Acclaimed Irish composer and musician Philip Carty begins a national tour on Wednesday 7th October 2009 at 8pm at St John’s Cathedral, Limerick City with his latest composition – The Rosary - a daring work in view of the bad press the Church and all things Catholic have been getting in recent times.
The tour follows The Rosary’s premiere at the National Concert Hall, Dublin in August, where it was received enthusiastically. Martin Adams, music critic of the Irish Times, described the piano work as “sensual” and “well crafted”.
Carty trained in Hollywood where he was carving out a career writing music for films. However, in 2004 he reached a spiritual turning point. As a result of this life-changing moment, he has become, arguably, Ireland’s leading religious music composer.
While most people probably believe they ‘know’ the Rosary, Carty’s music distils the essence of this ancient prayer cycle through an intimate piano composition.
Using the Rosary’s structure of twelve prayer units, the Dublin-based composer uses the twelve note units of the octave to contemplate the various mysteries of the Rosary from the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious to the new Mysteries of Light.
According to Carty, “While writing this work, I came to the conclusion that the Rosary can be considered to be a prayerful symphony, a fusion of piano and spirituality”
The Rosary follows Carty’s other major religious composition – The Stations of the Cross. The former lecturer in music at the DIT in Dublin is also well-known for his symphonic work Ireland: the Path to Peace which was commissioned by the Government to mark the signing of the Good Friday Peace Agreement in 1998.
In 2000, a commission from the Government to write a piece to mark the new millennium produced - Lumen Christi which defined Carty as one of Ireland’s leading contemporary composers. Tickets available in Empire Music, 118 O Connell Street Limerick and at the Cathedral priced €18 and €15 for senior citizens, students and job seekers.
Notes to Editors:
Philip Carty is a professional composer and musician. A graduate of NUI Maynooth in Theology and Music, he did a Masters in Music Performance at the University of Limerick. He lectured in music at the DIT in Dublin for twelve years before retiring in 2005 to concentrate full-time on composition.
In 2002, he was one of twelve musicians who were selected to participate in the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) international film-scoring workshop in Los Angeles, where he was trained to the highest international level in film music composition.
He has performed as a piano soloist many times and was honoured by KAWAI Japan for his contribution to music in 2000 at a presentation at the Department of Foreign Affairs in which he was presented with a professional grand piano.
