The Irish standard., 1901-05-25

"high art" in matters musical, but the
gradual decline of the grand old Celtic
tongue led to :: practical extinction Of
national nr characteristic Irish music.
Furthermore, the act of union is re-
| Sponsiblc for many evils in ireland,
hut perhaps none SO far-rcaching, from
Il social point of view. as the disap-
pc;lrnncr from Dublin OF the Lords
and Commons. who had town houses,
and were muniliccmt patrons of music
and the drama. Thus the opening OF
the nineteenth century in ireland was
the grave of Ccltic-lriSh music rs the
result of Anglicization.
Commencing cllronologcally we find
Thomas Carter, of Dublin, as II we'll
known song writer und orynliist in
1901. He settled down in London in
I'LL. and in 1857 was appointed nlusi-
cal director of the Royalty thcater.
His comic opera, ".ust in Time" was
composed for Covrnt Garden thcntcr
, in 1892. bnt his reputation mainly rests
on the exquisite setting of "Oh! Nancy,
wilt thou go with mc?' to words by
Bishop Percy of Dromorc This song
WAS soon heard in every drawing room,
and was quickly annexed by the cnnny
Scots, who quietly palnpd it off (as
they did with robin Adair') as n
Scotch ballad" ingcniolsly altering
In,
wi mc?" ana otherwise ScOttlczing
both words and music. Another once
popular song by Carter was Cease,
gay seduccr," which he composed for
Miss Wewitzcr as Rosetta in Love in
Il Villngc." John OKecffc writes:
''This was the greatest favoritc Of any
song l ever heard sung upon the
stngc.' Carter died on Oct. 16, 1904,
| aged Ga.
Slightly later than Carter was Mi
clacl Kelly also of Dublin, a distin-
guisllcd singer and composer. Born in
17G4, he was taught by Passerini,
| Itnuzzni. and other masters, and left
Dublin for Naples on May i, 1873. He
took a leading part in the production
of Mozarts "Figaro'' at Vienna in 1856
and in February, 1887, he left the
Austrian capital for London. Owing
TO his friendship with Mozart and
Haydn he was lionized in London, and
he soon gave taste of his quality by
| the production of "rhe Castle Spec
tire" 600. "Blue Beard" $685. 'The
Wood Demon" "Pizarro," etc Kelly
visited his native city in August, 1908,
accompanied by Madame Catalini, and
they also performed in Cork and Lime
rick. On September S. 1911, he made
his last appearance on the stage at
! Dublin. In all he composed and ar
ranged music for G2 dramatic pieces,
including "Gustavus Vasa," in 1911;
and he died at Margatc in October.
1926. His songs are all of tuneful
character, the best known of which
are "Rest Warrior Rest" "a Wolf
while Jutta Slept" "Oh, no, my love,
no. 'lhe Wreath You Wove," II
Vowed to Love Him Dearly" and
"Flora Macdonald" Perhaps his most
popular ballad was "The W0odpecker'
words by Tom Moore
Robert OwensOn, whose real name
was MacOwen. a Connaughtman, stud
led under DIR. Worgan. of Westmm-
ster Abbey. and settled in Dublin in
177O. He was one of the first to intro
duce pfanOforte to an Irish audience
IN l7S5, and was mainly instrument
tai in founding the celebrated Kilke1l-
ny theater in 1903. His forte lay i'm
singing old Irish songs in character,
and he had Il marvellous collection of
lyrics in the Irish language. His last
appearance was in the operetta writ
ten by his daughter. Sydney. in COLA
borhtion with Tom Cooke entitled
"The Whim of the Moment" which
was produced on March 5, 1907, the
lord lieutenant attending in state.
Though principally remarkable as an
excellent Irish actor, Owenson sang
well, and he adapted some fine old
Irish tunes, including "Castie HYDE"
and "ROry O'AIorc." He died in 1919