, one of Ireland's foremost classical composers There is evidence of music in the "classical" tradition since the early 15th century when a polyphonic choir was established at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, and "city musicians" were employed in the major cities and towns, who performed on festive occasions. In the 18th century, Dublin was known as the "Second City" of the British Isles, with an active musical life culminating in, among other events, the first performance of
Handel's famous oratorio
Messiah. The
ballad opera trend, caused by the success of the
Beggar's Opera, has left noticeable traces in Ireland, with many works that influenced the genre in England and on the continent, by musicians such as
Charles Coffey and
Kane O'Hara.
Composers of note Apart from the harper-composers of the 16th century, composers in the 16th and 17th century usually came from a Protestant Anglo-Irish background, as due to the discrimination of Catholics no formal musical education was available to them. Composers were often associated with either
Dublin Castle or one of the Dublin cathedrals (
St Patrick's and
Christ Church). These include immigrants in the 18th century such as
Johann Sigismund Cousser,
Matthew Dubourg, and
Tommaso Giordani.
Thomas Roseingrave and his brother Ralph were prominent Irish baroque composers. Among the next generation of composers were the Cork-born
Philip Cogan (1750–1833), a prominent composer of piano music including concertos,
John Andrew Stevenson (1761–1833), who is best known for his publications of
Irish Melodies with poet
Thomas Moore, who also wrote operas, religious music, catches, glees, odes, and songs. In the early 19th century Irish-born composers dominated English-language opera in England and Ireland, including
Charles Thomas Carter (c.1735–1804),
Michael Kelly (1762–1826),
Thomas Simpson Cooke (1782–1848),
William Henry Kearns (1794–1846),
Joseph Augustine Wade (1801–1845) and, later in the century,
Michael W. Balfe (1808–1870) and
William Vincent Wallace (1812–1865).
John Field (1782–1837) has been credited with the creation of the Nocturne form, which influenced
Frédéric Chopin.
John William Glover (1815–1899),
Joseph Robinson (1815–1898) and
Robert Prescott Stewart (1825–1894) kept Irish classical music in Dublin alive in the 19th century, while mid-19th-century emigrants include
George William Torrance and
George Alexander Osborne.
Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924) and
Hamilton Harty (1879–1941) were among the last emigrants in Irish music, combining a late romantic musical language with Irish folklorism. Their contemporary in Ireland was the Italian immigrant
Michele Esposito (1855–1929), a figure of seminal importance in Irish music who arrived in Ireland in 1882. The years after Irish independence were a difficult period in which composers tried to find an identifiable Irish voice in an anti-British climate, which included ressentiments against classical music as such. The development of Irish broadcasting in the 1920s and the gradual enlargement of the Radio Éireann Orchestra in the late 1930s improved the situation. Important composers in these years were
John F. Larchet (1884–1967),
Ina Boyle (1889–1967),
Arthur Duff (1899–1956),
Aloys Fleischmann (1910–1992),
Frederick May (1911–1985),
Joan Trimble (1915–2000), and
Brian Boydell (1917–2000). The middle decades of the 20th century were also shaped by
A.J. Potter (1918–1980),
Gerard Victory (1921–1995),
James Wilson (1922–2005),
Seán Ó Riada (1931–1971),
John Kinsella (1932–2021), and
Seóirse Bodley (1933–2023). Prominent names among the older generation of composers in Ireland today are
Frank Corcoran (b. 1944),
Eric Sweeney (1948–2020),
John Buckley (b. 1951),
Gerald Barry (b. 1952),
Raymond Deane (b. 1953),
Gearóid Ó Deaghaidh (b. 1954),
Patrick Cassidy (b. 1956), and
Fergus Johnston (b. 1959) (see also
List of Irish classical composers).
Performers of note Performers of note in classical music include
Catherine Hayes (1818–1861), Ireland's first great international
prima donna and the first Irish woman to perform at La Scala in Milan; tenor
Barton McGuckin (1852–1913), a much-demanded singer in the late 19th century; tenor
Joseph O'Mara (1864–1927), a very prominent singer around the turn of the century; tenor
John McCormack (1884–1945), the most celebrated tenor of his day; opera singer
Margaret Burke-Sheridan (1889–1958); pianist
Charles Lynch (1906–1984); tenor
Josef Locke (1917–1999) achieved global success and was the subject of the 1991 film
Hear My Song; the concert flautist
Sir James Galway and pianist
Barry Douglas. Douglas achieved fame in 1986 by claiming the
International Tchaikovsky Competition gold medal. Mezzo-sopranos
Bernadette Greevy and
Ann Murray have also had success internationally.
Choral music Choral music has been practised in Ireland for centuries, initially at the larger churches such as
Christ Church Cathedral,
St Patrick's Cathedral, and
St Mary's Cathedral, as well as the University of Dublin Choral Society (founded in 1837). Founded and directed by composer
Michael McGlynn in 1987,
Anúna contributed significantly to raising the profile of choral music, particularly through their contributions to
Riverdance which they were a part of from 1994 to 1996. They were nominated for a Classical Brit Award in the UK and appeared at the
BBC Proms series in the
Royal Albert Hall in 1999. In 2012 they featured as the voices of Hell in the video game
Diablo III. In February 2018 the group won the Outstanding Ensemble category of the Annual Game Music Awards 2017 for their contributions to the video game
Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The
Chamber Choir Ireland, formerly National Chamber Choir of Ireland, is principally funded by the
Arts Council of Ireland. Their artistic director is
Paul Hillier. The choir has produced a number of CDs with international (including Irish) repertoire. There are many semi-professional choirs in Ireland at local level, too. Many perform and compete at the annual
Cork International Choral Festival (since 1954).
Opera Although Ireland had no purpose-built opera house for a long time, opera has been performed in Ireland since the 17th century. In the 18th century, Ireland was a centre for
ballad opera and created important works that helped to develop the genre in the direction of operetta, with works by
Charles Coffey and
Kane O'Hara. Nationally identifiable Irish operas have been written by immigrants such as
Tommaso Giordani and
Johann Bernhard Logier as well as by native composers such as
John Andrew Stevenson and
Thomas Simpson Cooke, continued in the 19th century with works by
John William Glover and
Paul McSwiney.
Michael William Balfe and
Vincent Wallace were the most prominent representatives of mid-19th-century English-language operas. The Celtic Renaissance after 1900 created works such as
Muirgheis (1903) by
Thomas O'Brien Butler,
Connla of the Golden Hair (1903) by William Harvey Pélissier,
Eithne (1909) by
Robert O'Dwyer, and
The Tinker and the Fairy (1910) by
Michele Esposito.
Muirgheis and
Eithne have librettos in Irish, as have a number of works by
Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer and several 1940s and '50s works by
Éamonn Ó Gallchobhair. Most of the Irish operas written since the 1960s have a contemporary international outlook, with important works by
Gerard Victory,
James Wilson,
Raymond Deane,
Gerald Barry, and a number of young composers since the turn of the century. There have been subsequent attempts to revive the Irish-language tradition in opera. A brother-sister team previewed sections of the opera
Clann Tuireann publicly. In 2024 musician and composer
John Spillane premiered his bilingual opera
Fíoruisce - The Legend of the Lough.
Wexford Festival Opera is a major international festival that takes place every October and November. ==Popular music==