John Kinsella (composer) facts for kids

John Kinsella (born April 8, 1932 – died November 9, 2021) was a famous Irish composer. He was known for writing many symphonies, which are long pieces of music for an orchestra. In fact, he wrote more symphonies than almost anyone else in Ireland during the 1900s!

A Life in Music

John Kinsella was born in Dublin, Ireland. He was the younger brother of a well-known poet named Thomas Kinsella. John studied the viola (which is like a bigger violin) at the College of Music in Dublin. He also took some private lessons to learn how to compose music.

Early Compositions

When he was younger, John was very interested in a style of music called serialism. This was a new and modern way of composing music in Europe at the time. He wrote several pieces that were performed by the national broadcaster, RTÉ. These included his first two string quartets (music for four string instruments) and a piece called Montage II for an orchestra. One of his big works from this time was A Selected Life, which was based on poems written by his brother Thomas.

A Change in Style

In 1968, John started working as a senior assistant in the music department at RTÉ. Over time, he began to feel that the very modern "avant-garde" music style wasn't quite right for him anymore. He even stopped composing for about 18 months!

When he started writing music again, John decided to find his own unique sound. He wanted to create music that felt true to himself, no matter what was popular at the time. The first piece he wrote with this new mindset was The Wayfarer: Rhapsody on a Poem of P.H. Pearse in 1979. This piece was specially made to celebrate 100 years since the birth of Patrick Pearse, a famous Irish leader.

Later Career and Retirement

John Kinsella received an important award called the Marten Toonder Award in 1979. He also became a founding member of Aosdána in 1981, which is a special group that honors Irish artists. In 1983, he became the Head of Music at RTÉ.

However, John decided to retire early in 1988. He wanted to spend all his time composing music. As part of his retirement plan, RTÉ agreed to ask him to write a series of large orchestral pieces for them.

John Kinsella passed away in Dublin on November 9, 2021, when he was 89 years old.

His Music Style

Before 1977, John Kinsella's music was heavily influenced by the modern European style called serialism. Later, he developed his own unique way of composing. He used elements from serialism but made them sound more like traditional music, almost as if he was bringing back some of the older musical ideas.

John Kinsella was most interested in writing instrumental music, which means music without singing. His best and most well-known works are his string quartets, concertos (pieces for a solo instrument with an orchestra), and especially his many symphonies.

Selected Compositions

Here are some of the musical pieces John Kinsella composed:

Orchestral Music

• Two Pieces for String Orchestra (1965)
• Cello Concerto [no. 1] (1967)
• Rondo for Orchestra (1969)
• Montage II (1970)
• Music for Cello and Chamber Orchestra (1971)
• The Wayfarer: Rhapsody on a Poem of P.H. Pearse (1979)
• Essay for Orchestra (1980)
• Violin Concerto No. 1 (1981)
• Sinfonietta (1983)
• Symphony No. 1 (1984)
• Rhapsody on a Poem of Francis Ledwidge (1987), for 2 solo violins and orchestra
• Symphony No. 2 (1988)
• Violin Concerto No. 2 (1989)
• Symphony No. 3, "Joie de vivre" (1990)
• Nocturne (1990), for cello and string orchestra
• Symphony No. 4, "The Four Provinces" (1991)
• Symphony No. 6 (1993)
• Two Slow Airs (1993), for accordion and orchestra
• Festive Overture (1995)
• Cello Concerto [no .2] (2000)
• Hommage à Clarence (2001), for string orchestra
• Symphony No. 9 (2004), for string orchestra
• Prelude and Toccata for Wind Ensemble (2007)
• Cuchulainn & Ferdia: Duel at the Ford (2008)
• Elegy for Strings (2011)
• Symphony No. 10 (2012)
• Symphony No. 11 (2019)

Works for Voices and Orchestra

• A Selected Life (Thomas Kinsella) (1973), for tenor singer, speaker, choir, and orchestra
• Symphony No. 5, "The 1916 Poets" (Joseph Mary Plunkett, Thomas MacDonagh, Patrick Pearse) (1992), for baritone singer, speaker, and orchestra
• Symphony No. 7 (1997), for wordless choir and orchestra
• Symphony No. 8, "Into the New Millennium" (1999), for 3 boy sopranos and orchestra

Chamber Music

• String Quartet No. 1 (1960)
• Clarinet Trio (1960)
• Chamber Concerto (1964), for violin and chamber ensemble
• String Quartet No. 2 (1968)
• Dialogue for Horn and Piano (1970)
• Dialogue for Bassoon and Piano (1972)
• Guitar Fantasy (1974), for guitar
• Rhapsody on a Poem of Joseph Campbell for viola solo (1975)
• String Quartet No. 3 (1977)
• Aberration (1980), for flute and piano
• Piano Quartet (1985)
• Synthesis (1987), for string quartet
• Dialogue for viola solo (1991)
• String Quartet No. 4 (1993)
• Symphony for Five (1996), for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion
• Sonata for Two Violins (1996)
• Upstairs, Downstairs (1999), for cello and piano
• Prelude and Toccata (2006), for string quartet
• On Hearing Purcell and Shostakovitch at Bantry House: June 2008 (2009), for string quartet
• String Quartet No. 5 (2013)

Recordings

You can listen to some of John Kinsella's music on these recordings:

• String Quartet No. 3, played by the Vanbrugh Quartet, on: Chandos CHAN 9296 (CD, 1994).
• Symphonies No. 3 and No. 4, played by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, conducted by Proinnsías Ó Duinn, on: Marco Polo 8.223766 (CD, 1997).
• Symphony No. 9; Hommage à Clarence; Nocturne for cello and string orchestra; Elegy for Strings; Prelude and Toccata for string orchestra, played by the Irish Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Anthony Marwood, on Irish Chamber Orchestra label (CD, 2011).
• Symphony No. 6; Symphony No. 7; Prelude and Toccata for string orchestra; Cúchullainn and Ferdia: Duel at the Ford, played by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and the National Chamber Choir of Ireland, conducted by Proinnsías Ó Duinn, on: RTÉ lyric fm CD 134 (CD, 2011).
• Symphony No. 5 ("The 1916 Poets") and Symphony No. 10, performed by Gerard O'Connor (baritone), Bill Golding (speaker), RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, conducted by Colman Pearce, and the Irish Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy, on: Toccata Classics TOCC 0242 (CD, 2014).
• Guitar Fantasy, played by John Feeley, on: RTÉ lyric fm CD 153 (CD, 2016).