Buckley, John

Buckley, John , Irish composer; b. Templeglantine, County Limerick, Dec. 19, 1951. He studied flute with Doris Keogh (1969–71) and composition with James Wilson (1971–75) at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, and subsequently studied composition with Alun Hoddinott in Cardiff (1978–79). Buckley taught briefly in Ireland before becoming a full- time composer in 1982. In 1984 he was elected a member of Ireland’s state- sponsored academy of creative artists, Aosdána. His works were performed at ISCM festivals in 1985, 1994, and 1999. Buckley’s music explores timbrai and dynamic properties of chromatically tonal music.

Works

(all first perf. in Dublin): opera:The Words upon the Window-Pane, chamber opera (Oct. 17, 1991). orch.:Taller than Roman Spears (1977; rev. 1986); Fornocht do chonac thú, ballet music (1980); Concerto for Chamber Orch. (1981); Sym. No. 1 (1983–88; June 3, 1988); Organ Concerto (June 26, 1992); Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Strings (1997); A Mirror into the Light (1999). chamber:Sonata for English Horn and Piano (1973; also for Saxophone and Piano, 1990); Sequence for Clarinet, Bassoon, and Piano (1974); 2 brass quintets (1974, 1986); Wind Quintet (1976; rev. 1985); “Why Not?” Mr. Berio for Trombone and Piano (1977); Sonata for Solo Violin (1983); Boireann for Flute and Piano (1983); A Summer Ghost for Flute, Cello, and Piano (1986); 2 guitar sonatas (1989, 1998); Sonata for Solo Horn (1993); In Lines of Dazzling Light for Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, Violin, and Piano (1995); Saxophone Quartet (1996). keyboard: piano:Islands (1979); Winter Music (1988). organ :At the Round Earths Imagin’d Corners (1985). vocal :Auburn Elegy for Chorus, 2 Flutes, and Clarinet (1973); A Thin Halo of Blue for Chorus, Narrator, Tape, and Orch. (1990–91); De Profanáis for Soloists, Chorus, and Small Orch. (1993; March 25, 1994); Rivers of Paradise for 2 Speakers and Orch. (1993); Maynooth Te Deum for Soloists, Mixed Chorus, Chamber and Men’s Choruses, and Orch. (Nov. 16, 1995).

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire