Foreword by Harry White

Introduction

Chapter 1 Political Reference and Literary Influence

Chapter 2 Thomas Moore and Music

Chapter 3 The Songs and Sir John Stevenson

Chapter 4 Working with Henry Rowley Bishop

Chapter 5 Re-evaluating the Sources

Chapter 6 Alterations to the Airs

Appendix

Key to Sources, Collections and Reference Works in Table of Sources

Table of Sources

Bibliography

Index

Once regarded as Ireland's national bard, Thomas Moore's reputation rests on the ten immensely popular collections of drawing-room songs known as the Irish Melodies. At home and abroad, these 124 songs created a realm of influence that continued to define Irish culture throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth. In this book, Una Hunt provides the first detailed assessment from a combined musical and literary standpoint, contextualizing the songs through an examination of their 'sources' and 'style'. Further attention is given to the collaborative work of composers Sir John Stevenson and Henry Rowley Bishop and the study is completed by a reappraisal of the musical sources.

Una Hunt's main research interests are in the area of nineteenth-century music in Ireland of which she has made an extensive study. Her PhD thesis was the first to acknowledge and provide recordings of music by one of Ireland's foremost pianist-composers, George Alexander Osborne (1806-1893) who flourished in both Paris and London but whose music is now largely forgotten. Hunt brings to her musicological research considerable expertise and experience as a distinguished pianist. She tours extensively as a soloist, chamber musician and accompanist; she has partnered leading musicians and performed in some of the world's most prestigious concert venues. Una has also released an unrivalled discography of CDs devoted to the music of Ireland reflecting her pioneering research into this little-known area of cultural heritage. This includes My Gentle Harp - the first complete audio archive of Moore's Irish Melodies which she recorded and produced on a six-CD box set.