Search Results for 'great composer'

THESE JANUARY days may be cold and wet, grim and grey, but Music for Galway’s aptly named Midwinter Festival can be relied upon to spread cheer and warmth on the weekend of January 25 to 27.

Celebrations are in full swing in Ballina to mark the bicentenary of composer William Vincent Wallace who has been described as the rock star of his day with many compositions to his name, including the 1850s smash hits ‘Maritana’ and ‘Lurline’.

The composer Karl Jenkins is the bane of many music critics’ lives. They cannot understand him; or why he is so popular with serious music lovers. A recent study shows that he is now the most performed living composer in the world. If Jenkins was a Mick Jagger or a Paul McCartney then, some critics argue, different criteria would apply. But this man takes the most solemn themes, such as the Mass, and more recently Stabat Mater (the intensely moving 13th century hymn to Mary as she stands at the foot of the Cross), and presents them in an astonishing, and exciting, new format that makes you sit up, and ask: “What was that?” It is certainly not in the classical tradition.

A BRITISH viola player, a Latvian cellist, and an Israeli pianist will join forces for Music For Galway’s Viola Magic concert in the Aula Maxima, NUI Galway, on Thursday November 6 at 8pm.

Encircled by mountains and straddling the river Salzach, this beautiful Austrian city has a dramatic setting that matches its own baroque splendour. With its Alpine surroundings and historic centre that was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1997, Salzburg really is just as lovely as the city portrayed in The Sound of Music.