Adv@rtis@m@nt
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The Contemporary Music Centre Mary McAuliffe, in common with orher composers and users of the CMC, has nothing bur praise for the work of the Contemporary Music Centre www.cmc.ie in Dublin and its dedicated staff under its director Eve O'Kelly. The Contemporary Music Centre (CMC), which is primarily funded by the Arts Council (oflreland), is Ireland's national archive and resource centre for new music and it supports rhe work of composers rhroughour Ireland. It has effectively raised the profile of Irish composers and their work throughout Irish society and around the world. The library contains rhe largest collection in existence of music written since the early 20th century by Irish composers (i.e. those of Irish birch or residence), as well as sound recordings, biographical and programme information, a reference library of books and periodicals, and information of interest to composers, such as performance opportunities, concerts, commissions and grants. There are c. 3,300 scores in the CMC, and the collection grows at an average rate of c. 250 each year. Most of the music is unpublished and is available for reference, sale, hire or inspection. There is an extensive archive of sound recordings that also includes many hundreds of recordings from the archives of RTE, the national broadcasting service. There are approximately 5,200 individual works in the CMC's library of scores and recordings, of which more rhan 1,200 are vocal/choral works. A number of works have been graded in terms of difficulty and rhis helpful tool can be utilised via the homepage of the website. www.cmc.ie. by clicking on Education & Outreach - Explore and Discover - Perform an Irish Work.
Sarah Burn lives in Ireland whereshe is a music copyistand typesetterwho has copied scoresand parts by hand and by computerfor many of the countryscomposersand ensembles. She writesprogramme notesfor concertsand recordings,and also teachesoboe.She enjoysthe variety of thesedifferent, but complementary activities. (E-mail: smbum@eircom.net) (1) The primary resource for information about Irish traditional music is rhe Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin www.itma.ie. The Archive, under the direction of Nicholas Carolan, was established in 1987, and is the first body that was exclusively concerned with the making of a comprehensive collection of materials, including sound recordings, books, photographs and videos, for the appreciation and study of Irish traditional music. It is the largest such collection in existence and is a not-for-profit facility that is open to the public. (2) To explore further the history of music in Irish cathedrals, the first detailed study was made by W.H. Grindle in his book Irish CathedralMusic:A History of Music at the Cathedralsof the Church of Ireland, which was published in 1989 by The Institute oflrish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast. See also A History of Music at Christ Church Cathedral Dublin by Dr Barra Boydell, published by Boydell & Brewer, Woodbridge, 2004. (3) The Irish composer and musicologist Brian Boydell (1917-2000) wrote many books and articles on music in Ireland, and his book A Dublin Musical Calendar,1700 1760, published in 1988 by the Irish Academic Press, is a fascinating account of musical life in the city during a musically most important period. •