Ireland's Shorter Piano Pieces

This is not an article for Ireland's eightieth birthday. That is to say, it is not a eulogy; rather is it a critical plea for wider performance and re-appraisal. The neglect of Ireland's piano music, particularly the best of the shorter pieces, can only be justified by reference to the immensity of the piano repertoire; which is, of course, no justification at all, especially when one remembers that, birthday performances apart, the three or four pieces that do turn up are by no means the choicest possible selection. The most frequently performed of all is probably The Island Spell (1912), yet this is an early piece whose virtues are largely negative ones—an avoidance of ‘impressionist’ harmonic cliché and of an overcrowded texture; it does not reveal Ireland's lyrical gifts. Again, Ragamuffin—the most popular of the London Pieces (1917–20)—and Merry Andrew (1918) are representative of only the lighter, more superficial side of the composer's personality.