Fidelio Trio & RTE National SO, Pierre-André Valade
CD
$16.75
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Internationally-acclaimed composer, Piers Hellawell, makes his debut on Delphian with a diverse programme of premiere recordings.
With sources of inspiration ranging from the self-immolation of Jan Palac to the lost Etruscan language and the sculptures of abstract expressionist David Smith, the full breadth and depth of Hellawell’s compositional preoccupations are represented in authoritative performances by some of his closest collaborators. A major recent project is 'Agricolas', premiered at the 2008 Vale of Glamorgan Festival and written for Robert Plane (clarinet) and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Piers Hellawell was born in England and studied with James Wood and Nicholas Maw. At the age of twenty-four he was appointed composer-in-residence at Queen’s University, Belfast, where he is now Professor of Composition. His works have been commissioned, broadcast and performed around the world, including at several ISCM festivals and the Helsinki Biennale. He has collaborated with the Hilliard Ensemble, the Schubert Ensemble of London, the Scottish Ensemble and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
4th May 2012
“The impressive range of Piers Hellawell's work is displayed on this collection...The orchestral piece "Degrees of Separation" is a fascinating study of initial momentum dissolving into musical entropy”
28th May 2012
****
“this compendium of music by Ulster-based Piers Hellawell is a rich kaleidoscope of inspired creativity...Music well worth getting to know.”
3rd June 2012
“These six diverse pieces reveal the vividness of Hellawell’s ideas, the deftness of their execution and exploration, and his effective use of abrupt contrasts. Agricolas (2008) is a hugely attractive clarinet concerto...Robert Plane plays the solo part with a flair matched by Pierre-André Valade’s forces.”
Awards Issue 2012
“The performances do the music proud, not least the limpidly precise pianism of Mary Dullea and soulful clarinet-playing of Robert Plane, while the sound has a clarity and perspective equally evident in solo and chamber as in orchestral pieces”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
