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St David's Day - Music from Wales
Musically, Wales is predominantly associated with a long tradition of folk harp-playing and a strong culture of vocal music. The 'Land of Song' epithet might be a cliché, but the legacy of nonconformist hymnody, eisteddfodau festivals of poetry and music, and the popularity of male voice choirs can't be denied. For the proof, look no further than the stands at your nearest sports venue; no other country's rendition of its national anthem at sporting events comes close.
But what about the classical world itself? Who have been the names shaping Welsh classical composition over the years, and who are the leading lights at the forefront today? Read on, welshcake in hand, to find out...
Historical Welsh Composers
O Give Thanks Unto the Lord: Choral Works by Thomas Tomkins
The Choir of HM Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace, Rufus Frowde and Carl Jackson
Born in St David's itself in 1572, Tomkins (d. 1565) is the earliest attested Welsh composer of music in the classical canon; a pupil of Byrd and a career church musician, he served at both Gloucester and Worcester cathedrals, and was acclaimed as a madrigalist and a composer of sacred music. This collection of choral works by Tomkins sums up the musicianship of one of the finest composers of the late Tudor era.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Soprano and pianist join forces to present a selection of the songs by soprano and pianist Morfydd Owen (1891-1918) - born in the south of Wales, Owen displayed remarkable persistence in defying her parents' reluctance by pursuing a musical career, ultimately studying at London's Royal Academy of Music. Although her songs with piano form the majority of her output, a considerable body of chamber, orchestral and choral music awaits rediscovery and recording.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Shockingly under-recorded to date, the music of Grace Williams (1906-1977) shows the influence of both her main teachers - Ralph Vaughan Williams and Egon Wellesz - and her chamber compositions also reveal an interest in exploring unusual combinations of instruments, as for instance in the Sextet for Oboe, Trumpet and Piano Quartet. This album consists entirely of world-premiere recordings.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Arwel Hughes: Oratorio Dewi Sant
Susan Bullock (soprano), Rhodri Prys Jones (tenor), Paul Casey Jones (bass-baritone), BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales, Owain Arwel Hughes
Performed both in Welsh and in English over the years, this oratorio by Arwel Hughes (1909-1988) tells the story of Wales's patron saint, and is here recorded in Welsh for the first time. Hughes's upbringing - born in Wrexham near the English border, and coming from a poor mining family - did not hold him back from a successful move into composition; his romantic and at times unashamedly old-fashioned music often draws on the rich folklore and mythology associated with Wales.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Born in Dolgellau near the Mawddach Estuary in Gwynedd, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards (1918-2012) turned down a place at Cambridge University's Girton College in favour of studying at Cardiff; she later pursued composition studies under Herbert Howells. Her music is dominated by song in both English and Welsh, a selection of which (including the famous sonnet Mae Hiraeth yn y Môr) is recorded here.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Alun Hoddinott: Landscapes
Claire Booth (soprano), Nicky Spence (tenor), Jeremy Huw Williams (baritone), Andrew Matthews-Owen (piano primo) & Michael Pollock (piano secondo)
A pupil of Arthur Benjamin, Glamorgan-born Alun Hoddinott (1929-2008) was one of the first Welsh composers to break through to international recognition. The concert hall at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff is named in his honour. His musical style draws on austere serialism, but the influence of writing for the voice in his operas seems to have rounded off the sharper edges of this idiom in later years. This collection of song recordings shows the deep influence of Welsh traditions on Hoddinott, both in his folksong arrangements and in his original compositions.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Mathias: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 and Ceremony After a Fire Raid
Llŷr Williams (piano), William Mathias (piano), Chris Williams (piano), Andrea Porter (percussion), Matt Hardy (percussion), BBC National Chorus of Wales, Grant Llewellyn, Moshe Atzmon, Adrian Partington
Perhaps best known for his organ and choral music, in particular his anthem Let the people praise Thee, O God, written in 1981 for the wedding of the then Prince of Wales to Diana Spencer, William Mathias (1934-1992) also produced a great volume of instrumental music, including three piano concertos and one each for clarinet, oboe and harp. Two of the piano concertos are featured here, showing a lyrical side to Mathias that is not often heard - and with the composer himself at the keyboard for the concerto No. 3.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Living Welsh Composers
Lusciously-scored and evoking Berg and Mahler, the song-cycle Clytemnestra by Rhian Samuel (b. 1944) is based on Aeschylus's Agamemnon, exploring the emotions of Clytemnestra around the return of her husband from ten years of war - the man who, among other things, had willingly sacrificed their daughter to the goddess Artemis. It's visceral and at times violent, and is perfectly complemented here by Ruby Hughes's performances of Mahler's Rückert-Lieder and Berg's Altenberg Lieder Op. 4. When this recording came out, Katherine spoke to Ruby to explore the work's psychology in more detail.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Karl Jenkins: The Armed Man (A Mass For Peace) - Ensemble version
London Orchestra da Camera, David Temple, Hertfordshire Chorus, Osama Kiwan
The world-famous The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins (b. 1944), drawing on the centuries-long tradition of masses based around the L'homme armé chanson, has lost none of its power in the quarter-century since its premiere. Originally scored for full orchestra, this ensemble version brings it within the reach of more groups to perform, particularly if budgetary constraints are a concern. Yet none of the work's drama or pathos is lost - the terror of the violent movements and the triumph of the Hosannas in the Benedictus are just as potent.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
John Metcalf: Under Milk Wood
A large cast including Elizabeth Donovan (Myfanwy Price/Polly Garter/Mrs Butcher Beynon/Mrs Floyd) and Helen-Jane Howells (Gossamer Beynon/Lily Smalls/Mrs Pugh)
Dylan Thomas's iconic radio drama Under Milk Wood, with its affectionate yet pointed portraits of the idiosyncratic denizens of Llareggub, remains one of the most popular works by Wales's greatest twentieth-century poet. This chamber-opera adaptation by John Metcalf (b. 1946) draws heavily on atmospheric recitative-like writing, only rarely blossoming into numbers that might be considered closer to arias.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Reservoirs: Orchestral Works by Guto Pryderi Puw
David Cowley (oboe) BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jac van Steen
An ambitious debut recording from Guto Puw (b. 1971), a pupil of among others John Metcalf - mentioned above - and featuring a selection of his award-winning orchestral works. Reservoirs draws unflinchingly on the complexity of the relationship between Wales and England - specifically, the intentional flooding of Welsh valleys and settlements (most infamously Tryweryn in 1965) by new reservoirs intended to provide water to English cities such as Liverpool.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
The soulful music of Paul Mealor (b. 1975) has been a favourite of choirs around the world for decades - and his landmark Coronation Kyrie, performed at the Coronation of King Charles III, was the first use of the Welsh language at a British Coronation. His music is characterised by a simplicity and directness that also make it eminently singable; this album combines secular works with a number of sacred compositions, including settings of Ave Maris Stella, Ave Verum, and the haunting Selwyn Service pair of evening canticles.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Huw Watkins: Flute Concerto, Violin Concerto and Symphony
Adam Walker (flute), Alina Ibragimova (violin), Hallé, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ryan Wigglesworth, Edward Gardner
The orchestral compositions of the exciting composer Huw Watkins (b. 1976) are the focus of this album. As Presto's Katherine Cooper noted in 2018, his writing in the flute concerto is particularly noteworthy for the innovative textures he devises to circumvent the problem of the flute's relatively gentle sound, avoiding the risk of drowning it with the orchestra's weight.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Despite rising to fame as a harpist, Catrin Finch (b. 1980) is an accomplished composer in her own right; this album of her own compositions, performed by the composer, perhaps represents a modern perspective on the ancient Welsh harp tradition - though some works also feature Finch at the piano. Musical collaborators include singer and duduk player Belinda Sykes, violinist Bodgan Vacarescu and Côr Caerdydd Choir.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Gwilym Simcock: On a Piece of Tapestry - EP
John Sessions (narrator), Michael Collins (clarinet), Gwilym Simcock (piano), City of London Sinfonia
An electic musician whose skills range across classical, jazz and a host of other genres, Bangor-born Gwilym Simcock (b. 1981) broke new ground by being the first jazz musician selected for BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artists scheme. His music draws on both his experience as a jazz pianist (particularly in trios) and his education at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, where he excelled on the French horn. This EP recording features his work On a Piece of Tapestry, for clarinet, strings, jazz trio and narrator.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Albums Inspired by Wales
This compilation from Nimbus Classics provides a sampling of music in a variety of genres from William Mathias, Alun Hoddinott and Joseph Parry (the last perhaps best known as the composer of the sentimental male voice choir favourite Myfanwy and the hymn-tune Aberystwyth).
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Bass-baritone Bryn Terfel has always worn his Welsh identity proudly, and it's plainly on display in his latest album of sea songs. From the boisterous Fflat Huw Puw, Harbwr Corc and Mae'r gwynt yn deg to reflective arrangements of Codi Angor and Ar lan y môr, the heritage of Welsh seafaring song is front and centre (though don't miss the spine-tingling performance of Breton poet Yann-Ber Kalloc'h's Me ‘zo ganet e-kreiz ar mor!).
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Taliesin's Songbook
Andrew Matthews-Owen (piano), Rebecca Evans (soprano), Gareth Brynmor John (baritone), Susan Bullock (soprano), Elin Manahan Thomas (soprano), Catrin Finch (harp), Elgan Llŷr Thomas (tenor), Natalya Romaniw (soprano)
Named in honour of the semi-legendary sixth-century Welsh bard, Taliesin's Songbook features songs in Welsh and English by many of the composers featured above, as well as Dafydd Bullock, Evan Thomas Davies, Meirion Williams, Mark Bowden and Gareth Glyn. A true treasure-trove of Welsh writing for voice and piano. Katherine spoke to pianist Andrew Matthews-Owen about this album when it came out in 2021.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
An adventurous recital puts the new organ of Llandaff Cathedral - the last cathedral in Wales to abolish its professional choir, in 2013 - through its paces. Included are Alain's ethereal Le Jardin suspendu, Paul Spicer's characterful 4 Pieces for Organ, Iain Quinn's sparkling Toccata on 'Victimae Paschali' - but the instrument is the real star of the show. Heavily damaged in the Second World War and incapacitated by an unfortunate lightning strike in 2007, its resurrection by Nicholson & Co Ltd. is truly magnificent.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
I mentioned that equating Wales with male voice choirs is a cliché, and it is. However, this is an album I remember fondly from my student days, listening to it over and over again on the then newly-launched Naxos Music Library. The passion and enthusiasm of the combined forces of the two male voice choirs in favourites such as God Bless the Prince of Wales (better known in some parts of the UK as the Ulster Unionist rallying-cry Derry's Walls), The Lost Chord and Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah is palpable and uplifting. Long may this wonderful tradition continue.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
David Smith - Head of Digital
