AS the twentieth century draws to a close and we come inevitably to evaluate 100 years of our life and times, the condition of music in modern Irish society might well be graded variously as 'good, shows promise', and 'rather disappointing, could do much better', depending on the sector in question. On the good side is the wealth of raw material and the tremendous success of our leading musicians -- pop, traditional, and classical -- both at home and abroad. On the disappointing side is our failure to capitalise more comprehensively on our natural resources. Ours is a musical nation; yet problems such as those involving education, funding, public awareness and regional deprivation conspire to restrict the growth of our musical culture. Specifically, it is 'classical' music which has been relegated to, and remains on, the margin of Irish musical culture.

One possible index for measuring the truth of this statement, here or in any country, is the treatment accorded by a society to the trustees of its future musical heritage: its composers. Although many Irish composers have benefitted from the help of individuals and organisations, there have been many more who have needed help but couldn't get it. And yet, Ireland is not alone in having a poor record in this regard. After all, Viennese society allowed Mozart and Beethoven to die in poverty, even squalor, while in Russia it was society which drove Tchaikovsky to suicide.

In 1904, frustrated with Vienna's Late Romantic complacency, Arnold Schoenberg gathered together a collection of forward-looking composers and musicians and founded the Society of Creative Musicians, inducing Mahler to be its Honourary President and conductor-in-chief. Although the Society was in existence for only one season, it nonetheless provides an interesting parallel from one end of the century with our own Contemporary Music Centre at the other. Schoenberg's aim was 'to give modern music a permanent home in Vienna, where it will be fostered'. For Vienna, read Ireland, and the statement could be a summary of the aims and objectives of CMC.

In particular, the idea of fostering is especially apt in describing the work of the Contemporary Music Centre. Just as the demands, methods, and tools involved in fostering modern music have changed dramatically since Schoenberg's day, so the past five years have witnessed a vast expansion in CMC's operation, during which a wide range of initiatives has been launched and maintained. All the Centre's services and facilities are available to the public; not surprisingly, therefore, their operation and provision have required dramatic staff increases in the Centre. When Eve O'Kelly was appointed as General Manager in 1990, there was a full-time staff of two including herself. The Centre now has three full-time and three part-time staff-members, and O'Kelly's job-title has changed to Director, to reflect her increased responsibilities. Further expansion is anticipated in the future, if funding permits. According to business criteria, such staff growth is symptomatic of a thriving enterprise.

Freshest and most immediate among the Contemporary Music Centre's current initiatives, and the one which most confidently presents to society the fruits of fostering, was the launch in May of the promotional CD, Contemporary Music from Ireland Volume One. 'This is the first step in an important new direction', says Eric Sweeney, whose Duo for saxophone and piano occupies the CD's opening track. 'The time is approaching when contemporary music will start to make its mark in a way similar to U2, or the Chieftains, who enjoy commercial backing. The compact disc is the medium for music, and I think the money that the Arts Council invested in this project is better spent even than money devoted to festivals. It was long overdue.'

This last point is reiterated by composer John Kinsella. 'Isn't it extraordinary that the release of a CD should be such a major issue? It's great now that it's happened, but it should have happened a long time ago.' Kinsella's contribution to the CD was his Nocturne for string orchestra, which he heard one morning recently on BBC Radio 3. 'That means that some fellow in the BBC was thumbing through discs and listening to various tracks until he found something he liked. And even though he pronounced my name Kin-SELLa, I was delighted that he played the piece.'

While the CD has the potential to reach a very wide public, CMC has developed and maintained other important projects which, if on a less spectacular scale, are equally public-oriented. SoundWorks, for example, is CMC's schools' project, which grew from the belief that it is never too early to expose young people to the experience of creativity. In January of 1994, with the assistance of funding from the Irish Music Rights Organisation, and again in 1995, with funding from the Arts Council, SoundWorks despatched three composers to work in Dublin schools over a six-week period, and then brought them to the National Concert Hall for a final performance of their creations. Composer Rhona Clarke has been implementing the project in her own school, St. Paul's Secondary, where she was amazed by how much diversity there was within the compositions of the different groups. She feels that the children have benefitted tremendously. 'It creates a genuine interest and makes them listen in a new way. As well as that, the experience makes general music-learning in the classroom more immediate, more relevant. And they become aware of living composers.'

Composers speaking directly to the audience about their music is the focus of the Meet the Composer series. Supported by IMRO and operating in tandem with Music Network, since early 1993 this programme has sent composers to numerous concert venues all around the country, including Northern Ireland, to give a pre-concert or interval talk and then meet the audience. Because new works are often difficult to absorb on first hearing, a short, pertinent introduction can be a great help in understanding and enjoying contemporary music.

'The whole exercise is beneficial for all' says John Kinsella, 'and especially for me.' He met members of the audience before the premiere of his Symphony No. 5 at the National Concert Hall last year, and subsequently toured with the Vanbrugh Quartet when they performed his Fourth String Quartet. 'The normal concert format is so stylised and is responsible for music being perceived as elitist, so that anything which breaks down the barriers is very welcome.' Meet the Composer is a project which he believes is worth expanding. 'It doesn't need to be live: it should be possible for composers to address their listeners through radio and even recordings as well.'

All of these highly visible projects reflect CMC's policy of going out to meet Irish society and there, in its midst, fostering contemporary music. Less visible, but equally vital, is the meteoric development in five years of the Centre's own facilities and services at its Dublin base in 95 Lower Baggot Street. With the support of an excellent Board of Directors headed by composer Jane O'Leary, the Centre now houses the largest collection in existence of twentieth-century Irish music, running to over 1900 scores, all of which are available for reference or sale. The sound archive comprises 850 recordings of Irish music and a further 1100 non-Irish. Services provided by the Centre now include music publishing and music typesetting; sales of CDs, cassettes, scores, and information materials (including CMC's Directory of Irish Composers); and the publication of New Music News, Ireland's journal of contemporary music. Up-to-date IT facilities include e-mail and, now, an Internet web site. As a member of the International Association of Music Information Centres (IAMIC), CMC provides an extensive and well-used information service to international clients, based on a now very large database of performers, organisations, composers, educational establishments, venues, etc. in Ireland and around the world. As a result of CMC's participation in IAMIC, Ireland is becoming recognised as a country with an active new music scene. 'Although we are a small music information centre in a small country, IAMIC gives all members an equal voice, and naturally I've made good use of this', says Eve O'Kelly. 'That's why I agreed to be Secretary when I was asked to take it on. It means more work, but it also means I am involved in the international projects IAMIC is developing.' Another important external link is CMC's affiliation to the International Association of Music Libraries, which has led to the formation by CMC of the Irish Music Libraries Group.

One further facility available to the public in Baggot Street is CMC's sound studio, inaugurated in February of 1994 and boasting state-of-the-art computerised equipment. Its purpose is to assist composers with the production side of their work; that is, all the various stages in between conceiving the idea for a new composition and hearing it performed live for the first time. Composers can play their music into the system via the Clavinova keyboard, and then orchestrate it by availing of over 200 instrumental 'samples' stored in the programme. The music can be heard at any stage and alterations made, and then produced as a printed score (including orchestral parts). Finally, the system can record the music and produce a very adequate demo tape to tide the composer over until the first live performance.

A composer who became acquainted with the sound studio over the summer was Dawn Kenny, as she worked on the soundtrack for an Irish Film Centre pilot film, Refusal to Mourn. 'I can't even write a letter on a computer', she confesses, 'but once I had taught myself how to use it, I was able to write five minutes' worth of music in as little as seven minutes. The best thing about it is the speed. And I was making use of only a few of its features. Believe me, if I could do it, anyone could.'

With so many projects already up and running, it's easy to forget that there is a constant supply of new initiatives lining up for implementation. Among these, three are particularly exciting. Firstly, the Arts Council has handed over the administration of its revised New Music Commission Scheme to CMC, actively encouraging potential commissioners 'to use the advice and research facilities of the Contemporary Music Centre in the preparation of their application'. The Commission Scheme is part of the Arts Council's Arts Plan 1995-1997, which identifies supporting composers and performers and helping musicians to reach their audience as key objectives. The New Music Commission Scheme will continue to offer financial assistance to performers or organisations wishing to commission new music from Irish composers. Under the revised regulations, however, it will now provide 100% (rather than 90%) of the composer's fee at a guaranteed minimum level, the twice-annual closing dates have been set for the next three years to allow commissioners and composers to plan ahead, and a recording will be made of each new work.

The Elizabeth Maconchy Composition Fellowship is an exciting opportunity for young composers. This was proposed by CMC in response to an awareness of how difficult it is for Irish students to fund postgraduate composition studies abroad. 'It was one of those ideas that arose at just the right time', says Eve O'Kelly. 'The Arts Council were reviewing their provision for study awards, and Nicola LeFanu, who is very much in touch with what is happening over here, had recently become Professor of Music at York University. She persuaded York to reserve a place on the DPhil programme for an Irish student, and I persuaded the Arts Council to agree to funding of £ 8,000 per year for three years.' The Fellowship commences in October 1996 and will be administered by CMC. It is named in honour of Elizabeth Maconchy, who, although born in England, always considered herself Irish and was Nicola LeFanu's mother.

If the first two of CMC's three latest projects look forward, then the third looks decisively backwards. Agreement has been reached with RTE, the national radio and television station, whereby its archive recordings of music by Irish composers will be transferred to CMC for cataloguing and re-dubbing. 'It's a great idea' says RTE's Sound Librarian, Don Kennedy. 'It's in our interests not to hog anything, and also to see that the composers' works get around as much as possible. And it will be great to get help from CMC with the cataloguing and detailed identification of performances. Of course, another way of looking at it is that it's a pat on the back to RTE for recording and preserving so much music. Really, it's like treasure!' Such talk and the prospects of retrieving nearly fifty years' worth of virtually forgotten music is enough to set mouths watering. 'The next question', muses Kennedy, 'is where to start?'

Finally, criteria from the world of business have already been referred to in this article in relation to the impressive expansion in staffing at CMC. Similarly impressive and equally significant has been the Centre's ability to attract and sustain the generous sponsorship of the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon. In fact, since 1990, funding has doubled. 'What is most important' says Dermot McLaughlin, Music Officer of the Council, 'is that in the last five years CMC has got its house in order and declared its priorities and functions in very concise terms. It has expanded incrementally, not trying to solve all the problems of the world in twelve months. CMC has established itself as a strong support for contemporary composers, a support which increases as it develops its resources. The Arts Council looks on the Centre with a very positive and confident outlook.'