Eithne (opera)

Eithne, also known as Éan an Cheoil Bhinn (The Bird of Sweet Music), is considered by many critics to be the first full-scale opera written and performed in the Irish language.

The opera, based on an Irish-language libretto written by Galway Reverend Thomas O'Kelly, covers two acts and includes in its complex plot the presence of stepbrothers, a divine descent to earth and the transformation of a queen into a bird.

[1] The work saw its first performance at the Round Room in Dublin's Rotunda during Oireachtas na Gaeilge, an Eisteddfod-inspired festival of Irish culture, in 1909,[2] conducted by the composer.

It featured an all-Irish cast including the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, and led to calls for a full staging.

As a magical bird like motif is heard on the flutes and clarinets of the orchestra, the High King becomes more and more captivated by Nuala's words and abruptly pardons Neart and Art and declares Ceart his heir.