Members of the family of John F. Larchet visited CMC to present a new CD recording of his music.

The Contemporary Music Centre was delighted to welcome his daughters Máire Larchet, Sheila Larchet Cuthbert and son Gerard J. Larchet, all three distinguished musicians in their own right, to the Centre on 3 March. Gerard’s daughter Anne Larchet, who edited a biographical booklet on the composer compiled by Sheila, was also present. The family viewed a selection of the scores and recordings of Larchet’s music held in the CMC library.

The CD, compiled for archival purposes, gathers together existing recordings of Larchet’s compositions. It is an important first step towards further research into the music of this ‘founding father’ of Irish contemporary music.

John F. Larchet (1884-1967) was born in Dublin and graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a BMus in 1915 and a DMus in 1917. He was a student of Michele Esposito at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and came to prominence as Director of Music at the Abbey Theatre from 1907-1934. He was Professor of Harmony and Counterpoint at the RIAM from 1920-1955, and Professor of Music at UCD from 1921-1958. He was also active in many other organisations such as the Dublin Amateur Orchestral Society, the Royal Dublin Society, the Dublin Grand Opera Society, and as Vice-President of Trinity College of Music, London.

As a teacher, he was influential in developing a school of Irish composers, many of whom went on to become important figures in Irish composition. Irish traditional music was a source of many of his works and his output includes several choral, orchestral and vocal works. As Director of Music Examinations in Secondary Schools, his activities were of great importance in raising an awareness of music throughout the country, work that was recognised in 1953 with the conferring, together with his wife Madeleine, of the degree of Doctor of Music (honoris causa) by the National University of Ireland.

Posted: 28 March 2009