‘Liveridge is in Ireland’: Richard Leveridge and the Earliest Surviving Dublin Birthday Odes

Abstract

and the Earliest Surviving Dublin Birthday Odes The tradition of celebrating the New Year and the monarch's birthday with the performance of an ode at the English court is one that dates back to the early 1600s. 1 Throughout the seventeenth century, the provision of odes for these occasions gradually began to become established as a necessary part of the festivities, the Master of the Musick and the Poet Laureate eventually becoming charged with the duty of providing the biannual works. A parallel tradition developed in Dublin, though much later than that in London; until very recently the earliest surviving birthday ode text was believed to be Hail Happy Day set by Charles Ximenes in 1707. 2 Throwing this belief into contention, however, is my recent identification of a birthday ode text, previously considered to be unimportant. Held in the collection at Dublin City Library and Archive, Pearse Street, the printed text bears the title 'A Song on the King's BirthDay , 1701' and begins 'Welcome Genial Day!'. 3 In this article I argue that the content of the ode's poetry, together with the named composer, 'Mr Leveridge' (Richard Leveridge), serve to identify the work as a Dublin one. Moreover, this text sheds new light on two formerly misattributed ode manuscripts, one of which is in fact Leveridge's setting of Welcome Genial Day!. In addition, I demonstrate not only that the Dublin ode tradition began earlier than has previously been verifiable, but also that the repertoire in these earlier years had a far stronger connection to the London tradition and to London composers than has previously been thought.