John McLachlan (composer) facts for kids
John McLachlan (born 5 March 1964) is an Irish composer. He creates and writes music.
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Life of a Composer
John McLachlan was born in Dublin, Ireland. His mother was the writer Leland Bardwell. John studied music at several places. These included the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama from 1982 to 1986. He also studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and Trinity College Dublin.
In 1999, he earned a special degree called a Ph.D. in music. His studies looked at how music analysis connects to writing new music. He focused on music from the post-war avant-garde period. This means he studied new and experimental music styles.
John also learned from other composers. He studied with Robert Hanson and Kevin Volans. Today, he lives in Inishowen, which is in County Donegal.
He wrote many articles for The Journal of Music in Ireland. This was from 2000 to 2010. Now, it's an online magazine called the Journal of Music.
John was also in charge of the Association of Irish Composers (AIC). He held this role from 1998 to 2012. In 2007, he became a member of Aosdána. This is a special group that honors Irish artists.
McLachlan was a featured composer for the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. This happened in their "Horizons" concert series in 2003 and 2008. He has also shown his music at big international festivals. These include the ISCM World Music Days. He went to Slovenia in 2003, Croatia in 2005, and New Zealand in 2022.
In 2006, he wrote a piece called Grand Action. This music was specially asked for. It was used as a test piece for the AXA Dublin International Piano Competition. This is a very important piano contest.
Understanding John McLachlan's Music
John McLachlan's music often tells a story. He wants his music to feel like it's moving forward. He tries to create a sense of something about to happen. He does this without copying old musical styles.
One music critic wrote about his piano piece Nine. The critic said each small part of the piece was unique. It made them think of different music styles. Some parts sounded like French Impressionism. This is a style that creates a mood or atmosphere. Other parts felt like jazz music. Some reminded them of short piano pieces by Webern. The critic noted that none of his music sounded like it was copied from others.
Much of his music is built in a special way. It has different sections that change suddenly. These sections are like blocks of similar musical ideas. Inside these blocks, the music keeps moving. It uses small changes in rhythm and melody. This makes the music sound deep and sometimes mysterious. It also builds up excitement slowly.
Selected Musical Works
John McLachlan has written many different kinds of music. Here are some of his important compositions:
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Orchestral Music These pieces are written for a full orchestra.
Chamber Music These are pieces for a small group of instruments.
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Solo Instrumental Music These pieces are written for just one instrument.
Choral Works These pieces are written for a choir, which is a group of singers.
Electro-acoustic Works These pieces combine live instruments with electronic sounds.
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Recordings of His Music
You can find John McLachlan's music on these recordings:
- Drinking The Stars (2023): This is a double CD with piano music. Mary Dullea plays the piano. You can find it on farpoint recordings here.
- First: This CD has six of McLachlan's pieces. The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and other musicians perform them. You can listen to it here.
- Filament of Memory: Performed by the Dublin Guitar Quartet. Learn more here.
- Nine: Mary Dullea plays this on the Gothic album from Metier Records. Find it here.
- Four Pieces for Guitar: John Feeley plays these on the Islands album. More info here.
- Grand Action: Maria McGarry performs this on CMC CD 9.
- Here be Dragons: David Adams plays this on the Irish Contemporary Organ Music album.
- Two Lyric Sketches: Performed by the Hibernia trio and Ken Rice quartet on AIC CD1.
Writings About Music
John McLachlan has also written about music. You can read his articles in the Journal of Music here.
