Seán Ó Riada

about

Seán Ó Riada (August 1, 1931 - October 3, 1971), was a composer and bandleader, and perhaps the single most influential figure in the renaissance of traditional Irish music from the 1960s, through his participation in Ceoltóirí Chualann, his compositions, his writings and his broadcasts on the topic. Born John Reidy in Cork City,[1] he was educated at St Finbar's College, Farranferris. He played the violin, piano and organ and studied the Greek and Latin classics at University College Cork, graduating in 1952. While at College, Ó Riada was the auditor of the UCC Philosophical Society. In the same year he became assistant director for Radio Éireann. He married Ruth Coughlan in 1953. During the evening he played piano with dance bands. In 1955 Ó Riada left his prestigious job, his wife and his newborn son Peadar, and moved to Italy and France, adopting a wild bohemian lifestyle. While studying composition under Aloys Fleischman he wrote avant-garde music. He drank heavily, and acquired a passion for expensive fast cars. Over the next ten years Ó Riada wrote several orchestral pieces called "Nomos." The third was left incomplete and some of the others took years to finish. None of them was publicly performed more than once. Ruth went in pursuit of her husband and found him living in poverty in Paris. She persuaded relatives to give them money and brought him back to Ireland, where he became musical director of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin for five years. At about this time he ch

top songs

albums

Ó Riada Sa Gaiety

The Ó Riada Collection: Ó Riada Sa Gaiety

The Playboy Of The Western World

Mise Éire

Barry Lyndon

Ó Riada: Orchestral Works

▥

Seoda An Riadaigh

▥

Port Na bPúcaí

▥

The Ó Riada Collection: Ceol An Aifrinn & Aifreann 2

Pléaráca An Riadaigh

Ó Riada

▥

Reacaireacht An Riadaigh

similar artists