Beethoven's Irish Songs Revisited

Texts Chosen by Tomas O Suilleabhain Edited by Margaret O'Sullivan Farrell

By: Tomás Ó Súilleabháin, Margaret O'Sullivan Farrell, Carysfort Press Ltd.

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eBook | 12 December 2018 | Edition Number 1

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Beethoven's seventy-two settings of traditional Irish airs constitute his most prolific output in any genre. The arrangements were commissioned in the early nineteenth century by the Scottish editor and publisher, George Thomson, who sent airs, but no texts, to Beethoven. Poetry, mostly by less well-known poets, was attached to the finished settings before publication by Thomson, and perhaps therein lies the reason why the songs never achieved the popularity which they deserve: many of the poems have been judged to be of inferior quality. In this edition, the first in which all Beethoven's Irish folksong settings are published together, the late baritone, broadcaster and musicologist, Tomas O Suilleabhain, selected texts, mostly by Burns and Moore, which he felt were more appropriate to the airs and to Beethoven's settings.

Industry Reviews

«This annotated edition of Beethoven's Irish Folksong arrangements, with texts chosen by the legendary musician, Tomas O Suilleabhain, and with an illuminating commentary, will be warmly welcomed by performers, teachers and audiences as an invaluable new source of vocal music.» (Dr Ita Beausang, Lecturer Emeritus in Musicology at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama).

«Beethoven's Irish songs have long held a fascination for me and others interested in performing and studying the music of Ireland. The legacy which Tomas O Suilleabhain has created by his artistic and sympathetic realignment of the settings now brings Beethoven's work to the fore, confirming for it a unique and enduring position within the Irish song repertoire.» (Dr Una Hunt, Pianist, broadcaster and Irish music historian).