Ina Boyle facts for kids

Ina Boyle, a famous Irish composer.

Ina Boyle (born March 8, 1889 – died March 10, 1967) was an important Irish composer. She was the most active and well-known female composer from Ireland before the 1950s.

Ina Boyle wrote many different kinds of music. This included pieces for choirs, small groups of instruments (chamber music), and large orchestras. She also wrote operas, ballets, and songs for singers. Some of her works, like The Magic Harp and Wildgeese, were performed while she was alive. However, most of her music was not published or performed until much later.

About Her Life

Ina Boyle was born in a place called Bushey Park, near Enniskerry in County Wicklow, Ireland. She grew up with her parents and her sister. Her first music lessons were from her father, William Foster Boyle, who was a church leader. She also learned violin and cello from her governess with her younger sister, Phyllis.

When she was eleven, Ina started studying music theory and harmony. Her teacher was Samuel Myerscough, an English organ player who started the Leinster School of Music. From 1904, she also took lessons by mail from Charles Wood, who was related to her family.

In 1910, Ina Boyle began lessons with Percy Buck, a music professor at Trinity College Dublin. By 1913, she was studying advanced music topics like counterpoint and composition in Dublin. Her teachers encouraged her to write music.

From 1923, Ina Boyle started traveling to London for lessons. She studied composition with the famous composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Performances and Challenges

During the 1920s and 1930s, some of Ina Boyle's music was performed in England. These performances were well-received, but they didn't happen very often. She also worked with other young female composers like Elisabeth Lutyens and Elizabeth Maconchy. They organized concerts to get their music heard.

However, Ina Boyle had to stay home to care for her family. This meant she couldn't travel much, especially when World War II started. Even though she felt isolated, she kept composing every day. She also sent her music to conductors and choir leaders, hoping for more performances.

In 1944, a concert was held that featured only her music. But, except for one short piece called Wildgeese, none of her new works were performed more than once.

Ina Boyle passed away from cancer in Greystones, County Wicklow. Her musical papers and notes are kept at the Library of Trinity College Dublin. You can even find most of her music online through Trinity College's digital collection.

Her Music

Because Ina Boyle lived a bit isolated, her music wasn't performed very often. But she kept writing music until she died. She started gaining recognition early on. In 1913, two of her pieces won prizes in a competition. One was for cello and orchestra, and the other was a song.

In 1919, her orchestral piece The Magic Harp won an award. A conductor named Dan Godfrey performed it in Bournemouth, England.

Symphonies and Concertos

Ina Boyle wrote three symphonies. Her first symphony, called Glencree, was finished in 1927. It was named after a place in the Wicklow Hills. This symphony describes different locations: "On Lacken Hill," "Nightwinds in the Valley," and "Above Lough Bray." It wasn't fully performed until 1945 by Raidió Éireann.

She also wrote a Violin Concerto in the early 1930s. This piece was dedicated to her mother, who had passed away. In 1948, her piece Lament for Bion won an honorable mention for Ireland at the Olympic Cultural Activities Committee.

Ina Boyle wrote about 60 solo songs during her career. About half of these songs have been recorded and can be heard today.

A documentary film about Ina Boyle's life and music, called From the Darkness, was shown in 2010. In 2013, an exhibition at Trinity College focused on her symphonies. In 2018, a CD was released with some of her major orchestral works. This included the first full recording of her Symphony No. 1.

Selected Works

Recordings

• The Magic Harp, performed by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Ronald Corp (cond.), on: Dutton Epoch CDLX 7276 (CD, 2011).
• The Wild Geese, performed by European Union Youth Orchestra, Laurent Pillot (cond.), on: Classical Recording Company CRC 2309 (CD, 2013).
• Sleep Song and Three Songs by Walter de la Mare, performed by Aylish Kerrigan (mezzo) and Dearbhla Collins (piano), on: Métier MSV 28558 (CD, 2016).
• Elegy, performed by Nadège Rochat (cello), Staatskapelle Weimar, Paul Meyer (cond.), on: Ars Produktion ARS 38 221 (CD, 2017).
• Orchestral works: Overture; Violin Concerto; Symphony No. 1 Glencree; Wildgeese; Psalm; A Sea Poem; Colin Clout, performed by BBC Concert Orchestra, Benjamin Baker (violin), Nadège Rochat (cello), Ronald Corp (cond.), on: Dutton Epoch CDLX 7352 (CD, 2018).
• Songs: Since thou, o fondest and truest; The Joy of Earth; Three Songs by Walter de la Mare; A Mountain Woman Asks for Quiet that her Child May Sleep; Looking Back; Himself and his Fiddle; Have you News of my Boy, Jack?; Roses; A Soft Day; Eternity; Sleep Song; All Souls' Flower; Five Sacred Folksongs of Sicily; A Song of Shadows; A Song of Enchantment; The Bringer of Dreams; Longing; Dust; The Stolen Child; Blessing; They Went Forth; Two Christmas Songs; The Last Invocation; performed by Paula Murrihy (mezzo), Robin Tritschler, (tenor), Ben McAteer (baritone), Iain Burnside (piano), on: Delphian DCD324264 (CD, 2021).

See also

In Spanish: Ina Boyle para niños