Corigliano – Three Irish Folksong Settings

^{John Corigliano (b. 1938)}

^{Three Irish Folksong Settings (1988)}

^{In a career that now spans more than half a century, John Corigliano has proven himself one of the most versatile and gifted of contemporary American composers. He’s written music for all types of major ensembles – orchestras, bands, opera houses – as well as copious amounts of chamber music. Corigliano’s also composed a fair amount of vocal music, including settings of Bob Dylan (Mr. Tambourine Man), as well as many texts by his frequent collaborator William M. Hoffman. The Three Irish Folksong Settings are among this varied crop.}

^{Written in 1988, they, in the composer’s words, “[try] to explore the…poetic side of Irish flute music,” setting three poems for solo voice and flute. In each of the movements – William Butler Yeats’ “Down by the Salley Gardens,” the anonymous “The Foggy Dew,” and Padraich Collum’s “She Moved Through the Fair” – the vocal line remains more or less faithful to the original folk tune. Around it, the flute weaves a tapestry of sometimes very complex counterpoint that comments upon and draws out shades of meaning in the words.}

^{© Jonathan Blumhofer}

^{Reproduction Rights: This program note may be reproduced free of charge in concert programs with a credit to the author.}