John Nicholson Ireland (13 August 1879 – 12 June 1962) was an English compo… Read Full Bio ↴John Nicholson Ireland (13 August 1879 – 12 June 1962) was an English composer.
Ireland was born in Bowdon, near Altrincham, Manchester, into a family of Scottish descent and some cultural distinction. His parents died soon after he had entered the Royal College of Music at the age of 14. He studied piano and organ there, and later composition under Charles Villiers Stanford. He subsequently became a teacher at the College himself, his pupils including Ernest John Moeran (who admired him) and Benjamin Britten (who found Ireland’s teaching of less interest). He was sub organist at Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street, London SW1, and later became organist and choirmaster at St. Luke’s Church, Chelsea, London. Ireland frequently visited the Channel Islands and was inspired by their landscape; he was evacuated from them just before the German invasion during World War II. Ireland retired in 1953, settling at the small hamlet of Rock in Sussex for the rest of his life. He is buried in nearby Shipley churchyard.
[1] Ireland regretted immediately his marriage, which he never consummated. His assistant and companion, Norah Kirkby, destroyed portions of Ireland's papers and correspondence upon his death, donating the remainder to the British Library. But see Fiona Richards, "An Anthology of Friendship: The Letters of John Ireland to Father Kenneth Thompson", in Queer Episodes in Music and Modern Identity (2002): "Despite his brief and ultimately unsuccessful relationships with women, there is no doubt that Ireland was considerably more interested in men, specifically much younger men. There is, however, no direct evidence that Ireland ever had a close sexual relationship with a man or a boy, and he did not particularly mix in homosexual circles. He was a very private figure, and because of this and the problems involved in extracting relevant information, there has never been any truly open discussion of Ireland's personal life. In particular, there has been little written about his religious convictions or his sexuality." The article covers the subject in some depth.
From Stanford, Ireland inherited a thorough knowledge of the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms and other German classics, but as a young man he was also strongly influenced by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel as well as the earlier works by Igor Stravinsky and Béla Bartók. From these influences, he developed his own brand of "English Impressionism", related closer to French and Russian models than to the folk-song style then prevailing in English music.
Like most other Impressionist composers, Ireland favoured small forms and wrote neither symphonies nor operas, although his Piano Concerto is among his best works. His output includes some chamber music and a substantial body of piano works, including his best-known piece The Holy Boy, known in numerous arrangements. His songs to poems by A. E. Housman, Thomas Hardy, Christina Rossetti, John Masefield and Rupert Brooke are a valuable addition to English vocal repertoire. Due to his job at St. Luke’s Church, he also wrote hymns, carols and other sacred choral music; among choirs he is probably best known for the anthem Greater Love, often sung in services that commemorate the victims of war. His Communion Service in C is also performed. Some of his pieces, such as the popular A Downland Suite, were completed or re-transcribed after his death by his student Geoffrey Bush.
2.
John Ireland was born John Griffith on the 24th August 1954 in Ireland (some sources say Boksburg), South Africa. He attended Boksburg High School in the mid-70s. In 1977 he and Jonathan Handley formed the band Slither and were based in Springs. He studied medicine with Jonathan at Wits University and they both became doctors. Slither later became The Radio Rats. John has musical training in classical piano to an advanced level and also plays guitar and drums.
Ireland was born in Bowdon, near Altrincham, Manchester, into a family of Scottish descent and some cultural distinction. His parents died soon after he had entered the Royal College of Music at the age of 14. He studied piano and organ there, and later composition under Charles Villiers Stanford. He subsequently became a teacher at the College himself, his pupils including Ernest John Moeran (who admired him) and Benjamin Britten (who found Ireland’s teaching of less interest). He was sub organist at Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street, London SW1, and later became organist and choirmaster at St. Luke’s Church, Chelsea, London. Ireland frequently visited the Channel Islands and was inspired by their landscape; he was evacuated from them just before the German invasion during World War II. Ireland retired in 1953, settling at the small hamlet of Rock in Sussex for the rest of his life. He is buried in nearby Shipley churchyard.
[1] Ireland regretted immediately his marriage, which he never consummated. His assistant and companion, Norah Kirkby, destroyed portions of Ireland's papers and correspondence upon his death, donating the remainder to the British Library. But see Fiona Richards, "An Anthology of Friendship: The Letters of John Ireland to Father Kenneth Thompson", in Queer Episodes in Music and Modern Identity (2002): "Despite his brief and ultimately unsuccessful relationships with women, there is no doubt that Ireland was considerably more interested in men, specifically much younger men. There is, however, no direct evidence that Ireland ever had a close sexual relationship with a man or a boy, and he did not particularly mix in homosexual circles. He was a very private figure, and because of this and the problems involved in extracting relevant information, there has never been any truly open discussion of Ireland's personal life. In particular, there has been little written about his religious convictions or his sexuality." The article covers the subject in some depth.
From Stanford, Ireland inherited a thorough knowledge of the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms and other German classics, but as a young man he was also strongly influenced by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel as well as the earlier works by Igor Stravinsky and Béla Bartók. From these influences, he developed his own brand of "English Impressionism", related closer to French and Russian models than to the folk-song style then prevailing in English music.
Like most other Impressionist composers, Ireland favoured small forms and wrote neither symphonies nor operas, although his Piano Concerto is among his best works. His output includes some chamber music and a substantial body of piano works, including his best-known piece The Holy Boy, known in numerous arrangements. His songs to poems by A. E. Housman, Thomas Hardy, Christina Rossetti, John Masefield and Rupert Brooke are a valuable addition to English vocal repertoire. Due to his job at St. Luke’s Church, he also wrote hymns, carols and other sacred choral music; among choirs he is probably best known for the anthem Greater Love, often sung in services that commemorate the victims of war. His Communion Service in C is also performed. Some of his pieces, such as the popular A Downland Suite, were completed or re-transcribed after his death by his student Geoffrey Bush.
2.
John Ireland was born John Griffith on the 24th August 1954 in Ireland (some sources say Boksburg), South Africa. He attended Boksburg High School in the mid-70s. In 1977 he and Jonathan Handley formed the band Slither and were based in Springs. He studied medicine with Jonathan at Wits University and they both became doctors. Slither later became The Radio Rats. John has musical training in classical piano to an advanced level and also plays guitar and drums.
These Things Shall Be
John Ireland Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by John Ireland:
I Like ahhh i like uh hu hu hu hu hu with you oh your mouth…
I Like… ahhh i like uh hu hu hu hu hu with you oh your mouth…
My song is love unknown My song is love unknown, My Savior's love to me; Love to…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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Leon Mello
An amazing piece of music.
VICTOBERN
Still one of the most majestic and uplifting choral works ever written.
DAD
Me gusta (...), gracias por compartir!
Ruth Roper
I just came across this after listening to Walton's astonishing "Belshazzar's Feast" which was also on the Proms 2012 program. This Ireland piece is new to me. Coincidentally had thought I'd heard echos of Ireland's famous "Greater Love" in the ending of Walton's piece -- so was interested to find it on the same program. (Turns out "Belshazzara's Feast" was 1931, so preceded "Greater Love" -- guess Ireland echoed Walton.) Have been so depressed these days (2017) about what seems like a global slide into depravity, mass mental illness, nature shutting down... wondering if terrible times like the Belshazzar/Babylon story are in our future -- and then to come across this shimmering piece, the profound utopian text of "These things shall be" -- with the eerie question woven throughout: "What will the future bring?" So here we are in the future. From this optimistic 1937 pre-war prayer, here we are today. Thank God for music to keep us going. So beautiful and inspirational. (OK, a bit Disney in places, but perhaps Disney drew from music like this rather than the other way around? Music to lift and inspire - - Save us, St. Cecilia!)
robert frank gill
1937. Poignant. Also you can see where Alan Bush got his 1953 song cycle Voices of the Prophets from. (Bush was a disciple of Ireland)
gb5858
8:35 shades of Carl orff me thinks.... similar time period...