Here are some possibilities:
Adolph Foerster: "Tristram and Iseult", op 60 - Iseult (Isolde) was an
Irish princess
Charles Villiers Stanford: A SHEAF OF SONGS FROM LEINSTER, op. 140; AN
IRISH IDYLL IN SIX MINIATURES, op. 77
Charles Loeffler: FIVE IRISH FANTASIES
Samuel Barber: HERMIT SONGS, Op. 29 - texts by anonymous Irish poet (or by
poets adapting anonymous Irish poet)
Charles Ives: FIVE STREET SONGS #1-#3 have Irish aspects to them
Arnold Bax: A CELTIC SONG-CYCLE
John Ireland: "Tutto e sciolto" - the poem is by Irishman James Joyce; for
more Joyce settings, also look at:
Frank Bridge: "Goldenhair"
Samuel Barber: "Now I have fed and eaten up the rose", "Nuvoletta" op. 25,
Songs Opus 10, "Solitary Hotel" #4 from DESPITE AND STILL, op. 41,
Robert Ward: "Rain has fallen all the day"
Arthur Bliss: "Simples"
David Del Tredici: SYZYGY (for soprano, chimes, horn, orchestra), "I hear
an army" (for soprano, string quartet), TWO SONGS ON POEMS BY JAMES JOYCE
George Antheil: "Nightpiece"
Luciano Berio: CHAMBER MUSIC (for female voice, clarinet, cello, harp)
Sergius Kagen: "Sleep now, o sleep now", "All day I hear the noise of
waters"
Vincent Persichetti: "Noise of Waters" op. 74 #3
John Cage: "The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs", "Nowth upon nacht"
John Duke: "O it was out by Donnycarney"
John Eaton: SONGS OF DESPAIR
The Britten arrangements of various Irish folk songs are another
possibility, e.g., his "The last rose of summer" and "Down by the Salley
Gardens" among others.
Arthur Foote: "Irish Folk Song"
Tom Lehrer: "An Irish Ballad"
Ivor Gurney: "Cathleen ni Houlihan" - setting of the poem by William
Butler Yeats. For other Yeats settings, also look at Gurney's "A Cradle
Song", "The Cloths of Heaven", "Down by the Salley Gardens", "The Folly of
being comforted", "The fiddler of Donney"
plus:
John Eaton: "Under Ben Bulben" and "Beloved may your sleep be sound", #2
and #3 from SONGS FOR URSULA
Benjamin Britten: "Down by the Salley Gardens"
John Ireland: "The Salley Gardens" #4 from SONGS SACRED AND PROFOUND
Gerald Finzi: "The Salley Gardens"
Rebecca Clarke: "Down by the Salley Gardens", "A Dream", "The Cloths of
Heaven", "Shy one"
Ned Rorem: "To a Young Girl", "O do not love too long"
Samuel Barber: "The Secrets of the Old" Op. 13 #2
Edward Elgar: GRANIA AND DIARMID, Op. 42
Michael Balfe: "I dreamt I dwelt in Marble Halls" and "O what rare deligh"
- Arline's arias from THE BOHEMIAN GIRL - Balfe was an Irish composer
Vincent Wallace: "Scenes that are brightest" from MARITANA - Wallace was
another Irish composer
Benedict: "I'm alone" from THE LILY OF KILLARNEY - Benedict was Irish, and
the opera is set in Ireland
You might also consider doing some songs by Irish composer E.J. Moeran,
of which there are many.
Don't know if there's something approximating an aria for soprano in
Vaughan Williams' opera RIDERS TO THE SEA or Healy Willan's opera DEIRDRE,
or Etienne-Nicolas Mehul's UTHAL. All three operas are set in Ireland; the
last two are based on Irish folk legends.
Karen Mercedes
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
***************************************
Verdi and Wagner delighted the crowds
With their highly original sound.
The pianos they played are still working,
But they're both six feet underground.
- Michael Palin
|
|  |
