Anniversary Special - A Welsh Quintet

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2023

Choral Music From Wales

20230925

Donald Macleod celebrates 80 years of 'Composer of the Week' with a concert of music by Grace Williams and Hilary Tann, curated by Welsh music historian Rhian Davies, and performed by the BBC Singers in Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay. Donald, together with Welsh music specialist Geraint Lewis and conductor and broadcaster Gwawr Owen, considers the part these two composers play in the history of Wales's vibrant choral tradition.

Composer of the Week has been produced in Cardiff since 1999, so it's fitting that Donald is celebrating Welsh composers in this anniversary series. Across the week, he follows the stories of Grace Williams, Hilary Tann, Morfydd Owen, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards and Rhian Samuel. This quintet of composers were all born in Wales, and much of their music finds inspiration in their Welsh roots. Collectively, their stories will take us from the 1890s to the present day.

For the first time in 'Composer of the Week's' long history, today's first episode of the series was recorded live and in front of an audience. During the programme the BBC Singers showcase music by two composers Grace Williams and Hilary Tann, through their choral music. Music includes Williams' arrangements of Welsh folk songs, and her masterly setting of Ave Maris Stella and we also hear Hilary Tann's settings of Welsh poets RS Thomas and Menna Elfyn.

Trad. arr. Grace Williams: Jim Cro

Mens' voices of BBC Singers

Ellie Slorach, conductor

Libby Burgess, piano

Trad. arr. Grace Williams: O rare Turpin

Trad. arr. Grace Williams: Mari lwyd

Hilary Tann: The Moor

Emma Tring, soprano

Jessica Gillingwater, mezzo-soprano

Grace Williams: Ave maris stella

Hilary Tann: Wellspring

Grace Williams: When the green woods laugh

Grace Williams: Yr eos

Hilary Tann: Paradise

Donald Macleod marks Composer of the Week's 80th anniversary with the BBC Singers.

2023

Dilys Elwyn-edwards And Morfydd Owen

20230926

Donald Macleod's celebration to mark 80th anniversary of the series continues with stories about two more Welsh composers, Morfydd Owen and Dilys Elwyn-Edwards.

Composer of the Week has been produced in Cardiff since 1999, so it's fitting that Donald is celebrating Welsh composers in this anniversary series. Following on from a live concert given in the BBC's Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay, with the BBC Singers, Donald continues the story of Welsh music with programmes featuring music by Grace Williams, Hilary Tann, Morfydd Owen, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards and Rhian Samuel. This quintet of composers were all born in Wales, and much of their music finds inspiration in their Welsh roots. Collectively, their stories will take us from the 1890s to the present day.

Today Donald's guest is Welsh music specialist Geraint Lewis. Together they chart the extraordinary life of a composer with a small but distinguished output, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards and one of Wales's most promising young talents, Morfydd Owen, who died in tragic circumstances at the age of just 26 in 1918, the year Dilys Elwyn-Edwards was born.

Morfydd Owen: Beti Bwt (Welsh Impressions)

Zoe Smith, piano

Dilys Elwyn-Edwards: The Cloths of Heaven

Bryn Terfel, baritone

Malcolm Martineau, piano

Morfydd Owen: My luv's like a red, red rose

Ellie Slorach, conductor

Libby Burgess, piano

Morfydd Owen: Nocturne for orchestra in D flat major

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Thomas Sondergaard, conductor

Dilys Elwyn-Edwards: Lullaby for piano

Jocelyn Freeman, piano

Dilys Elwyn-Edwards: Laudate Dominum

Dilys Elwyn-Edwards: All that's past

Dilys Elwyn-Edwards: Caneuon y Tri Aderyn

I: Y Gylfinir

II: Tylluanod

III: Mae hiraeth yn y M䀀r

Elin Manahan-Thomas, soprano

Donald Macleod's discovers the music of Morfydd Owen and Dilys Elwyn-Edwards.

2023

Grace Williams

20230927

Composer of the Week's 80th anniversary celebrations continue as Donald Macleod delves in to the largely unknown riches of Grace Williams's orchestral music with Rhiannon Mathias.

Today Donald's guest is Rhiannon Mathias, a musician and the biographer of Welsh composer Grace Williams. Their survey takes in Williams's much loved Fantasia on eight Welsh Nursery Tunes, but they also consider Williams as a symphonist, and Donald discovers one of Williams; earliest orchestral compositions which has been recorded by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales as part of their ongoing project to record Williams' symphonic output.

Grace Williams: Symphony no. 2 (excerpt)

BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra

Vernon Handley, conductor

Grace Williams: Ballads

IV: Allegro furioso

Grace Williams: Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes

London Symphony Orchestra

Charles Groves, conductor

Grace Williams: Sea Sketches

I: High winds

III: Channel Sirens

Tadaaki Otaka, conductor

Grace Williams: Elegy

Ryan Bancroft, conductor

I: Allegro marciale

Donald Macleod explores Grace Williams's colourful orchestral music with Rhiannon Mathias.

2023

Rhian Samuel

20230928

Composer of the Week's 80th anniversary celebrations continue when Donald Macleod meets one of Wales's pre-eminent living composers, Rhian Samuel.

In a wide-ranging discussion Donald and Rhian Samuel look back over the many experiences that inform her music, from her early years of playing the oboe at school in Aberdare, in south Wales to further music studies at Reading, and then studying and living for some years in America, where, among her experiences and opportunities, she was invited to sing for the President.

Rhian Samuel: Four-and-a half Dancing Men (A Garland for Anne)

Chenyin Li, piano

Rhian Samuel: Little Duos for oboe and cor anglais

II: Little Whispers

Tailleferre Ensemble

Rhian Samuel: A Perfect View

Gillian Keith, soprano

Simon Lepper, piano

Rhian Samuel: Gaslight Square II for piano duo

Antithesis piano duo

Rhian Samuel: Love Bade me welcome

New College Choir

Robert Quinney, director

Rhian Samuel: Salve nos

Hiyoli Togawa, viola

Rhian Samuel: Time out of Time

III: Twixt Thee and Me

IV: The little boat at its moorings

V: Harmonium

Gemma Rosefield, cello

Rhian Samuel: Clytemnestra for female voice and orchestra (excerpts)

II: Lament for his absence

VI: Defiance

VII: Epilogue. Dirge

Ruby Hughes, soprano

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Jac van Steen, conductor

Donald Macleod in conversation with one of Wales's pre-eminent composers, Rhian Samuel.

2023

05 LAST

Hilary Tann

20230929

Donald Macleod concludes Composer of the Week's 80th anniversary celebrations with a focus on the work of Hilary Tann, who died unexpectedly earlier this year. We also hear from a younger generation of Welsh composers, with music by Sarah Lianne Lewis and Eloise Gynn.

Donald Macleod and conductor and pianist David Wordsworth, who was Hilary Tann's publisher for many years, discuss the diverse elements of Tann's musical inspiration. Tann was born in Ferndale in the Welsh valleys in 1947, and this selection of music, curated by Welsh music historian Rhian Davies, reflects Tann's deep connection with the land of her birth, its landscape and its poetry, her fascination and deep knowledge of Japan and its culture, and her appreciation of her adopted home in America, where she lived for many years in the foothills of the Adinrondack mountains on the east coast.

Hilary Tann: From the Song of Amergin (excerpt)

Matthew Featherstone, flute

Rosalind Ventris, viola

Anneke Hoddnett, harp

Hilary Tann: Nothing Forgotten

I: Andante maestoso

Sini Virtanen, violin

Andrew Barnhart, cello

Eunmi Ko, pianist

Sarah Lianne Lewis: All my ships are white

Ellie Slorach, conductor

Libby Burgess, piano

Eloise Gynn: Kingfisher

Hilary Tann: Llef for flute and cello (excerpt)

Christiane Meininger, flute

Fran瀀oise Groben, cello

Hilary Tann: Shakkei

II: Leggiero

Virginia Shaw, oboe

The North South Chamber Orchestra

Max Lifchitz, conductor

Hilary Tann: Water's Edge

II: From the Riverbed

Hilary Tann: Seven poems of stillness

I: The air a staircase for silence (Kneeling)

Guy Johnson, cello

RS Thomas, narration

Hilary Tann: In the First, Spinning Place

Concerto for alto saxophone and wind orchestra

I: Down the rivers of the windfall light

II: The pebbles of the holy streams

iii: IN the first spinning place

Debra Richtmeyer, saxophone

Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra

Kirk Trevor, conductor

Donald Macleod explores the music of Hilary Tann with conductor David Wordsworth.

Episodes

Series	Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Comments
2023	01	Choral Music From Wales	20230925	Donald Macleod celebrates 80 years of 'Composer of the Week' with a concert of music by Grace Williams and Hilary Tann, curated by Welsh music historian Rhian Davies, and performed by the BBC Singers in Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay. Donald, together with Welsh music specialist Geraint Lewis and conductor and broadcaster Gwawr Owen, considers the part these two composers play in the history of Wales's vibrant choral tradition. Composer of the Week has been produced in Cardiff since 1999, so it's fitting that Donald is celebrating Welsh composers in this anniversary series. Across the week, he follows the stories of Grace Williams, Hilary Tann, Morfydd Owen, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards and Rhian Samuel. This quintet of composers were all born in Wales, and much of their music finds inspiration in their Welsh roots. Collectively, their stories will take us from the 1890s to the present day. For the first time in 'Composer of the Week's' long history, today's first episode of the series was recorded live and in front of an audience. During the programme the BBC Singers showcase music by two composers Grace Williams and Hilary Tann, through their choral music. Music includes Williams' arrangements of Welsh folk songs, and her masterly setting of Ave Maris Stella and we also hear Hilary Tann's settings of Welsh poets RS Thomas and Menna Elfyn. Trad. arr. Grace Williams: Jim Cro Mens' voices of BBC Singers Ellie Slorach, conductor Libby Burgess, piano Trad. arr. Grace Williams: O rare Turpin Trad. arr. Grace Williams: Mari lwyd Hilary Tann: The Moor Emma Tring, soprano Jessica Gillingwater, mezzo-soprano Grace Williams: Ave maris stella Hilary Tann: Wellspring Grace Williams: When the green woods laugh Grace Williams: Yr eos Hilary Tann: Paradise Donald Macleod marks Composer of the Week's 80th anniversary with the BBC Singers.
2023	02	Dilys Elwyn-edwards And Morfydd Owen	20230926	Donald Macleod's celebration to mark 80th anniversary of the series continues with stories about two more Welsh composers, Morfydd Owen and Dilys Elwyn-Edwards. Composer of the Week has been produced in Cardiff since 1999, so it's fitting that Donald is celebrating Welsh composers in this anniversary series. Following on from a live concert given in the BBC's Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay, with the BBC Singers, Donald continues the story of Welsh music with programmes featuring music by Grace Williams, Hilary Tann, Morfydd Owen, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards and Rhian Samuel. This quintet of composers were all born in Wales, and much of their music finds inspiration in their Welsh roots. Collectively, their stories will take us from the 1890s to the present day. Today Donald's guest is Welsh music specialist Geraint Lewis. Together they chart the extraordinary life of a composer with a small but distinguished output, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards and one of Wales's most promising young talents, Morfydd Owen, who died in tragic circumstances at the age of just 26 in 1918, the year Dilys Elwyn-Edwards was born. Morfydd Owen: Beti Bwt (Welsh Impressions) Zoe Smith, piano Dilys Elwyn-Edwards: The Cloths of Heaven Bryn Terfel, baritone Malcolm Martineau, piano Morfydd Owen: My luv's like a red, red rose Ellie Slorach, conductor Libby Burgess, piano Morfydd Owen: Nocturne for orchestra in D flat major BBC National Orchestra of Wales Thomas Sondergaard, conductor Dilys Elwyn-Edwards: Lullaby for piano Jocelyn Freeman, piano Dilys Elwyn-Edwards: Laudate Dominum Dilys Elwyn-Edwards: All that's past Dilys Elwyn-Edwards: Caneuon y Tri Aderyn I: Y Gylfinir II: Tylluanod III: Mae hiraeth yn y M䀀r Elin Manahan-Thomas, soprano Donald Macleod's discovers the music of Morfydd Owen and Dilys Elwyn-Edwards.
2023	03	Grace Williams	20230927	Composer of the Week's 80th anniversary celebrations continue as Donald Macleod delves in to the largely unknown riches of Grace Williams's orchestral music with Rhiannon Mathias. Composer of the Week has been produced in Cardiff since 1999, so it's fitting that Donald is celebrating Welsh composers in this anniversary series. Following on from a live concert given in the BBC's Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay, with the BBC Singers, Donald continues the story of Welsh music with programmes featuring music by Grace Williams, Hilary Tann, Morfydd Owen, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards and Rhian Samuel. This quintet of composers were all born in Wales, and much of their music finds inspiration in their Welsh roots. Collectively, their stories will take us from the 1890s to the present day. Today Donald's guest is Rhiannon Mathias, a musician and the biographer of Welsh composer Grace Williams. Their survey takes in Williams's much loved Fantasia on eight Welsh Nursery Tunes, but they also consider Williams as a symphonist, and Donald discovers one of Williams; earliest orchestral compositions which has been recorded by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales as part of their ongoing project to record Williams' symphonic output. Grace Williams: Symphony no. 2 (excerpt) BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra Vernon Handley, conductor Grace Williams: Ballads IV: Allegro furioso Grace Williams: Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes London Symphony Orchestra Charles Groves, conductor Grace Williams: Sea Sketches I: High winds III: Channel Sirens Tadaaki Otaka, conductor Grace Williams: Elegy Ryan Bancroft, conductor I: Allegro marciale Donald Macleod explores Grace Williams's colourful orchestral music with Rhiannon Mathias.
2023	04	Rhian Samuel	20230928	Composer of the Week's 80th anniversary celebrations continue when Donald Macleod meets one of Wales's pre-eminent living composers, Rhian Samuel. Composer of the Week has been produced in Cardiff since 1999, so it's fitting that Donald is celebrating Welsh composers in this anniversary series. Following on from a live concert given in the BBC's Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay, with the BBC Singers, Donald continues the story of Welsh music with programmes featuring music by Grace Williams, Hilary Tann, Morfydd Owen, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards and Rhian Samuel. This quintet of composers were all born in Wales, and much of their music finds inspiration in their Welsh roots. Collectively, their stories will take us from the 1890s to the present day. In a wide-ranging discussion Donald and Rhian Samuel look back over the many experiences that inform her music, from her early years of playing the oboe at school in Aberdare, in south Wales to further music studies at Reading, and then studying and living for some years in America, where, among her experiences and opportunities, she was invited to sing for the President. Rhian Samuel: Four-and-a half Dancing Men (A Garland for Anne) Chenyin Li, piano Rhian Samuel: Little Duos for oboe and cor anglais II: Little Whispers Tailleferre Ensemble Rhian Samuel: A Perfect View Gillian Keith, soprano Simon Lepper, piano Rhian Samuel: Gaslight Square II for piano duo Antithesis piano duo Rhian Samuel: Love Bade me welcome New College Choir Robert Quinney, director Rhian Samuel: Salve nos Hiyoli Togawa, viola Rhian Samuel: Time out of Time III: Twixt Thee and Me IV: The little boat at its moorings V: Harmonium Gemma Rosefield, cello Rhian Samuel: Clytemnestra for female voice and orchestra (excerpts) II: Lament for his absence VI: Defiance VII: Epilogue. Dirge Ruby Hughes, soprano BBC National Orchestra of Wales Jac van Steen, conductor Donald Macleod in conversation with one of Wales's pre-eminent composers, Rhian Samuel.
2023	05 LAST	Hilary Tann	20230929	Donald Macleod concludes Composer of the Week's 80th anniversary celebrations with a focus on the work of Hilary Tann, who died unexpectedly earlier this year. We also hear from a younger generation of Welsh composers, with music by Sarah Lianne Lewis and Eloise Gynn. Composer of the Week has been produced in Cardiff since 1999, so it's fitting that Donald is celebrating Welsh composers in this anniversary series. Following on from a live concert given in the BBC's Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay, with the BBC Singers, Donald continues the story of Welsh music with programmes featuring music by Grace Williams, Hilary Tann, Morfydd Owen, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards and Rhian Samuel. This quintet of composers were all born in Wales, and much of their music finds inspiration in their Welsh roots. Collectively, their stories will take us from the 1890s to the present day. Donald Macleod and conductor and pianist David Wordsworth, who was Hilary Tann's publisher for many years, discuss the diverse elements of Tann's musical inspiration. Tann was born in Ferndale in the Welsh valleys in 1947, and this selection of music, curated by Welsh music historian Rhian Davies, reflects Tann's deep connection with the land of her birth, its landscape and its poetry, her fascination and deep knowledge of Japan and its culture, and her appreciation of her adopted home in America, where she lived for many years in the foothills of the Adinrondack mountains on the east coast. Hilary Tann: From the Song of Amergin (excerpt) Matthew Featherstone, flute Rosalind Ventris, viola Anneke Hoddnett, harp Hilary Tann: Nothing Forgotten I: Andante maestoso Sini Virtanen, violin Andrew Barnhart, cello Eunmi Ko, pianist Sarah Lianne Lewis: All my ships are white Ellie Slorach, conductor Libby Burgess, piano Eloise Gynn: Kingfisher Hilary Tann: Llef for flute and cello (excerpt) Christiane Meininger, flute Fran瀀oise Groben, cello Hilary Tann: Shakkei II: Leggiero Virginia Shaw, oboe The North South Chamber Orchestra Max Lifchitz, conductor Hilary Tann: Water's Edge II: From the Riverbed Hilary Tann: Seven poems of stillness I: The air a staircase for silence (Kneeling) Guy Johnson, cello RS Thomas, narration Hilary Tann: In the First, Spinning Place Concerto for alto saxophone and wind orchestra I: Down the rivers of the windfall light II: The pebbles of the holy streams iii: IN the first spinning place Debra Richtmeyer, saxophone Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Kirk Trevor, conductor Donald Macleod explores the music of Hilary Tann with conductor David Wordsworth.