Gerald Barry

Gerald Barry is one of the foremost Irish composers of his generation and among them the most well-known internationally. In 1973 he completed his Bachelor of Music course at University College Dublin (MA 1975) and continued his studies in Amsterdam (with Peter Schat, 1973-4), Cologne (with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel, 1975-81) and Vienna (with Friedrich Cerha, 1977-8). He taught at University College Cork from 1982 to 1986 and since then lives as freelance composer in Dublin. He is a member of Aosdána. His music has been praised for its bold originality and wit as well as for its careful construction, but, as a CD-booklet-writer notes, it is "not music for the faint-hearted".

Recorded Works:

Things that Gain (1977) pf
Black Box Music BBM 1011, CD (1998): Kevin Volans.

"-------" (1979) 2cl/b-cl, va, vc, mar, pf
NMC D022, CD (1994): Nua Nós, Dáirine Ní Mheadhra (cond).

"Ø" (1979) 2pf
Black Box Music BBM 1011, CD (1998): Kevin Volans & Gerald Barry.

Diner (1980) orch
Marco Polo 8.225006, CD (1997): National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Robert Houlihan (cond).

Au Milieu (1981) pf
NMC D022, CD (1994): Noriko Kawai.

Sur les Pointes (1981) pf
NMC D022, CD (1994): Noriko Kawai.

Sur les Pointes (1981) orch
Marco Polo 8.225006, CD (1997): National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Robert Houlihan (cond).

Water Parted (1981-4) C-T, pf
Black Box Music BBM 1011, CD (1998): Nicholas Clapton (C-T), Catherine Edwards (pf).

Five Chorales (1981-4) 2pf
Black Box Music BBM 1011, CD (1998): Kevin Volans & G. Barry.

String Quartet No. 1 (1985, rev. 1994) str-qu
Black Box Music BBM 1011, CD (1998.): The Xenia Ensemble.

Of Queen's Gardens (1986) orch
Marco Polo 8.225006, CD (1997): National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Robert Houlihan (cond).

Swinging Tripes and Trillibubkins (1986) pf
NMC D022, CD (1994): Noriko Kawai.

Diatribe Solo Series DIACDSOL 003, CD (2010): Izumi Kimura.

The Intelligence Park (1988) opera
NMC D122, CD (2005, recorded 1991): Angela Tunstall (S), Buddog Verona James (Mez), Jeremy Budd (S), Nicholas Clapton (C-T), Paul Harrhy (T), Richard Jackson (Bar), Stephen Richardson (B), Almeida Ensemble, Robert Houlihan (cond).

Chevaux-de-frise (1988) orch
Marco Polo 8.225006, CD (1997): National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Robert Houlihan (cond).

Bob (1989) cl, cl+b-cl, vn, vc, mar, pf
NMC D022, CD (1994): Nua Nós, Dáirine Ní Mheadhra (cond).

Triorchic Blues (1990) pf
NMC D022, CD (1994): Noriko Kawai.

Diatribe Solo Series DIACDSOL 003, CD (2010): Izumi Kimura.

Flamboys (1991) orch
Marco Polo 8.225006, CD (1997): National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Robert Houlihan (cond).

Hard D (1992) ch-orch
Marco Polo 8.225006, CD (1997): Members of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Robert Houlihan (cond).

Challenge CHR 70057, CD (1998): Orkest de Volharding, Jurjen Hempel (cond).

Triorchic Blues (1992) vn
NMC D022, CD (1994): Michael d'Arcy.

Piano Quartet No. 1 (1992) vn, va, vc, pf
NMC D022, CD (1994): Nua Nós, Dáirine Ní Mheadhra (cond).

The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit (1992) opera
Largo 5135, CD (1998): Nicholas Clapton (C-T), Denis Lakey (C-T), Richard Edgar-Wilson (T), Adrian Clarke (Bar), Stephen Richardson (B), The Composers Ensemble, Diego Masson (cond).

Sextet (1993) cl/b-cl, trp, db, 2mar, pf
NMC D022, CD (1994): Nua Nós, Dáirine Ní Mheadhra (cond).

Contemporary Music Centre CMC CD01, CD (1995) (same recording as above).

The Chair (1994) org)
David Adams, "Irish Contemporary Organ Music", CD (2008): David Adams.

La Jalousie Taciturne (1996) ch-orch
Black Box Music BBM 1013, CD (1998): Irish Chamber Orchestra, Fionnuala Hunt (cond).

Piano Quartet No. 2 (1996) vn, va, vc, pf
Black Box Music BBM 1011, CD (1998): Eilís Cranitch (vn), Michèle Minne (va), Elizabeth Wilson (vc), Gerald Barry (pf).

Before The Road (1997) 4cl
Black Box Music BBM 1011, CD (1998): Antony Lamb (cl), Victoria Medcalf (cl), Andrew Webster (cl), Robert Ault (cl).

Snow is White (1999) vn, va, vc, pf
NMC D075, CD (2001): Schubert Ensemble.

In the Asylum (2000) v, vc, pf
NMC D107, CD (2005): Trio Fibonacci.

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (2005) opera
RTÉ RTÉCD 261, CD (2005): Rayanne Dupuis (S), Mary Plazas (S), Stephanie Marshall (Mez), Deirdre Cooling-Nolan (Mez), Sylvia O'Brien (Mez), National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Gerhard Markson (cond).

Lisbon (2006) pf, chamber ensemble
Contemporary Music Centre CMC CD08, CD (2009): Thomas Adès (pf), Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.

The Importance of Being Earnest (2009-10) opera
- Excerpt (one song):
NMC D150, CD (2009): Gerald Barry (v, pf).