Michael Bowles facts for kids
Michael Andrew Bowles (Irish: Micheál Ó Baoighil; born November 30, 1909 – died April 6, 1998) was an Irish conductor and composer. He also worked in New Zealand, the United States, and England.
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Early Life and Career in Ireland
Michael Bowles was born in Riverstown, County Sligo, Ireland. He grew up in Boyle, County Roscommon. In 1924, his family moved to Dublin. There, he studied piano at the Read School.
In 1927, he started working for the government in the Department of Education. This was the start of his career as a civil servant. In 1932, Fritz Brase convinced him to join the Army School of Music. He studied to become a conductor there.
After getting a music degree from University College Dublin, he joined the Army's No. 2 Band in Cork. In 1941, he became the temporary music director at Radio Éireann. He took over from Vincent O'Brien.
In 1942, this job became full-time, so he left the Army. From 1941 to 1948, he was the main conductor of the Radio Éireann Orchestra. However, he left in 1948 because of disagreements. These disagreements were about making the orchestra bigger.
On June 6, 1945, he married Kathleen FitzGerald. Her father, Martin FitzGerald, was an Irish politician.
Orchestra Expansion Plans
As early as 1946, Michael Bowles suggested making the orchestra larger. He wanted 65 players at first, and then 80. The Irish government thought it was important to find musicians from outside Ireland.
So, Bowles was asked to travel around Europe to find good musicians. He went to Paris, Lisbon, Rome, Berne, and Brussels in the summer of 1947. But while he was away, the head of Radio Éireann decided to hire Jean Martinon as a conductor. They planned to keep Bowles only as a second choice. Michael Bowles quickly resigned, and his resignation was accepted.
Working Abroad
After leaving Radio Éireann, Bowles moved to New Zealand. He became the first main conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (1950–1953). This orchestra was in Wellington. At that time, it was called the "National Orchestra of the New Zealand Broadcasting Service."
The English conductor Sir Adrian Boult had highly recommended him. Sir Adrian was also a relative by marriage. In 1952, Bowles conducted when the orchestra was filmed for the first time. He also started a new way for the public to support the orchestra by paying a regular amount. In 1953, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.
Later, Bowles became a visiting professor at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. He taught there from 1954 to 1958. After that, he became the conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Indianapolis (1958–1963).
He left the United States because he got sick from the weather. He then moved to England. There, he taught conducting at the Birmingham School of Music from 1963 to 1970.
Return to Ireland and Later Life
Michael Bowles returned to Ireland in 1970. He and his wife ran a guesthouse in Cork. He also had several short-term jobs. From 1975 to 1977, he was the director of the Cultural Relations Committee for the Department of Foreign Affairs. During this time, he lived in County Wicklow.
He conducted the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra for the last time on January 16 and 17, 1977. These concerts were in Dublin and Cork. In his old age, he moved to Dublin, where he passed away in 1998.
His nephews are Pete Briquette (born Patrick Martin Cusack) and Johnnie Fingers (born John Peter Moylett). They are members of the Irish band The Boomtown Rats.
His Impact on Music
In 1959, Michael Bowles wrote a book called The Art of Conducting. A British version came out in 1961 as The Conductor: His Artistry and Craftsmanship. Sir Adrian Boult wrote in the introduction that the book would be a valuable addition for those who want to conduct. It would also help people who are interested in music.
Bowles was very important to Irish music. When he was the music director and main conductor at Radio Éireann, he strongly supported new Irish orchestral music. Many pieces by important composers of that time were performed for the first time by him. These composers included Brian Boydell, Frederick May, Aloys Fleischmann, Éamonn Ó Gallchobhair, Redmond Friel, and T.C. Kelly. He also conducted the first performances of violin and cello concertos by E.J. Moeran.
After Bowles died in 1998, Joseph Ryan wrote about him. He said that Bowles's role in building and growing the Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra had not been properly recognized. He believed that history would eventually show how much Bowles contributed, especially in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
His Music
Michael Bowles's main goal was to be a conductor. Because of this, he did not write a lot of music. His music was not very new or modern. He preferred a traditional style, similar to composers like Charles V. Stanford and Hamilton Harty in Ireland.
He especially enjoyed writing music for voices. He created settings for the mass, many songs, and collections of traditional music.
Selected Works
Orchestra
- Slabhra fonn Gaedhealacha (1939)
- Three Pieces (1941)
- Slabhragh d'fhonnaibh Gaedhealacha (1942), for piano and string orchestra
- Divertimento for Strings (1943)
Vocal
- Anonn 's Anall, for female voices (Dublin: Pigott, 1937)
- Dosaen Amhrán do Leanbhai (A Dozen Songs for Children) (Dublin: Oifig an tSoláthair, 1943; new ed. 1976)
- Missa 'Ave Maria', for male voices (London: Cary & Co., 1948)
- Missa 'Maria immaculata', for mixed choir (London: Cary & Co., 1948)
- Missa 'Maria assumpta', for mixed choir (London: Cary & Co., 1949)
- Three Songs on Poems of Francis Thompson (1949–56; rev. 1982)
- Five Songs on Poems of James Stephens (1949–57; rev. 1982) (New York, 1957)
- Four Songs for the Children on Poems of James Stephens (1955–6; rev. 1982)
- Irish Songs, compiled by Burl Ives, edited with new piano accompaniments by Michael Bowles (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, c. 1958)
- Plainsong Mass (Galway: Lynch, 1968)
- Claisceadal, 2 volumes of folksongs arrangements (Dublin: At the Sign of the Anchor, 1986)
Images for kids
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Michael Bowles (1909–1998) in Dublin, 1994.
