerts during the 1890s. As a church musician, he became particularly involved in the Cecilian Movement, conducting works by Michael Haller and others, and also pursuing their artistic ideals in his own sacred choral compositions. He was the founding conductor of the Dublin Oratorio Society (1906), the Brisan Opera Company (1916) and conducted at many ad hoc events. In 1925, he became the first music director of Radio Éireann (originally called 2RN), a position he held until 1941. He singled out his work as music director for the 31st Eucharistic Congress (1932) as his most prized personal achievement. As late as 1945, he founded Our Lady's Choral Society, a large oratorio choir still in existence, which originally was recruited mainly from the various Roman Catholic church choirs in Dublin. Among his teaching positions, he taught at the diocesan seminary at
Clonliffe College Holy Cross College (also known as Clonliffe College), located on Clonliffe Road, Drumcondra, was founded in 1854 as the Catholic diocesan seminary for Dublin by Paul Cullen, Archbishop of Dublin (later created, in 1866, a cardinal). History ...
, was Professor of Gregorian Chant at the missionary seminary of
All Hallows College All Hallows College was a college of higher education in Dublin. It was founded in 1842 and was run by the Vincentians from 1892 until 2016. On 23 May 2014, it was announced that it was closing because of declining student enrollment. The sale ...
(from 1903) and Professor of Music at the Ladies' Teacher-Training College at Carysfort Park, Blackrock (County Dublin), from 1908 to his death in Dublin in 1948. As a much-demanded vocal coach he taught at his home, his best-known pupils including John McCormack, Margaret Burke Sheridan and
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
. He performed the piano accompaniments for McCormack's first gramophone recordings and accompanied him during his 1913–4 Australasian tour (60 performances in three months), during which he also gave organ recitals at the Irish-dominated Catholic cathedrals of Sydney and
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
. In 1932, O'Brien received a
doctorate honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
from the
National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) () is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universities Act 1908, and signifi ...
. Of his two sons, Oliver O'Brien (1922–2001) largely followed in his father's footsteps, as organist and director of the Palestrina Choir, of Our Lady's Choral Society, music teacher at
Carysfort College Our Lady of Mercy College, Carysfort (commonly known as Carysfort College) was a ''College of Education'' in Dublin, Ireland from its foundation in 1877 until its closure in 1988. Educating primary school teachers, and located in a parkland cam ...
and as teacher in various Dublin schools. Vincent's other son Colum O'Brien was organist in the Pro-Cathedral.


Music

Before his work for the Palestrina Choir, O'Brien's musical interests were very broad, culminating in 1893 in the composition of the full-scale opera ''Hester''. As a church music composer, he followed Cecilian ideals, with a number of hymns, motets and other choral works. He also composed a number of songs for voice and piano, with ''The Fairy Tree'' (1930) being a particular favourite of John McCormack's.


Selected compositions

Opera *''Hester'' (Dublin, May 1893) Choral *''Oft in the Stilly Night'' (Thomas Moore) for male choir (1904) *''An Easter Hymn'' (biblical) for tenor, chorus, organ or orchestra (1910) *''A Lament (An mangaire súgach)'' for male choir (1913) *''Hymn to Christ the King'' (E.P. Donnelly) for tenor, mixed chorus, organ (c.1932) *''Three Motets'' (biblical) for male choir (c.1940). Contains: ''Ecce sacerdos magnus''; ''Justorum animae''; ''Terra tremuit''.Published in Gerard Gillen & Andrew Johnstone (eds.): ''A Historical Anthology of Irish Church Music'' (= ''Irish Musical Studies'' vol. 6) (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2001), 197–202; . *''The Crib'' (R. O'Farachain) for voice, chorus, piano (1943) *''Cór na scol'' 4 choral pieces ed. from traditional melodies(c.1943) Orchestral *''Gaelic Phantasy'' (c.1927) *''Ceol sreath'' (1940) for piano and string orchestra *''Fáilte don éan'' (1941) for piano and string orchestra *''Miniature Overture'' (n.d.) *''Three Irish Tunes'' (n.d.) Songs *''A Song for the Pope'' ('Dr Murray') (1893) *''The Fairy Fiddler'' (Nora Hopper) (1929) *''The Fairy Tree'' (Temple Lane) (1930) *''Baby Aroon'' (M. O'Brien) (1935) *''Green Isle of Glory'' (Michael Courtenay Burke) (1938)


Recordings

Historical recordings (gramophone re-issues on CD) *''The Fairy Tree'', recorded by John McCormack (tenor) with Edwin Schneider (piano), originally recorded in 1930, on: ''John McCormack: The Minstrel Boy'', ASV Living Era CD AJA 5224 (CD, 1997). *''Baby Aroon'', recorded by John McCormack (tenor) with Edwin Schneider (piano), originally recorded in 1935, on: ''John McCormack: I Hear You Calling Me'', Symposium Records 1166 (CD, 1998). Modern recordings *''The Fairy Tree'', recorded by Robert White (tenor) with Stephen Hough (piano), on: ''Bird Songs at Eventide'', Hyperion CDA 66818 (CD, 1995). *''The Fairy Tree'', recorded by Bernadette Greevy (mezzo) with Hugh Tinney (piano), on: ''A Sheaf of Songs from Ireland'', Marco Polo 8.225098 (CD, 1998).


References


Bibliography

*Kieran Daly: ''Catholic Church Music in Ireland, 1878–1903. The Cecilian Reform Movement'' (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1995), (hardback), (paperback). *Axel Klein: ''Die Musik Irlands im 20. Jahrhundert'' (Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 1996), . *Kieran Daly: "O'Brien, Vincent", in: ''The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland'', ed. Harry White & Barra Boydell (Dublin: UCD Press, 2013), p. 743–744. *P. J. Kehoe: ''The Evolution of the Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra, 1926–1954'' (Doctoral thesis, Dublin: DIT, 2017), https://arrow.dit.ie/appadoc/87. {{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Vincent 1871 births 1948 deaths 20th-century Irish classical composers 20th-century Irish conductors (music) 20th-century Irish male musicians 20th-century Irish organists Alumni of the Royal Irish Academy of Music Irish classical composers of church music Irish choral conductors Irish classical composers Irish male organists Irish opera composers Irish male opera composers Composers from Dublin (city) 1900s in Irish music 1910s in Irish music 1920s in Irish music 1930s in Irish music 1940s in Irish music