SMOCK ALLEY

C L A R E N D O N    E V E N T S

SMOCK ALLEY

7pm 27 October 2024

Donations (£17.50/£5 students) at the door or in advance at Eventbrite

Formed by Carina Drury in 2020 this well-established group of four inspired award-winning historical  and traditional instrumentalists explores Italian and Irish musical connections in the 18th century. Together they recreate this musical exchange in their present-day performances, arrangements and compositions.

Reflecting the life of the Smock Alley area of Dublin, which in the British Isles at that time was second only to London in musical importance, this truly original programme explores the reciprocal influence of Irish traditional music on Italian baroque composers living in Ireland and shows how the taste for that music influenced Irish composers of the day. Irish tunes are presented in a form which is preserved in The Neal Collection (the first ever printed collection of Irish music from 1724) and in arrangements showcasing the cello in a solo melodic role with the atmospheric, rich and earthy sound of multiple bass instruments and harp.

Charming cello duos written by the Neapolitan composer Tomasso Giordani, who moved to Dublin in 1763 to become musical director at the Smock Alley Theatre, and a cello sonata by Francesco Geminiani, who lived and died in Dublin, will be interspersed with traditional Irish melodies and haunting laments. Much of the Baroque music is performed from unpublished and less well-known scores. Highlighting the role of an 18th-century musicianas both player and composer, a newly written composition by Carina Drury will be included, based on an Irish air Caoineadh Na Dtri Muire. We will also hear the blind harpist Turlough O’Carolan’s famous Farewell to Music.

Italian Baroque meets Irish folk in 18th century Dublin.

• Carina Drury baroque cello.
• Poppy Walshaw baroque cello.
• Aileen Henry baroque harp
• John-Henry Baker violone, percussion.