THE FEIS CEOIL

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 45, 25 November 1925, Page 41

THE FEIS CEOIL

(By C. W. Wilson, in the Irish Year Booh.)

The objects of the Fcis Ceoil are: (a) To promote the study and cultivation of InsU music. ( b ) To promote the general cultivation of of music in Ireland. (c) To hold an annual Festival, or Feis Ceoil, consisting of prize competitions and concerts, similar to that held in 1897. (d) To collect and preserve by publication the old airs of Ireland. An article in The Evening Telegraph, September 1894, by the late Mr. T. O’Neill Russell, started the movement which led to the foundation of the Feis Ceoil. But it was not until 1897 that the first Festival was held in Dublin. Prizes were offered for solo singing and playing, for choral and ensemble singing, and for compositions. The entries totalled 417, and consisted of 40 ensemble and 377 solo entries. Concerts were held at which Irish music (hitherto unpublished or little known) and the prize compositions were given. Of late years the number of entries for the competitions have been so numerous that there has been no time available during the Festival week for concerts other than the Prize Winners’ Concert, which is held on the Saturday evening, and always proves a source of great interest to the public. The largest number of entries for the competitions was received in 1918, when the entries reached the total of 689 (87 for ensemble and 602 for solo competitions). In 1920 there were 78 entries for ensemble and 530 for solo competitions, a total of 608. It is much to be regretted that the choral competitions, which gave promise of being so successful at the start (17 choirs entered for the first Festival), and which reached a maximum of 45 in 1907., should have attracted only 14 entries in 1920. In the solo singing competitions an Irish Melody is invariably one of the test pieces. Since 1906 competitions for choral and ensemble singing with Irish words have been held. The scarcity of test pieces suitable for these competitions' is a serious drawback to ther success, and though the Feis Ceoil has spent a good deal, of money in providing choral music with Irish words the interest shown by the competitors and the public in general has been very disappointing. Prizes have been, awarded annually for the best unpublished airs sent in for competition, A selection of these was published under the editorship of the late Mr. P. J. McCall and Mr. Arthur Parley. Prizes are offered each year for composers who will arrange some airs from this collection either as songs or instrumental pieces. It is hoped by this means to create a series of Irish pieces suitable for concert and other performances. The Irish Folk Song Society of London has given a magnificent gold medal for annual competition for a collection of unpublished Irish airs with words, but up to this it has not been awarded by the adjudicators.

The annual competitions have been held in Dublin, with the exception of two years, when the competitions were held in Belfast.

The want of a large Public Hall has been keenly felt by the Feis Ceoil since the Royal University Hall ceased to be available. In

1916 the Festival was held in the Marlborough Street Training College, and for a couple of years subsequently in the Mansion House. In 1920 the latter building was not available, and the competitions were held in the Antient Concert Rooms, but though very convenient for the ordinary competitions, the accomodation there is very inadequate for the choral, and band competitions and for the Prize Winners’ Concert. The direction of the Feis Ceoil .is in the hands of an Executive Committee, elected annually by the members, an Honorary Secretary, Miss Edith Mortier, a Registar, Mr. 0. W. Wilson, and two Honorary Treasurers, Mr. W. P. Geoghegan and Captain H. M. Fitzgibbon. The Offices are at 37 Molesworth Street. The annual subscription entiling to membership is one guinea. <X> s