December 2004
Talking to Eric de Courcy	Show Menu

Teacher, Choral Conductor, Cellist and Organist

Eric de Courcy, B.A., Mus.B (Dub), LRAM, ARIAM, grew up in the Baily, Howth and in a musical family; his mother was very musical and his grandfather was organist of the Methodist Church in Sutton.

He was five when he started piano lessons and about ten when he commenced learning the ‘cello at the RIAM. Two years later he went to Wesley College (in St Stephen’s Green) and about then started organ lessons with Willie Watson in St Ann’s, Dawson St. He admits that music came naturally to him and practising was not a chore.

He was 16 when he took up his first organist’s post — in St Patrick’s, Dalkey, where he stayed for five years. “There was no money at home” he admits, “I needed some pocket money and later I wanted to put myself through college.” Following Dalkey, he became organist of the Methodist Centenary Church in St Stephen’s Green for a short time, replacing Havelock Nelson who was moving to Belfast. In 1944, when he was 22, the post of organist of Waterford Cathedral became vacant and he was urged to apply for it. He thought he might spend a “few years” there. He was appointed, and the “few years” became nearly fifty years, lasting until 1991!

The Cathedral choir when he was appointed numbered about 30 and Matins and Evensong were sung every Sunday, with anthems and canticle settings each week. There were three other Churches of Ireland in Waterford at the time, two in the city and one across the river, but one by one these all closed, and the Cathedral become more of a parish church, still hosting a good choir but not singing the range of cathedral services that had been the case in his early years there. Asked about the Jones rebuild of the cathedral organ, he replied “I think it’s magnificent”.

He was very much involved in musical life in Waterford. He taught in Newtown School and also in Bishop Foy’s School until it closed in the 1960s; he also taught in the Regional Technical College as it was then. He was also in demand as a recitalist and conductor. There were various choral societies in Waterford, one of which produced one or two oratorios every year. Eric conducted most of these during his time in the city. Waterford had a very active Music Club; he went onto its committee before becoming its chairman for eleven years.

Asked what was his preferred form of music making: conducting, playing the organ, or being part of an orchestra, he replied “none of those, my top preference is chamber music”. He pointed out the he was always keener on the piano and cello and never intended to be an organist and that he didn’t have a big organ repertoire (though judging from recital programmes that he showedme, I take this comment with a grain of salt!).

I asked him if he could recall any specifically memorable events: “That’s a difficult one; conducting is certainly very exciting. The first time I conducted Messiah (in Waterford Cathedral) I felt very elated when we came to the Hallelujah Chorus. Messiah doesn’t excite me quite so much nowadays.” I asked him if he had met many famous people. “Oh yes, the Music Club in Waterford was a great source. We had Peter Pears and Benjamin Britten, and Janet Baker when she was just starting out on her now-famous career, and Leon Goosens too.”

He enjoys composing and arranging music, particularly for string quartets. What about non-musical interests? “Ornithology certainly; have had some great bird-watching holidays, and I love walking too”.

He is still playing the organ most Sundays, in various churches, but particularly in the Methodist Church in Sandymount, which is very close to his home. “Getting to distant churches on a Sunday morning is not just as easy as it was in the past” he said. He also either conducts or accompanies the Seafield Singers, sharing the task with Alison Young, whose late husband William was its founder.

He has a couple of very well-filled and most interesting scrapbooks, containing newspaper cuttings, recital programmes, invitations and so on, and essentially portraying his musical life. A couple of other things I learned as we looked through his scrapbooks were that he won the Ida O’Reilly Cup three times for his ‘cello playing and that he was made a Heredity Freeman of Waterford (though he had to pay ten shillings for the certificate!)

Gloria in Excelsis

Adrian Somerfield (St Thomas, Mount Merrion)

In SOUNDBOARD Number 7 (June 2004) the Editor rightly, in my opinion, criticises the unhelpful pointing of the psalms and canticles in the new Book of Common Prayer. But there is worse. The Canticle (as it is described) which we and others have been chanting for many years at Holy Communion (p. 203) is not pointed at all, and the layout is such that it is hard to know how it is supposed to be.

Fortunately, except for the niggling change of ‘his’ to ‘God’s’ in the first verse, it is possible to use the pointing on page 127 of the 1984 Alternative Prayer Book, where it is clearly and beautifully set out.

Indeed, whatever the supposed failings of the APB which caused it to be suppressed, that book was excellently printed and organist-friendly. But then, it was the result of careful and open preparation with at least two trial runs.

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