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Mai-Dun
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Mai-Dun is an orchestral work composed in 1921 by John Ireland (1879–1962). He called it a symphonic rhapsody; another description might be tone poem. In 1931, he arranged it for piano four hands.[1][2]
In British Celtic, "Mai-dun" means "great hill". Ireland's piece is a musical evocation of a notable iron age fort: Maiden Castle, Dorset, nearby the house of the English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) whose name for the place Ireland adopted.[3] It is believed to have been inspired by Arthur Machen's novel The Hill of Dreams (1907).[4]
It has been said that, "ancient sites with echoes of the supernatural, including the Channel Islands, inform some of Ireland’s few orchestral pieces"; and of Mai-Dun itself that, "it is a strong piece, aggressive at times, resourcefully scored, and Ireland’s imagination was ignited by the largest hill-fort in England, dating from 3000BC, and its violent history."[3]
A typical performance takes about 12½ minutes.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ "List of works – J to M". The John Ireland Trust. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ Mai-Dun: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- ^ a b "John Ireland". The Gramophone. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
- ^ Arthur Machen and his Music, Caerleon.net
- ^ John Ireland: Mai-Dun, symphonic rhapsody for orchestra at AllMusic. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
Further reading
[edit]- Richards, Fiona (2020). "John Ireland's Mai-Dun: Composite Influences." In Michael Allis and Paul Watt, eds., The Symphonic Poem in Britain, 1850-1950 (Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press), pp. 278-304. ISBN 978-1-78327-528-1
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