A. J. Potter facts for kids

Archibald James Potter (born September 22, 1918 – died July 5, 1980) was an Irish composer and teacher. He created hundreds of musical pieces, including operas, a mass (a type of religious music), and four ballets. He also wrote music for orchestras and smaller groups of instruments (called chamber music).

Early Life

Potter was born in Belfast, a city in Northern Ireland. His family was Presbyterian, and they lived in an area called Falls Road, which was mostly known for Catholic families. His father was a church organist and also tuned pianos, even though he had been blind since he was a child. When Archibald was young, he moved to Kent, England, to live with his aunt, which helped him escape a difficult childhood.

Archibald had a great singing voice and a natural talent for music. He was accepted as a treble (a young boy singer) into the famous choir of All Saints, Margaret Street. After singing in the choir for four years, he went to Clifton College in Bristol in 1933. From there, he earned a scholarship to the Royal College of Music. He studied how to compose music with a famous composer named Vaughan Williams. While at the Royal College, he won an award called the Cobbett prize for his chamber music.

His music studies were put on hold because of World War II. Potter left college to serve in the army with the London Irish Rifles in Europe and the Far East. After the war, Potter settled in Dublin, Ireland. He continued his studies at Trinity College Dublin and earned a special degree called a Doctorate in Music in 1953.

Music Career

Even before the war, Potter had started writing music for small groups of instruments and songs for singers. Once he settled in Dublin, he started focusing on writing music for full orchestras. His early pieces, like Rhapsody under a High Sky and Overture to a Kitchen Comedy, showed that he had learned a lot from Vaughan Williams' style. He especially loved folk music, which is traditional music from a country or region. In 1952, both of these pieces won the "Carolan Prize" from Radio Éireann (Ireland's national radio station). A year later, his Concerto da Chiesa, which was a concerto for piano and orchestra, also won the Carolan Prize.

In 1955, Potter became a Professor of Composition at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He was a very good leader and an inspiring teacher there.

In the 1960s, Potter started writing music for ballets. He composed four orchestral pieces for the Cork Ballet company. His first ballet, Careless Love, became his own favorite piece of music he ever wrote. Several years later, he created what many people consider his greatest work, Sinfonia "de Profundis" (which means "Symphony from the Depths"). This symphony was first performed in Dublin on March 23, 1969, by the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra. The Irish Times newspaper called the concert a "major national event." In December 1969, Potter received a Jacob's Award for this important composition.

Potter's last big work was an opera called The Wedding. An opera is a play where most of the words are sung. This opera was first performed in Dublin in 1981, almost a year after he passed away.

Death

Archibald James Potter died suddenly at his home in Greystones, County Wicklow, when he was 61 years old. He is buried in the nearby Redford cemetery.

Selected Works

Archibald James Potter wrote many different kinds of music:

• Ballets: These are stories told through dance, with music to go along with them. Some of his ballets include Careless Love (1959) and Full Moon for the Bride (1964).
• Operas: These are musical plays where the characters sing their lines. He wrote Patrick (a television opera, 1964) and The Wedding (1979).
• Orchestral Music: This is music written for a large group of instruments called an orchestra. Famous pieces include Overture to a Kitchen Comedy (1950), Concerto da Chiesa (1952), and his masterpiece, Sinfonia de Profundis (1969).
• Chamber Music: This is music for a smaller group of instruments, often played in a room (chamber) rather than a large hall. Examples include his String Quartets and A House Full of Harpers (1963).
• Songs: He wrote many songs for a singer and piano, setting poems by famous writers like Walter Scott and W. B. Yeats to music.