John Kinsella has been described as “… the mostsignificant Irish symphonist since Stanford” by BBC Radio 3. He has writtenover twenty-one compositions for orchestra including nine symphonies, workswhich have been performed by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and majororchestras throughout the world.

The impulse to create music has been with Kinsellasince he was a child, studying pocket editions of the scores of Sibelius andBeethoven. In 1988 he retired from RTÉ to concentrate on composition full time.The earliest piece on John Kinsella: Orchestral Works is his Symphony No.6, a celebration offriendship and shared musical interests dating from 1992.

Kinsellahimself admits that Symphony No.7, whilevery much written in his own style, contains deliberate points of contact with Sibelius’7^th Symphony. The live recording here of this work reveals it to bea rhythmically dynamic and engaging work.

Theother two compositions on John Kinsella: Orchestral Works are Cúchulainn andFerdia: Duel at the Ford and Prelude and Toccata for String Orchestra,the latter originally written as a string quartet for the 2007 West CorkChamber Music Festival. Cúchulainn andFerdia, whose title is echoed by the Louis le Brocquy work on the CD cover,receivedits world premiere at a Gala Concert celebrating the 60^thanniversary of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra on 4^th April 2008.