John Buckley (b. 1951) Concerto for Organ and Orchestra (1992) Symphony No.1 (1988) Born in Templeglantine, Co. Limerick, in 1951, John Buckley studied the...
John Buckley (b. 1951)
Concerto for Organ and Orchestra (1992) Symphony No.1 (1988)
Born in Templeglantine,
Co. Limerick, in 1951, John Buckley studied the flute with Doris Keogh and
composition with James Wilson at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. His
subsequent composition studies were in Cardiff with the Welsh composer Alun
Hoddinott. Following a number of years as a teacher he became a full-time
composer in 1982 and has since written a diverse range of work, from music for
solo instruments to compositions for full orchestra. He has fulfilled numerous commissions
including Organ Concerto for the National Concert Hall, Dublin, Rivers of Paradise
for the official opening of the University of Limerick Concert Hall, the chamber
opera The Words upon the Window Pane for Opera Theatre Company and Maynooth Te
Deum (for the bicentenary of Maynooth College), which was first performed in
the National Concert Hall in November 1995.
John
Buckley's music has been performed and broadcast in more than forty countries worldwide.
His compositions have represented Ireland on five occasions at the International
Rostrum of Composers and at three ISCM festivals. His score A Thin Halo of Blue
was Radio Teleffs Éireann's entry for the 1990 Prix Italia. Numerous broadcasts
throughout the world have resulted from this. He has won all the major Irish
composition awards including the Varming Prize (1977), the Macaulay Fellowship
(1978), the Arts Council's Composers' Bursary (1982) and the Toonder Award
(1991). In 1984 he was elected a member of Aosdana, Ireland's state-sponsored
academy of creative artists.
The
Concerto for Organ and Orchestra was commissioned jointly by the National
Concert
Hall
Dublin, Radio Telefiis Éireann and the Irish Arts Council for the new Concert
Hall organ built by Kenneth Jones and inaugurated in September 1991. The work,
which is dedicated to Hugh McGinley, was first performed on 26th June 1992,
with Peter Sweeney as organist and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland conducted
by Robert Houlihan. It is scored for three flutes (doubling piccolo), three
oboes, three clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three
trumpets, two trombones, bass trombone, tuba, two sets of timpani, a wide range
of percussion and strings.
In
composing the work one of my principal concerns was to maintain a balance
between the orchestra and organ, which, in a sense, is like a second orchestra.
Frequently, the development of the musical argument takes the form of a dialogue,
with organ and orchestra in counterbalance to each other. Throughout the work
elaborate organ solos have analogous passages in the orchestra: elsewhere organ
and orchestra blend and reinforce each other's material. The orchestral writing
is often bravura in character making the work a concerto for orchestra as much
as for organ.
The
concerto is in a single movement, which falls broadly into three sections: Toccata
I, Adagio, Toccata 2. A vigorous Toccata for organ follows the opening
orchestral flurry. In this section I have attempted to create a feeling of energy
and forward momentum impelled by a strong sense of rhythmic vitality and
explosive orchestral gestures. Characteristic of this section are the frequent
changes of metre and orchestral textures. A transition passage for organ pedals
and two sets of timpani leads to the central Adagio section. This is for the
most part slow and lyrical in disposition, though it also incorporates dramatic
and vigorous writing reminiscent of the opening Toccata. The development is
based on two ideas: the ascending string clusters which immediately follow the
transition, and the organ theme to which they give way. A short scherzo-like
passage highlighting trios of flutes, clarinets, oboes and bassoons in turn,
leads to a varied recapitulation of the opening Toccata. A short snappy coda
brings the work to its conclusion.
The first
sketches for Symphony No.1 date from 1983 but the main work on the piece was done
during 1987 and the early part of 1988. The first performance was given in June
1988 in the National Concert Hall, Dublin by the Radio Telefis Éireann Symphony
Orchestra (now the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland) conducted by Albert
Rosen. The piece is in two movements, each of which falls into two large-scale
sections, giving the impression of a four-movement work. These sections
correspond loosely to the form of the classical and romantic symphony.
1st. movement:
Slow introduction - fast
Slow and lyrical
2nd. Movement:
Introduction
- scherzo 1 - trio - scherzo 2
Finale
The main
musical material of the first movement is a rapid scale passage first heard on the
strings. In conjunction with vigorous brass fanfares and woodwind and
percussion interjections, this material is expanded and developed by a variety
of means. The slow second section concentrates on a lyrical melodic growth and
transformation of the earlier material. The first scherzo of the second
movement is built around short woodwind figures dramatically interrupted by
brass and strings. The tranquil trio which features clarinet, oboe and flute
melodies lightly accompanied by strings and harp is followed by the lively
rhythmically impelled second scherzo. The final section of the work initially
juxtaposes contrapuntal woodwind and strings with chordal writing for the
brass. The rapid swirling scales of the first scherzo return to combine with
the brass fanfares and metallic percussion to bring the work to an energetic
and decisive conclusion. While the Symphony is entirely concerned with musical
materials and processes it draws much of its inspiration and character from the
forces and patterns of natural phenomena and seasonal change; Winter-Spring in
the first movement and Summer-Autumn in the second.
The Symphony is dedicated to James Wilson, who was my composition teacher
from 1971 to 1976.
John Buckley