Aloys Fleischmann (1910-1992) was an Irish composer and musicologist. In addition he wrote several books and articles on Irish music.
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Life
Fleischmann was born in Munich to Ireland-based German parents on a concert tour at the time. Both parents were musicians; his father, Aloys Fleischmann, Sr., organist and choir master at St. Mary's Cathedral, Cork and his mother, Tilly Swertz Fleischmann was a pianist and piano teacher in Cork. Fleischmann graduated from University College Cork with a BMus in 1931 and a MA in 1932. That year he went to study composition, conducting and musicology at the University of Munich. He returned to University College Cork in 1934 where he held the position of Professor of Music until 1980. He founded the Cork Symphony Orchestra in 1934 and was involved in the establishment of the Cork International Choral and Folk Dance Festival in 1954. Fleischmann worked alongside Joan Denise Moriarty in setting up the Cork Ballet Company in 1947. His Sources of Traditional Irish Music was compiled during 40 years of work in collaboration with Michael O Suilleabhain of the University of Limerick and published posthumously in 1998.
Musical works
Fleischman composed in many formats, and his work includes pieces written for chamber, solo instrumental, ballet, chorus and full orchestra. Notable compositions include:
- The Golden Bell of Ko, (1948)
- Clare's Dragoons, (1945)
- The Red Petticoat, (1951)
- Four Fanfares for An Tóstal (1953)
- Sinfonia Votiva, (1977)
- Homage to Padraic Pearse, (1979)
Written Works
- Music in Ireland: A Symposium ed., Cork and Oxford, 1952.
- Sources of Irish Traditional Music: An Annotated Catalogue of Prints and Manuscripts 1583-1855, 2 vols., New York, 1998.
References
- Ruth Fleischmann ed., Aloys Fleischmann: A Life for Music in Ireland Remembered by Contemporaries, Cork (Mercier), 2000. ISBN 1-85635-328-1
- Séamas de Barra, Aloys Fleischmann, Notre Dame/USA and Dublin (Field Day Books), 2006. ISBN 0-946755-32-9
