  thumb|right|ireland, 1917 john nicholson ireland (13 august 1879 â 12 june 1962) was an english composer. == life == john ireland was born in bowdon, near altrincham, cheshire, into a family of scottish descent and some cultural distinction. his father, alexander ireland, a publisher and newspaper proprietor, was aged 70 at john's birth. john was the youngest of the five children from alexander's second marriage (his first wife had died). his mother, annie nÃ©e nicholson, was 30 years younger than alexander. she died in october 1893, when john was 14, and alexander died the following year, when john was 15.stewart r. craggs, john ireland. ashgate publishing (2007). john ireland was described as "a self-critical, introspective man, haunted by memories of a sad childhood".john ireland: biography from. answers.com. retrieved on 27 august 2011. ireland entered the royal college of music in 1893, studying piano with frederic cliffe, and organ, his second study, under walter parratt.le prevost, stephen. "the organ music" in foreman (2011): p. 4 from 1897 he studied composition under charles villiers stanford.hugh ottaway. " ireland, john (nicholson)", grove music online, oxford music online, oxford university press, accessed 6 june 2014  in 1896 ireland was appointed sub-organist at holy trinity, sloane street, london sw1, and later, from 1904 until 1926, was organist and choirmaster at st luke's church, chelsea.scott-sutherland, colin. "john ireland: a life in music" in foreman (2011): p. 4 ireland began to make his name in the early 1900s as a composer of songs and chamber music. his violin sonata no. 1 of 1909 won first prize in an international competition organised by the well-known patron of chamber music w. w. cobbett. even more successful was his violin sonata no. 2: completed in january 1917, he submitted this to a competition organised to assist musicians in wartime. the jury included the violinist albert sammons and the pianist william murdoch, who both gave the work its first performance at aeolian hall in new bond street on 6 march that year. as ireland recalled, "it was probably the first and only occasion when a british composer was lifted from relative obscurity in a single night by a work cast in a chamber-music medium." the work was enthusiastically reviewed, and the publisher winthrop rogers offered immediate publication (the first edition was sold out even before it had been processed by the printers). a subsequent perform
1879_births 1962_deaths 19th-century_classical_composers 20th-century_classical_composers Academics_of_the_Royal_College_of_Music Alumni_of_the_Royal_College_of_Music Benjamin_Britten Brass_band_composers Classical_composers_of_church_music English_classical_composers English_film_score_composers English_organists People_educated_at_Leeds_Grammar_School People_from_Altrincham