Sir, - Gabriel Rosenstock (February 13th) poses the questions: "To what extent was Thomas Moore indebted to traditional Irish songs and airs?" and "Is Moore Bunting dressed up?" I would think that the more correct questions would be "To what extent is Irish music indebted to Thomas Moore?" and "How much of Bunting's painstaking research would we have today, were it not for the creative genius of Thomas Moore?"
Moore interpreted the traditional music which had been copied down, note for note, by Bunting at the Festival of Irish Harpers in 1792. Moore pays tribute to the "zeal and industry of "Mr Bunting, to whom his country - is indebted for the preservation of her old national airs." He saw himself as the servant of the music, and says of himself: "I have always felt that when adapting words to an expressive air, I was bestowing upon it the gift of articulation, and thus enabling it to speak to others all that was conveyed in its wordless eloquence to myself".
Mr Rosenstock refers to the "groves of academe" of today. standing for "territoriality". I had no such experience at UCD, where under the late Professor Augustine Martin of the Department of Anglo Irish Literature I obtained a master's degree studying Thomas Moore, and wrote my thesis on Music. The Inspiration in the Work of Thomas Moore.
Thomas Moore's genius lay in his ability to find the perfect words which gave expression to the mood suggested by the music. His work reflects music like a mirror. The people of Ireland recognised his voice as their voice, and revered him as their national poet. - Yours, etc.,
Shankill,
Co Dublin.