The Holy Boy, one of Ireland's simplest piano pieces, was composed on Christmas Day 1913, inspired by Bobby Glassby, a chorister at St Luke's, Chelsea.
Composition History
The Sextet for clarinet, horn, and string quartet, composed in 1898, was not publicly performed until 1960, nearly at the end of John Ireland's life.
Composer Biography
Ireland's parents, Alexander and Annie, were both deeply interested in literature; Alexander edited works by Hazlitt, Carlyle, and Emerson, while Annie edited letters and wrote a biography of Jane Welsh Carlyle.
Composition History
The Fantasy Sonata for Clarinet and Piano was written between January and June 1943, while John Ireland was lodging in Little Sampford rectory, Essex, after fleeing Guernsey during World War II.
Composition History
The Clarinet Trio, written in 1912-13, was withdrawn by Ireland after a couple of performances and later reworked into his Piano Trio No. 3 in 1938.
Composer Biography
John Ireland, the composer, was born when his father, Alexander Ireland, was nearly seventy, and his mother, Ann Elizabeth Nicholson, was fifty.
Composer's Artistic Vision
John Ireland considered the clarinet the finest of the woodwind instruments and consistently gave it inspired scoring in his orchestral works.
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