Seóirse Bodley, born on the 4th of April, 1933, was an instrumental figure who shaped the evolution of art music in Ireland until his peaceful demise on November 17th, 2023. Unlike his contemporaries, Bodley was able to amalgamate the traditional music of Ireland and the artistic challenges of European modernism in his extensive collection of compositions. His lifelong fascination with the two is evident in his work.
He commenced his exploration into serious composition during his education at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and University College Dublin, where he studied under the guidance of John F Larchet. Later in the 1950s, his time in Germany at the State Academy for Music and the Performing Arts in Stuttgart proved pivotal in cementing his artistic identity.
In 1959, he commenced his long association with University College Dublin under Prof Anthony Hughes, where he provided an impressive service until 2004. During this period, he was presented a personal chair in 1984 and was appointed Associate Professor of Composition. He nurtured many students, including notable composers like Raymond Deane, Gerald Barry, Rhona Clarke, Michael Holohan, and Michael McGlynn, who later achieved recognition in both Ireland and abroad.
Apart from his contribution at UCD, Bodley was also recognised for his public contributions towards Irish music. In 1969, he was the inaugural chair of the Dublin Festival of Twentieth-Century Music, a platform where many of his compositions were showcased, and in 1970, he chaired the newly-formed Folk Music Society of Ireland. Additionally, in 1981 he was among the founders of Aosdána, Ireland’s Academy for the Arts, and in 2008 he had the honour of being the first composer elected as a Saoi of Aosdána.
Prof Bodley’s original works have had a significant impact on the evolution of Irish art music throughout the 20th century. Many of his seven symphonies, which also included two chamber symphonies, have been created for nationally significant public events and are renowned for their specific commissions. For instance, his second symphony, named ‘I Have Loved the Lands of Ireland’ (1980), marked the 100th anniversary of Pádraig Pearse’s birth. His third symphony, ‘Ceol’ (1981), was composed for the inauguration of the Dublin National Concert Hall. Meanwhile, ‘The Limerick Symphony’ (1991), his fifth symphony, signified the Limerick Treaty’s anniversary in 1691.
Through his additional orchestral pieces, like ‘A Small White Cloud Drifts over Ireland’ (1975), he produced uniquely original interpretation of traditional music, using textural impressionism, levels he related to his experiences with Japanese music.
Prof Bodley also collaborated intricately with a number of Irish poets in his song cycles and vocal-orchestral works, featuring authors like Brendan Kennelly, Mícheál Ó Siadhail and Seamus Heaney. One of his earliest poet settings involved WB Yeats’s work ‘Never to have lived is best’ in 1965. Prof Bodley also extensively composed settings of writings from authors like Goethe, George Russell, Thomas MacGreevy, Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Seán Ó Riordáin, among others, and even created settings for his own texts. Many of these musical settings were created for acclaimed artists, including Bernadette Greevy, Aylish Kerrigan and Sylvia O’Brien, that Prof Bodley maintained long-term professional relationships with.
Renowned for his contributions to the field of Irish keyboard music, Seóirse Bodley was a distinct composer whose works significantly diversified modern repertoires. Many of his compositions were regularly showcased in concerts and recitals by acclaimed pianists, such as John O’Conor, Anthony Byrne, Hugh Tinney and Dearbhla Collins. Bodley’s seminal works, like The Narrow Road to the Deep North (1976) and Aislingí (1977), were pioneering in their exploration of Irish history and their innovation in genre. Additionally, Bodley’s chamber music embedded Ireland’s rich culture and history, using unique and often stringently modern constructions and schemes.
Seóirse Bodley was perhaps most widely recognised for his settings of the Roman Catholic Mass, which have been frequently sung by congregations across Ireland. Moreover, he earned recognition for his film scores, including those for From Ireland’s Past (1978), James Joyce: ‘Is there One Who Understands Me?’ (1981) and Caught in a Free State (1984). His orchestral interpretation of the Irish traditional ballad, “The Palatine’s Daughter”, attracted widespread appeal, being used as the signature music for the long-standing Irish drama series, The Riordans (1965-1979).
Over his career, Bodley produced more than 100 choir and orchestral arrangements of Irish melodies. Always remaining true to his roots, he constantly absorbed insights from the tradition throughout his life. His academic writings on the transcription of seán nós (slow) airs from the late 70s and early 80s are still considered essential sources today. Beyond his prowess as a composer, Bodley was also renowned as an accomplished pianist and conductor, often accompanying his own music in recitals. Among his notable conducting roles were leading the Culwick Choral Society and the UCD Philharmonic Choir.
Seóirse Bodley, known for his quiet yet palpable enthusiasm for contemporary art music, will be fondly remembered by his students at UCD. This area of study was seldom included in the university curriculum back then. His exemplary attention to detail, displayed in his own musical arrangements and settings for chamber ensemble, served as practical lessons in compositional methodology. In his later years, his orchestration lectures astounded many, mainly due to the flawless scores he softly but adeptly coaxed from seminar attendees.
Despite Bodley’s extraordinary breadth of successful compositions, he remained a humble and deferential individual whose reserved nature was at odds with his audacious and passionate musical creativity. His wife, the esteemed musicologist Professor Lorraine Byrne Bodley – an alumnus of UCD, too, – served as his continuous champion and partner for the latter twenty years. She has written extensively about her husband’s work. The deep love and appreciation that Seóirse held for Lorraine, not to mention their extremely joyful domestic existence, was constantly and universally evident to those who knew them personally. Seóirse’s death signifies the close of a chapter in the history of Irish musical modernism.
HARRY WHITE,
UCD Music Professor.