Ina Boyle: Violin Concerto

It is my express wish that any and all remuneration that might be my due be instead forwarded to all the parties involved in the resurrection of this neglected masterwork.

Ina Boyle (1889-1967)

Violin Concerto (1933)

I. Lento, ma non troppo 0:00
II. Adagio 7:10
III. Allegro, ma non troppo 11:45

Catherine Leonard, violin
The Ulster Orchestra
Kenneth Montgomery, conductor

Ina Boyle was an Irish composer – the most prolific and significant female composer from Ireland before 1950.

She was born in Bushey Park near Enniskerry and took violin and cello lessons as a child. She studied counterpoint, harmony and composition with Charles Herbert Kitson and George Hewson in Dublin, and by correspondence with her cousin Charles Wood. She also traveled to London periodically for lessons with Ralph Vaughan Williams. She also studied with Percy Buck.

Because of her isolation, Boyle's music was seldom performed. However, she continued to compose until her death. Her composition The Magic Harp received a Carnegie Award, and she won an Olympic Honorable Mention in 1948 for Ireland with Lament for Bion, a composition she submitted to the Olympic Cultural Activities Committee. She died of cancer in Greystones, County Wicklow, and her papers are archived in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. Trinity College has digitised most of her music manuscripts, and they can be searched and studied online.

A feature-length documentary about the life and music of Ina Boyle titled From the Darkness was broadcast 12 June 2010 on Ireland's RTÉ Lyric FM. In April and May 2013, an exhibition at Trinity College highlighted "Ina Boyle’s Symphonic Journey".

The Violin Concerto is in 3 movements, played without pause. Although it begins and ends with an A Major chord, there are very free tonal relationships throughout the work. The concerto was dedicated to the memory of the composer's mother, and is based on a Christmas carol composed by the composer for her mother, to words by Pamela Gray of Fallodon. The carol, "All Souls Flower", is alluded to at the very start of the concerto, with the first 5 notes forming the basis of the opening movement. In its original form, it appears in the finale, where it begins in the winds at 12:31. The full text is in the comments.