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Frank Corcoran (born 1944) is a distinguished Irish composer. His output includes chamber, symphonic, choral and electro-acoustic music, through which he explores particularly Irish issues like language and history. He has worked with text by the poet Seamus Heaney, in the chamber piece Mad Sweeney (1996), and by the Irish-language writer Gabriel Rosenstock.^{Source: 2}

Life

I came late to art music; childhood soundscapes live on. The best work with imagination/intellect must be exorcistic-laudatory- excavatory. I am a passionate believer in "Irish" dream-landscape, two languages, polyphony of history, not ideology or programme. No Irish composer has yet dealt adequately with our past. The way forward – newest forms and technique (for me especially macro-counterpoint) – is the way back to deepest human experience.'³

Born in Tipperary in 1944, he studied at Dublin, Maynooth, Rome and Berlin. He was a music inspector for the Irish government Department of Education from 1971 to 1979, after which he took up a composer fellowship at the Berlin Künstlerprogramm. In the 1980s, he taught in Berlin, Stuttgart and Hamburg, where he was professor of composition and theory in the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Hamburg. He was a visiting professor and Fulbright scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the U.S. in 1989-1990, and has been a guest lecturer at CalArts, Harvard University, Princeton University, Boston College, New York University and Indiana University.^1;2

He is the only Irish composer whose 1. Symphony ( “Symphonies of Symphonies of Wind” ) was premiered in Vienna in 1981.¹

Corcoran lives in Germany and Italy.

Recent Works

His output includes chamber, symphonic, choral and electro-acoustic music, through which he explores particularly Irish issues like language and history. He has worked with text by the poet Seamus Heaney, in the chamber piece Mad Sweeney (1996), and by the Irish-language writer Gabriel Rosenstock.²

Recent works include:^1;2

Eight Haikus (National Chamber Choir 2010 )

Songs Of Terror And Love to texts by Jacopone da Todi ( N.Y. 2010 )

Clarinet Quintet ( RTE commission 2009)

4 Orchestral Prayers for Mezzosoprano and Orchestra ( N.S.O. of Ireland 2010 )

"Quasi una Sarabanda" (Swiss Ensemble "Antipodes" 2009)

"9 Pratoleva Pearls" (Andreas Skouras 2009)

Mad Sweeney for Speaker and Chamber Orchestra (Boston Musica Viva 2006 )

Sweeney's Total Rondo (G.P.A. International Piano Competition Dublin, 2003)

RTE commission 2005 Quasi Una Visione (Ensemble Modern premiere at the Living Music Festival, Dublin 2005 )

Quasi Un Concertino ( Zagreb "Cantus" 2005 )

Quasi un Lamento for Chamber Orchestra (N.S.O. 2005)

Quasi Un Pizzicato for Large Ensemble (Wireworks Ensemble Hamburg 2004 )

Quasi Un Canto for Large Orchestra ( Zagreb Philharmonic at the 2005 World Music Days )

Quasi Una Fuga for String Orchestra ( Irish Chamber Orchestra , Shannon Festival Limerick 2007)

Sweeney's Smithereens (Crash Ensemble for Expo 2000)

Two Orchestrated Bach Fugues (National Concert Hall 2002),

from the Cantus Chamber Orchestra, Zagreb, 2003 for the new Quasi Un Concertino

Quasi un Lamento for Chamber Orchestra (N.S.O. Horizons Concert 2005)

Quasi Un Canto for Large Orchestra (Zagreb Philharmonic at the 2005 World Music Days, Zagreb)

in 2005, Quasi Una Fuga (for IPME ; premiere 26.11.2006, Irish Chamber Orchestra at the National Gallery, Dublin);

in 2006, Beyond Beckett, for Soprano, Violin, Cello and Bassclarinet (for Concorde ; premiere 23.4.2006 at the Beckett Centenary Celebrations, National Gallery, Dublin)

in 2007, Quasi Una Sarabanda (for the Swiss Ensemble “Antipodes”, in 2008, ” Four Orchestral Lieder” for the N.S.O.

Recent Awards

Corcoran has won a variety of awards throughout his career. Recent awards include:¹

StudioAkustische Kunst, Cologne, in 1995 (Joycepeak Music)

Bourges International Electro-acoustic Music Competition in 1999 (Sweeney's Vision)

EMS Prize, Stockholm, in 2002 (Quasi Una Missa)

He has been a member of Aosdana, the Irish Academy of the Arts which honours artists whose work has made an outstanding contribution to the arts in Ireland, since its inception.

Discography²

Mad Sweeney (Black Box Bbm 1026) including "Mad Sweeney" for Speaker and Ensemble, NDR recording: das neue Werk Ensemble: Frank Corcoran: speaker; Dieter Cichewiecz, conductor. )

Music for the Book of Kells (percussion modern, Frank Corcoran: piano; Dieter Cichewiecz: conductor )

Wind Quintet No. 2 (Stuttgarter Wind Quintet )

Sweeney's Vision (electro-acoustic, WDR commission)

Strings Astray (Black Box Bbm 1013. Irish Chamber Orchestra, Cond. Fionnuala Hunt, including Frank Corcoran: IRISH MIKROKOSMOI- "Scenes From My Receding Past" )

Frank Corcoran : Symphonies 2,3 and 4. ( Marco Polo 8.225107. National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Conductor Colman Pearce )

Frank Corcoran Sweeney's Vision ( Wer 6307.2 "Riverrun" )

Frank Corcoran Sweeney's Vision ( BOURGES 1999. Imeb-Bourges 13 )

Frank Corcoran Trauerfelder - Goirt an Bhróin ( " Neues aus der Milchstrasse"- Peer Verlag Hamburg).

Col Legno CD Mad Sweeney´s Shadow 2003.

Quasi Una Missa, Piano Trio, Balthazar´S Dream, Rosenstocklieder, 3. Wind-Quintet, Sweeney´s Farewell 2005 Swedish CD CAP 22057 Mad Sweeney

2005 Cantus CD 020 Quasi Un Concertino

2005 Composers´Art Label CD Sweeney's Smithereens including Sweeney's Smithereens, 5 Trauerfelder, Tradurre/Tradire, Concerto For String-Orchestra, 5 Songs Without Words

2006 Composers' Art Label CD Quasi Una Music, including Quasi Una Visione for Orchestra, 9 Aspects of an Irish Poem for Choir and Solo Violin, Ice-Etchings for Solo Cello, Quasi Un Pizzicato for Ensemble, Sprecher and Soprano, Quasi Variations On 'A Mháirín De Bharra" for Solo Viola, Quasi Un Concerto for Chamber Orchestra.

Links of Interest

www.frankcorcoran.com - Official Website by Corcoran himself

http://aosdana.artscouncil.ie/Members/Music/Corcoran.aspx - Portrait on the website of the Irish Academy of the Arts

http://www.cmc.ie/composers/composer.cfm?composerID=25 - Portrait on Contemporary Music Centre, Dublin

http://www.klassika.info/Komponisten/Corcoran_Frank/wv_gattung.html - List of works (in German)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4h5f-qCjGw - Interview with Frank Corcoran on upcoming concerts in 2010

Sources

(1) www.frankcorcoran.com (2) http://aosdana.artscouncil.ie/Members/Music/Corcoran.aspx (3) http://www.cmc.ie/composers/composer.cfm?composerID=25

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[File:Frank Corcoran.jpg]]
-Frank Corcoran (born 1944) is a distinguished Irish composer. His output includes chamber, symphonic, choral and electro-acoustic music, through which he explores particularly Irish issues like language and history. He has worked with text by the poet Seamus Heaney, in the chamber piece Mad Sweeney (1996), and by the Irish-language writer Gabriel Rosenstock.<sup>Source: 2</sup>
+Frank Corcoran (born 1944) is a distinguished Irish composer. His output includes chamber, symphonic, choral and electro-acoustic music, through which he explores particularly Irish issues like language and history. He has worked with text by the poet [[Seamus Heaney]], in the chamber piece Mad Sweeney (1996), and by the Irish-language writer [[Gabriel Rosenstock]].<sup>Source: 2</sup>
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ''I came late to art music; childhood soundscapes live on. The best work with imagination/intellect must be exorcistic-laudatory- excavatory. I am a passionate believer in "Irish" dream-landscape, two languages, polyphony of history, not ideology or programme. No Irish composer has yet dealt adequately with our past. The way forward – newest forms and technique (for me especially macro-counterpoint) – is the way back to deepest human experience.'''<sup>3</sup>
-Born in Tipperary in 1944, he studied at Dublin, Maynooth, Rome and Berlin. He was a music inspector for the Irish government Department of Education from 1971 to 1979, after which he took up a composer fellowship at the Berlin Künstlerprogramm. In the 1980s, he taught in Berlin, Stuttgart and Hamburg, where he was professor of composition and theory in the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Hamburg. He was a visiting professor and Fulbright scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the U.S. in 1989-1990, and has been a guest lecturer at CalArts, Harvard University, Princeton University, Boston College, New York University and Indiana University.<sup>1;2</sup>
+Born in [[Tipperary]] in [[1944]], he studied at [[Dublin]], [[Maynooth]], [[Rome]] and [[Berlin]]. He was a music inspector for the Irish government Department of Education from 1971 to 1979, after which he took up a composer fellowship at the [[Berlin Künstlerprogramm]]. In the 1980s, he taught in [[Berlin]], [[Stuttgart]] and [[Hamburg]], where he was professor of composition and theory in the [[Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst]], Hamburg. He was a visiting professor and [[Fulbright]] scholar at the [[University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee]] in the [[U.S.]] in 1989-1990, and has been a guest lecturer at [[CalArts]], [[Harvard University]], [[Princeton University]], [[Boston College]], [[New York University]] and [[Indiana University]].<sup>1;2</sup>
-He is the only Irish composer whose 1. Symphony ( “Symphonies of Symphonies of Wind” ) was premiered in Vienna in 1981.<sup>1</sup>
+He is the only Irish composer whose 1. [[Symphony]] ( “Symphonies of Symphonies of Wind” ) was premiered in [[Vienna]] in 1981.<sup>1</sup>
-Corcoran lives in Germany and Italy.
+Corcoran lives in [[Germany]] and [[Italy]].
@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
-His output includes chamber, symphonic, choral and electro-acoustic music, through which he explores particularly Irish issues like language and history. He has worked with text by the poet Seamus Heaney, in the chamber piece ''Mad Sweeney'' (1996), and by the Irish-language writer Gabriel Rosenstock.<sup>2</sup>
+His output includes [[chamber]], [[symphonic]], [[choral]] and [[electro-acoustic musi]]c, through which he explores particularly [[Irish]] issues like language and history. He has worked with text by the poet [[Seamus Heaney]], in the chamber piece ''Mad Sweeney'' (1996), and by the Irish-language writer [[Gabriel Rosenstock]].<sup>2</sup>
 '''Recent works include:'''<sup>1;2</sup>
-''Eight Haikus'' ( National Chamber Choir 2010 )
+''Eight Haikus'' ([[National Chamber Choir]] 2010 )
-''Songs Of Terror And Love to texts by Jacopone da Todi'' ( N.Y. 2010 )
+''Songs Of Terror And Love to texts by [[Jacopone da Todi]]'' ( N.Y. 2010 )
-''Clarinet Quintet'' ( RTE commission 2009)
+''Clarinet Quintet'' ( [[RTE]] commission 2009)
-''4 Orchestral Prayers for Mezzosoprano and Orchestra''  ( N.S.O. of Ireland 2010 )
+''4 Orchestral Prayers for Mezzosoprano and Orchestra''  ( [[N.S.O. of Ireland]] 2010 )
-''"Quasi una Sarabanda"'' (Swiss Ensemble "Antipodes" 2009)
+''"Quasi una Sarabanda"'' ([[Swiss Ensemble "Antipodes"]] 2009)
 ''
-"9 Pratoleva Pearls"'' (Andreas Skouras 2009)
+"9 Pratoleva Pearls"'' ([[Andreas Skouras]] 2009)
 ''
-Mad Sweeney for Speaker and Chamber Orchestra'' ( Boston Musica Viva 2006 )
+Mad Sweeney for Speaker and Chamber Orchestra'' ([[Boston Musica Viva]] 2006 )
 ''
-Sweeney's Total Rondo'' (G.P.A. International Piano Competition Dublin, 2003)
+Sweeney's Total Rondo'' ([[G.P.A. International Piano Competition Dublin]], 2003)
 ''
-RTE commission 2005 Quasi Una Visione''  (Ensemble Modern premiere at the Living Music Festival, Dublin 2005 )
+RTE commission 2005 Quasi Una Visione''  ([[Ensemble Modern]] premiere at the [[Living Music Festival, Dublin]] 2005 )
 ''
-Quasi Un Concertino''  ( Zagreb "Cantus" 2005 )
+Quasi Un Concertino''  ( [[Zagreb]] "Cantus" 2005 )
 ''
@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 ''
-Quasi Un Pizzicato for Large Ensemble'' (Wireworks Ensemble Hamburg 2004 )
+Quasi Un Pizzicato for Large Ensemble'' ([[Wireworks Ensemble Hamburg]] 2004 )
 ''
-Quasi Un Canto for Large Orchestra'' ( Zagreb Philharmonic at the 2005 World Music Days )
+Quasi Un Canto for Large Orchestra'' ( [[Zagreb Philharmonic]] at the 2005 World Music Days )
 ''
@@ Line 60: / Line 60: @@
 ''
-Sweeney's Smithereens'' (Crash Ensemble for Expo 2000)
+Sweeney's Smithereens'' ([[Crash Ensemble]] for [[Expo 2000]])
-etc.
-'''Earlier commissions include:'''
 ''
-Two Orchestrated Bach Fugues'' (National Concert Hall 2002),
+Two Orchestrated Bach Fugues'' ([[National Concert Hall]] 2002),
 ''
-from the Cantus Chamber Orchestra'', Zagreb, 2003 for the new Quasi Un
+from the Cantus Chamber Orchestra'', Zagreb, 2003 for the new Quasi Un Concertino
-Concertino
-RTE commission 2005 ''Quasi Una Visione for Orchestra'' (Ensemble Modern premiered at the Living Music Festival, Dublin )
 ''
@@ Line 80: / Line 72: @@
 ''
-Quasi Un Pizzicato for Large Ensemble'' (Wireworks Ensemble Hamburg 2004 )
+Quasi Un Canto for Large Orchestra'' ([[Zagreb Philharmonic]] at the 2005 [[World Music Days]], Zagreb)
-''
-Quasi Un Canto for Large Orchestra'' (Zagreb Philharmonic at the 2005 World Music Days, Zagreb)
 in 2005, ''Quasi Una Fuga'' (for IPME ; premiere 26.11.2006, Irish Chamber Orchestra at the National Gallery, Dublin);
-in 2006, ''Beyond Beckett, for Soprano, Violin, Cello and Bassclarinet'' (for Concorde ; premiere 23.4.2006 at the Beckett Centenary
+in 2006, ''Beyond [[Beckett]], for Soprano, Violin, Cello and Bassclarinet'' (for Concorde ; premiere 23.4.2006 at the Beckett Centenary
-Celebrations, National Gallery, Dublin)
+Celebrations, [[National Gallery, Dublin]])
-in 2007, ''Quasi Una Sarabanda'' (for the Swiss Ensemble “Antipodes”, in 2008, ” Four Orchestral Lieder” for the N.S.O.
+in 2007, ''Quasi Una Sarabanda'' (for the [[Swiss Ensemble “Antipodes”]], in 2008, ” Four Orchestral Lieder” for the N.S.O.
@@ Line 99: / Line 88: @@
 Corcoran has won a variety of awards throughout his career. Recent awards include:<sup>1</sup>
-StudioAkustische Kunst, Cologne, in 1995 (''Joycepeak Music'')
+[[StudioAkustische Kunst]], Cologne, in 1995 (''Joycepeak Music'')
-Bourges International Electro-acoustic Music Competition in 1999 (''Sweeney's Vision'')
+[[Bourges International Electro-acoustic Music Competition]] in 1999 (''Sweeney's Vision'')
-EMS Prize, Stockholm, in 2002 (''Quasi Una Missa'')
+[[EMS Prize]], Stockholm, in 2002 (''Quasi Una Missa'')
-He has been a member of Aosdana, the Irish Academy of the Arts which honours artists whose work has made an outstanding contribution to the arts in Ireland, since its inception.
+He has been a member of [[Aosdana]], the Irish Academy of the Arts which honours artists whose work has made an outstanding contribution to the arts in Ireland, since its inception.
@@ Line 111: / Line 100: @@
 ''
-Mad Sweeney'' (Black Box Bbm 1026) including "Mad Sweeney" for Speaker and Ensemble, NDR recording: das neue Werk Ensemble: Frank Corcoran: speaker; Dieter Cichewiecz, conductor. )
+Mad Sweeney'' ([[Black Box]] Bbm 1026) including "Mad Sweeney" for Speaker and Ensemble, NDR recording: das neue Werk Ensemble: Frank Corcoran: speaker; Dieter Cichewiecz, conductor. )
 ''
@@ Line 127: / Line 116: @@
 ''
-Frank Corcoran : Symphonies 2,3 and 4.'' ( Marco Polo 8.225107. National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Conductor Colman Pearce )
+Frank Corcoran : Symphonies 2,3 and 4.'' ( [[Marco Polo]] 8.225107. National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Conductor Colman Pearce )
 ''