Original music manuscript written by Robert O'Dwyer for the opera "Eithne, nó Éan an Cheoil Bhinn" ["Eithne, or the Bird of Sweet Music];
1909
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| Summary: | "Eithne, nó Éan an Cheoil Bhinn", [Eithne, or the Bird of Sweet Music] was performed at the Oireachtas Festival in Dublin in August 1909 and again in 1910. it was the first 'grand opera' written with a text entirely in the Irish language by Tomás Ó Ceallaigh [Thomas O'Kelly] of Sligo. Robert O'Dwyer, (1862-1949) was born in Bristol of Irish parentage. He toured with the Carl Rosa Opera Company and settled in Dublin in 1897, where he was organist at St. Francis Xavier's church, Gardiner Street. He learned Irish, founded an Irish choir in Dublin and was active in the Gaelic League. In 1914 he was appointed to the part-time position of Chair of Irish music at U.C.D. |
| Format: | Musical Score |
| Language: | English English and Irish titles. |
| Citation: | National Library of Ireland. Department of Manuscripts. |
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| Notes: | Composed for the 1909 Oireachtas. According to Irish folklore, Eithne was the daughter of Balor and mother of Lug, god of the sun and of arts and crafts and the grandmother of Cuchulain. Two volumes quarto full morocco, plus two cream leather-backed folios and one volume marbled boards. Also with the bound manuscript of a fantasy overture by O'Dwyer with the same title, which is based on the music of the opera, dated 1934 and signed by the composer; a second copy of the overture score, professionally copied by "Christopher Kiernan of Dublin" and also the manuscript orchestra parts. Laid into the opera manuscript is a printed list of the "Eithne" Opera Committee,1910 who included Count and Countess Markiewicz, Signor Esposito, Dr. Douglas Hyde, George Sigerson, Padraic Colum, Lady Gore Booth, Edward Martyn, J. G. Swift MacNeill, Vincent O'Brien, T. H. Nally (Hon. Sec.) and others (single sheet, worn). Also laid in is a printed copy of the libretto in Irish published by Gill in 1910, inscribed "Le fíor-mheas, Tomás Ó Ceallaigh"; there is an autographed signed letter from O'Dwyer to Ó Ceallaigh concerning proofs and corrections and various related press reports and reviews, some of which are laid down on covers. Physical description: 2 parts (v. <1-2>); 33.6 x 26 cm. 1 bound v. including ephemera (unpaged); more |
| Arrangement: | Fonds |