Radio Programme: ‘Arnold Bax, Ireland and 1916’ (RTÉ lyric fm)
Dr Aidan Thomson (Queen's University Belfast) presented a programme on the English composer, Arnold Bax (1883-1953), who wrote a number of works - both musical and literary - in response to the events of Easter 1916. The programme explored his music in the cultural and political context of early twentieth-century Ireland. It was followed by a live broadcast of the Irish premiere of Bax's orchestral work In Memoriam, written in 1916 in memory of Patrick Pearse. The programme can be heard here.
Irish Premiere: Bax’s In Memoriam (National Concert Hall, 2016)
This work was written by the English composer Arnold Bax (1883-1953) shortly after the Easter Rising. The title was followed by a dedication to Pearse - whom Bax had met in Dublin - written in Irish, it translates as ‘In Memory of Patrick Pearse’. The work was lost for many years until the discovery of the full score in the early 1990s, after which it received its first performance with the BBC Philharmonic under Vernon Handley in 1998. The Irish premiere of In Memoriam took place at the National Concert Hall on 19 February 2016.
