Éamonn Ó Gallchobhair (30 September 1906 – 27 December 1982) was an Irish composer, and a major representative of the conservative side in Irish art music.

Life

Ó Gallchobhair (anglicised "O'Gallagher") was born in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...

, and studied music in Dublin at the Leinster School of Music and the Royal Irish Academy of Music (1927–1935). During 1948–1949 Ó Gallchobhair briefly conducted the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra (today the RTÉ Concert Orchestra). In 1962, he succeeded Seán Ó Riada as conductor of the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre (), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland () is a theatre in Dublin, Ireland. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the p ...

ensemble until it was dissolved after a few years. During this time, he is said to have lived on Pembroke Road. Ó Gallchobhair was a composition teacher for students including John Kinsella. In old age he lived with his wife for parts of the year in Spain and Italy. He died in

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

(Spain).

Music

Ó Gallchobhair was a prolific composer and arranger of Irish traditional music for a wide range of instrumentations. He played in a number of orchestras and chamber ensembles for which he frequently wrote or arranged music. Many of these were very popular during his lifetime and were frequently performed or broadcast. Between 1935 and 1942 he wrote eleven "Dance Dramas", ballets on folklore themes, with one of the latter commissioned by Joan Denise Moriarty. This included the 2,5 hour production ''Catháir Linn'' (1942). He also wrote five light operas, or operettas, on Irish (Gaelic) texts, between 1944 and 1963, including '' Nocturne sa chearnóg'' (1942), '' Trágadh na Taoide'' (1950), '' Íoc-shláinte an ghrá'' (1954) and '' An mhaighdean mhara'' (1960). Later he gained some fame through Hollywood film scores, including

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

's '' The Rising of the Moon''. Ó Gallchobhair was a major representative of the conservative side in Irish twentieth-century art music. He consciously eschewed contemporary styles and techniques of composition and argued repeatedly that Irish art music should be based on traditional music.See, for example, É. Ó Gallchbhair: "Music – Atavism", in: ''Ireland To-day'' vol. 1 (1936), no. 1, p. 56–8. With this position he stood in stark contrast to contemporary Irish composers such as Aloys Fleischmann, Frederick May, or

Brian Boydell Brian Patrick Boydell (17 March 1917 – 8 November 2000) was an Irish composer whose works include orchestral pieces, chamber music, and songs. He was Professor of Music at Trinity College Dublin for 20 years, founder of the Dowland Consort, co ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogallchobhair, Eamonn 1906 births 1982 deaths 20th-century Irish classical composers Alumni of the Royal Irish Academy of Music Irish classical composers Irish film score composers Irish opera composers Irish male opera composers Musicians from County Louth People from Dundalk Irish male film score composers 20th-century Irish male musicians