Thomas Joseph Gerard Victory (24 December 1921 – 14 March 1995) was a prolific Irish composer. He wrote over two hundred works across many genres and styles, including tonal, serial,

aleatoric Aleatoricism (or aleatorism) is a term for musical compositions and other forms of art resulting from "actions made by chance". The term was first used "in the context of electro-acoustics and information theory" to describe "a course of sound ...

and

electroacoustic music Electroacoustic music is a Music genre, genre of Western art music in which composers use recording technology and audio signal processing to manipulate the timbres of Acoustics, acoustic sounds in the creation of pieces of music. It originated a ...

Biography

Victory was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland, in 1921 the son of a shopkeeper Thomas Victory and his wife, Delia (née Irwin). After schooling, he read Celtic Studies at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

and Music at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

, earning a doctorate in 1972. In April 1948 Victory married Geraldine Herity, and they had five children: Alma, Fiona, Isolde, Raymond, and Alan. Victory died in Dublin on 14 March 1995, aged 73. His papers are held in Trinity College and the Contemporary Music Centre holds a number of his scores.

Career

In terms of composition, Victory was mostly self-taught, although he received some formal training from John F. Larchet,

Alan Rawsthorne Alan Rawsthorne (2 May 1905 – 24 July 1971) was a British composer. He was born in Haslingden, Lancashire, and is buried in Thaxted churchyard in Essex. Early years Alan Rawsthorne was born in Deardengate House, Haslingden, Lancashire, to ...

and Walter Beckett. He also attended the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt, Germany. In 1948 he was joint composer of music for a song in a play by Irish playwright Teresa Deevy called Light Falling, this was performed by the Abbey Experimental Theatre Company in the Peacock Theatre, Dublin. His work was also part of the music event in the art competition at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

. Victory's career was primarily in music administration, serving as director of music for Ireland's national broadcasting station

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

from 1967 to 1982. He was a president of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

International Rostrum of Composers The International Rostrum of Composers (IRC) is an annual forum organized by the International Music Council that offers broadcasting representatives the opportunity to exchange and publicize pieces of contemporary classical music. It is funded by c ...

, a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the Royal Irish Academy of Music and a recipient of the French

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

and the German Bundesverdienstkreuz.

Legacy

The Gerard Victory Commission, a prize named in his honour, is awarded to the most promising individual composer.

Selected works

Orchestral

Ensemble

Solo piano

Vocal

Operas

Band

Mixed media

Recordings

* ''Three Irish Pictures'', performed by RTÉ Sinfonietta, Proinseas Ó Duinn (cond.), on Marco Polo 8.223804 (CD, 1996). * ''Ultima Rerum'', performed by Virginia Kerr (S), Bernadette Greevy (Mez), Adrian Thompson (T), Alan Opie (Bar), RTÉ Philharmonic Choir, National Chamber Choir, Cór na nÓg, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Colman Pearce (cond.), on: Marco Polo 8.223532-3 (CD, 1997). * ''An Old Woman of the Roads'', performed by Bernadette Greevy (Mez) and Hugh Tinney (pf), on: Marco Polo 8.225098 (CD, 1998). * ''Revel in Reel Time'', performed by RTÉ Concert Orchestra, on: Celtic Collections CCD 135 (CD, 1999). * ''Songs from Lyonnesse'', performed by National Chamber Choir of Ireland, Colin Mawby (cond.), on: Black Box BBM 1030 (CD, 2000). * ''Moresca'', performed by Geraldine O'Doherty (hp), David O'Doherty (vn), and Moya O'Grady (vc), on: Absolute Music o label code(CD, 2009). * ''Prelude and Toccata'', performed by Hugh Tinney

External links

* Gerard Victory a
The Teresa Deevy Archive
* Gerard Victory a
The Abbey Theatre Archive

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Victory, Gerard 1921 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Irish classical composers 20th-century Irish male musicians Composers for piano Irish classical composers Irish opera composers Irish male opera composers Composers from Dublin (city) Art competitors at the 1948 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany