Arthur O'Leary (composer)
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Arthur O'Leary (15 March 1834 – 11 March 1919) was an Irish composer, pianist and teacher.


Biography

O'Leary was born in Tralee, County Kerry, both his father (also named Arthur) and uncle Daniel having been talented musicians, too. Arthur Senior was said to be first cousin to Arthur Sullivan's grandfather in an obituary for O'Leary written by W. H. Grattan Flood. When young Arthur's talents were discovered at the age of ten, a visiting barrister, Wyndham Goold became his patron: in May 1844 he sent him to school in Dublin and secured private piano tuition. With financial backing from others, including John Stanford (father of
Charles Villiers Stanford Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was educated at the ...
), and with letters of introduction from
William Sterndale Bennett Sir William Sterndale Bennett (13 April 18161 February 1875) was an English composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. At the age of ten Bennett was admitted to the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he remained for ten years. B ...
, O'Leary was able to study at the conservatory in
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
, where he arrived in 1847 to study piano (with
Ignaz Moscheles Isaac Ignaz Moscheles (; 23 May 179410 March 1870) was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer. He was based initially in London and later at Leipzig, where he joined his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as professor of piano at the Co ...
), organ, violin, and harmony (with
Julius Rietz August Wilhelm Julius Rietz (28 December 1812 – 12 September 1877) was a German composer, conductor, cellist, and teacher. His students included Woldemar Bargiel, Salomon Jadassohn, Arthur O'Leary, and (by far the most celebrated) Sir Arthu ...
). During this time he was invited several times to musical dinners where he met, besides Moscheles, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and
Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of t ...
. He also attended Mendelssohn's funeral in 1847. Between February 1852 and December 1854 O'Leary studied the piano with Cipriani Potter and Sterndale Bennett at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), London. He became an assistant professor at the RAM in 1856 and elected a fellow in 1864, teaching piano and composition. Among his more notable pupils were
Alicia Adelaide Needham Alicia may refer to: People * Alicia (given name), list of people with this name * Alisha (singer) (born 1968), US pop singer * Melinda Padovano (born 1987), a professional wrestler, known by her ring name, Alicia Places * Alicia, Bohol, Ph ...
,
Charles Villiers Stanford Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was educated at the ...
, and Arthur Sullivan. He also had other teaching positions in London at institutions including the National Training School for Music (from 1876), the
Guildhall School The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...
(1880–1900), the Crystal Palace School of Science and Art (from 1886), and the Beckenham School of Music (from 1894). He resigned from the RAM and other positions in 1903. He was elected a member of the Philharmonic Society in 1875. O'Leary had married Rosetta Vinning on 5 November 1860 and they had two daughters, Catherine Wyndham and Annette Elizabeth. Annette married Harry Pye, son of Kellow Pye in 1897. Arthur and Rosetta both died in London (Rosetta in 1909), and they are buried in
Aghadoe Aghadoe (Irish: ''Achadh an Dá Eó'') is a large townland overlooking the town and lakes of Killarney in Ireland. Officially it is also a parish, although the parish is larger than the area normally associated with the name. The area is famou ...
cemetery near
Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...
, Ireland. Annette and Harry Pye had one son, Edmund Arthur Pye, born in 1902. He was educated at Epsom College and studied Medicine at Cambridge and St. George's Hospital, London. He married Dorothy Neville in London in 1928, separating after three years, having had one son. Edmund Arthur Pye left his medical career behind after the second world war when, along with his second wife Anne Welsh, he embarked on his better-known career as yachtsman and writer, using the name
Peter Pye Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...
. His son Patrick Pye was raised in Dublin by his mother and became an artist.


Selected compositions

Arthur O'Leary's largest work is a symphony performed in London in 1853 and 1864. Although he wrote a number of other orchestral pieces, his main work consists of piano music and songs.
Raymond Deane Raymond Deane (born 27 January 1953) is an Irish composer and co-founder of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Biography Deane was born in Tuam, County Galway and brought up on Achill Island, County Mayo. From 1963 he lived in Dublin, ...
commented: "At the very least, he was a superior drawing-room composer who occasionally touched deeper chords." The following list is based on Fitzsimons (2008), p. 132–6 (see Bibliography below). Orchestral (all unpublished) *Symphony in C major (1853) *Suite (1856) *Piano Concerto in E minor (undated, c.1850s/60s) *Dances (1863). Contains: 1. ''Stamp-Galop''; 2. ''Ducal Waltz''; 3. ''Beethoven-Waltz''. *Pastorale (1865) Piano music *''Rondo grazioso'', Op. 1 (London: Leader & Cock, 1859). *''Zwei Klavierstücke'', Op. 2 (Leipzig: Kistner, 1855). Contains: ''Andante con moto'', ''Scherzo''. *''Overture to Longfellow's Spanish Student'', Op. 3 for piano 4-hands (Leipzig: Kistner, 1855). *''Caprice''/''Overture'', Op. 4 (n.d.) *''There's Nae Luck About the House'', Morceau de concert (London: Lamborn, Cock & Co., 1872). *''The Black Knight''. Romance, Op. 5 (1859) (London: Lamborn, Cock & Co., 1875). *''Im Gebirge. Drei Charakterstücke'', Op. 7 (Leipzig: Kistner, 1860). *''Fête rustique'', Op. 8 (London: Ewer & Co.). *''Fleurs et pleurs'', Op. 9 *''Five Marches with words ad libitum'' (London: Ewer & Co., 1861). *''The Stamp Galop'' (London: Ewer & Co., 1863; also Boston, 1864). *''Beethoven-Waltz'' (London: Ewer & Co., 1863). *''Seven National Airs'' (London: Ewer & Co., 1864). *''Il fiore'', Minuetto in B flat, Op. 11 (London: Lamborn, Cock, Hutchings & Co., 1862). *''Chant des sirènes'', Morceau de Concert (London, Ewer & Co., 1863). *''Pastorale'', Op. 13 (London: Ewer & Co., 1864). *''Kate of Aberdeen'' (London: Ewer & Co., 1864). *''Conte mauresque'', Op. 14 (London: Ewer & Co., 1864). *''The Ducal Waltz'' (London, 1864). *''The Firemen's Galop'' (London: Ewer & Co., 1865). *''L'Adieu'', Chanson allemande (London, Ewer & Co., 1865). *''L'Adieu du conscrit'' (London, Ewer & Co., 1866). *''Wayside Sketches'', Op. 23 London: Novello, Ewer & Co., 1908). Contains: 1. ''Waving Ferns'', 1870; 2. n E major, 1871, missing 3. in E flat major, no title, 1872; 4. in B flat major, 1875; 5. ''Les Pèlerins''. *''Thema in c-moll mit Variationen'' (Leipzig: Kistner, 1881). *''Toccata in F major'' (London: Novello, Ewer & Co., 1883). *''Scherzetto in G major'' (London: Novello, Ewer & Co., 1887). *''Barcarolle'' (London: Bosworth & Co., 1905). *''Valse heureuse'' (London: Augener, 1905). *''Scène rustique'' (London: Augener, 1907). *''Twilight Shadows'', Nocturne (London: Novello & Co., 1909). Songs *''Nacht'' (4 songs, words by
Joseph von Eichendorff Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (10 March 178826 November 1857) was a German poet, novelist, playwright, literary critic, translator, and anthologist. Eichendorff was one of the major writers and critics of Romanticism.Cf. J. A. Cuddon: ' ...
) (Leipzig: Kistner, 1854). *''Stars of the Summer Night'' (
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely tran ...
) (London: Leader & Cock, 1854). *''Six Songs'', Op. 6 (London: Leader & Cock, 1861). Contains: ''I Dream of Thee'' ( Barry Cornwall), ''Ask Me Not'' ( Barry Cornwall), ''The Return'' (
Robert Southey Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...
), ''Spring'', ''Silent Evening'', ''The West Wind'' (W.C. Bryant)'. *''Kate of Aberdeen'' (London: Ewer & Co., 1864). *''Listening'' ( Adelaide A. Procter) (London: Novello, Ewer & Co., 1868). *''The Maiden's Suspense'' (W. Dulcken) (London, 1870). *''The Tree's Early Leaflets'' (transl. from Björnsen) (London: Lamborn, Cock & Co., 1870). *''For Rosabelle'' (London: Lamborn, Cock & Co., 18719. Church music *''Mass of St John'' for chorus and organ (London: Burns, Oates & Co., 1869). *''Mass for Two Voice Parts and Organ'' (London: Novello & Co., 1903). *''Regina Coeli'', A Marian Antiphon in 4 parts (London: Cary and Co., No. 715 (before 1898)


Recordings

*''Arthur O'Leary: Piano Music from the Victorian Age'', performed by Anthony Byrne (piano), GDD 001 (CD, 2002). Contains (in this order): ''Scène rustique'', ''Twilight Shadows (Nocturne)'', ''Waving Ferns op. 23/1'', ''Barcarolle'', ''Fleurs et pleurs'' op. 9, ''Pastorale'' op. 13, ''Minuet in B flat'' op. 11, ''Fête rustique'' op. 8, ''Les Pèlerins'' op. 23/5, ''Zwei Clavierstücke'' op. 2, ''Rondo grazioso'' op. 1, ''Valse heureuse''.Reviewed by Martin Cotton, in: ''BBC Music Magazine'' 11, September 2002, p. 82. *''Fallen Leaves from an Irish Album'', performed by Una Hunt (piano)
RTÉ Lyric fm CD 109
(CD, 2006). Contains: ''Valse heureuse''.


Bibliography

*Arthur O'Leary: ''Memories of Student Life in Germany'' (London: C. Jaques & Son, 1913). *Bob Fitzsimons: ''Arthur O'Leary, Composer'' (Tralee: Samhlaíocht Chiarraí, 1998), . *Bob Fitzsimons: ''Arthur O'Leary & Arthur Sullivan. Musical Journeys from Kerry to the Heart of Victorian England'' (Tralee: Doghouse, 2008), . Reviewed by
Raymond Deane Raymond Deane (born 27 January 1953) is an Irish composer and co-founder of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Biography Deane was born in Tuam, County Galway and brought up on Achill Island, County Mayo. From 1963 he lived in Dublin, ...
in th
''Journal of Music'' (January 2009)


References


External links

*Arthur O'Leary scores at th
Levy Sheet Music Collection
*Arthur O'Leary's entry in th
''Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland''
(1997) {{DEFAULTSORT:Oleary, Arthur 1834 births 1919 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Irish people Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Composers for piano Irish classical composers Irish songwriters Musicians from County Kerry People from Tralee Romantic composers