Look Inside

Lee Hoiby

Dark Rosaleen

for piano quartet

violin, viola, cello, and piano (2000)

Duration	20'
Commission	Commissioned for the Ames Piano Quartet by the Ames Town & Gown Chamber Music Association on the occasion of its 50th anniversary
Publisher	Schott Music

Media

Program Note

Mr. Hoiby has explained that the air by James Joyce upon which he based his Rhapsody came to him through his acquaintance with John Francis Byrne, James Joyce's friend and schoolmate, who had been the model for the character Cranley in Joyce's novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Byren's autobiography relates the story of Joyce's efforts in 1902 to compose music for James Clarence Mangan's beautiful poem "Dark Rosaleen" and Byrne's own improvisation of a piano accompaniment for Joyce's tenor rendition of the song. In 1958, Byrne recalled for Lee Hoiby the tune to which Joyce had sung the song, and Hoiby transcribed it. Forty years later, coming upon the transcription he had made, Mr. Hoiby re-read Byrne's account of the origin of Joyce's air, which he states he "found rather haunting, as I did the melody itself, playing it over after all those years." He relates that he first thought of the Joyce "air" as the theme for a set of variations for the piano quartet he had been commissioned to compose.

In the course of composing this music between April and July, 2000, Mr. Hoiby found that Joyce's folksong-like melody was less well suited to the variation form than to (as he has written) "an extended rhapsodic work which is almost entirely monothematic." He adds: "The Joyce theme appears in many guises... often modified... It is nearly always present in one way or another. There are relatively few passages that are not derived from the theme but that are, instead, 'new material' that connects one section with another. The term 'rhapsody' seemed appropriate to the freewheeling structure of my piece. The word also suggests the bardic intensity of feeling... As the music unfolded, I found myself thinking of earlier times, of legends, and of those Dublin boys... Thoughts of earlier times are appropriate to the poem 'Dark Rosaleen', which is in fact a rendering in modern English of an old Irish poem, 'Roisin Dubh'." Of all his translations from Gaelic and his other poems, it is 'Dark Rosaleen' that has kept the name of James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849) alive. One literary critic declared that Mangan's free translation "ranks with the great lyrics of the world."

(From notes by Karl E. Gwiasda)

Purchase

Types of Products

Full Score/Performance Score (price reflects 6 copies) (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (2 required for performance) (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (2 required for performance) (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (includes 3 copies) (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (includes 3 copies) (Print)

Choral Booklet (Digital)

Choral Booklet (Print)

Full Score in 3 volumes (Print)

Anthology edition (Print)

Choral Score (includes 4 copies) (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (4 required for performance) (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (4 required for performance) (Digital)

solo part and piano reduction (Digital)

solo part and piano reduction (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (6 scores required for performance) (Digital)

Performance Score (includes 4 scores) (Print)

Choral Scores (Digital - Bulk Purchase for Performance) (Digital)
This price covers the minimum cost of digital copies for performance.

Choral Score Set (Digital)

Choral Score Set (16 copies) (Digital)

Choral Score Set (License for 16 copies) (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (5 scores required for performance) (Digital)
Pricing reflects cost of 5 digital scores.

Full Score/Performance Score (8 scores required for performance) (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (5 copies required for performance) (Print)

Vocal Score - single copy (Digital)

Vocal Score - license for single copy (Digital)

Vocal Score Set - 16 copies (Digital)

Vocal Score Set - License for 16 copies (Digital)

Vocal Score Set - 16 copies (Print)

Score (Digital)

Score (Print)

Volume 1 (Print)

Volume 2 (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (price reflects 5 copies) (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (6 scores needed for performance) (Print)

Full score and Solo Part (Digital)

Full Score/Violin Part (Digital)

Full Score/Violin Part (Print)

Conductor Score (Print)

Score and part (Print)

Score and part (Digital)

Choral Score Set - 16 copies (Print)
Includes 8 copies of the soprano/alto part and 8 copies of the tenor/bass part.

Piano Reduction and solo parts (Digital)

Chamber Ensemble Score (Print)

Choral Score Set - 20 copies (Print)

Full Score (4 needed for performance) (Print)

Parts (Mov. 11 only) (Print)

Full Score (3 scores needed for performance) (Print)

Full Score (3 scores needed for performance) (Digital)

Piano reduction and solo part (Print)

Study Score in Two Volumes (Print)

Video and instructions (Digital)

Piano/Vocal Score (Digital)

Piano/Vocal Score (Print)

Choral Score Set (40 copies) (Print)

Score and Parts (Digital)
Score and part PDF files are delivered via email upon receipt. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase.

Full Score (Digital)
A PDF file of the full score is delivered via email upon receipt.

Soprano/Alto Part (Print)

Choral Score Set (License for 50 copies) (Digital)

Full Score (Print)
A print edition of the score ships to the customer's address upon receipt.

Tenor/Bass Part (Print)

Parts (Digital)
A PDF file of the part(s) is delivered via email upon receipt.

Parts (Print)
A print edition of the part(s) ship to the customer's address upon receipt.

Solo Instrument Score (Digital)
A score PDF file is delivered via email upon receipt. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase. An email containing a link to download the electronic files is sent to the customer's email address.

Full Score/Performance Score (Digital)
The full score serves as a performance score for all players. A score PDF file is delivered via email upon receipt. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase. An email containing a link to download the electronic files is sent to the customer's email address.

Score and Parts (Print)
A print edition of the score and part(s) ship to the customer's address upon receipt. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase. The email containing a link to download the electronic files is sent to the customer.

Solo Instrument Score (Print)
A print edition of the score is shipped to the customer's address upon receipt. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase. An email containing a link to download the electronic files is sent to the customer's email address.

Full Score/Performance Score (Print)
The full score serves as a performance score for all players. Print edition(s) of the full score/performance score are shipped to the customer's address upon receipt. Multiple copies are included if the work has more than one player. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase.

Choral Score (Digital)
A PDF file of the choral score is delivered via email upon receipt. The set is priced to allow multiple copies of the PDF to be printed for performance by the purchasing organization only.

Study Score (print) (Digital)

Study Score (print) (Print)

Choral Score Set- 8 copies (Print)
Minimum order quantity is 8 copies. Single copies are not available.

SATB choral score (Print)

Vocal Score (Digital)

Vocal Score (Print)

Choral Score (Print)

Full Score and Solo Part (Print)
A print edition of the score and solo part ships to the customer's address upon receipt.