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Rhian Samuel

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Rhian Samuel
Rhian Samuel was born in Aberdare in 1944 and was educated in Britain and the United States. Her orchestral works span from Elegy-Symphony (St Louis Symphony Orchestra, conductor Leonard Slatkin, 1981) and La belle dame sans merci for chorus and orchestra (co-winner of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers’ Rudolph Nissim Award, 1983) to Dawnsiau’r Nant (Dances of the Stream) for the Welsh Proms, Cardiff, 1999, Tirluniau (Landscapes) for the BBC Proms, London, 2000 (BBC National Orchestra of Wales), and Lights in the City, written for her students at City University and premiered in 2010. Much of her vocal music is concerned with women ‘speaking for themselves’; it ranges from Clytemnestra for soprano and orchestra, premiered by Della Jones and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in 1994, to Cerddi Hynafol, settings of early Welsh women’s poetry, for the Fishguard Festival, 2001. She has collaborated extensively with the Anglo-American poet Anne Stevenson in works such as Daughters’ Letters, premiered in 1997 by Valdine Anderson with Sinfonia 21, conducted by Martyn Brabbins, and Nantcol Songs, 2003, for Gillian Keith, soprano, and Simon Lepper, piano, a work about Snowdonian landscapes. In March 2006 The Flowing Sand, a song-cycle to poems by Samuel Beckett, was premiered at the Beckett/Proust/Deleuze conference held at the School of European Studies, Cardiff. Recent performances include The Path through the Woods, played by Pamela Thorby, recorder, with the Welsh Sinfonia, conductor Mark Eager, at Cardiff’s Temple of Peace in April 2011, and Mechanical and Fantastical Studies for solo piano, premiered by Jennifer Lee in Ciboure, France, in August 2011 as part of the ‘Les Raveliades’ festival. Later in the same month, Mist on the Hills for accordion and string quartet received its first performance at the Machynlleth Festival, played by Milos Milivojevic and the Juritz Quartet. New works include What Cheer?, a setting of an anonymous 16th-century carol for the Choir of New College Oxford, and Moon and Birds, a song-cycle to poems by Anne Stevenson and Emily Dickinson, first performed by Frances Bourne and the Centenary Ensemble, conducted by Andrew Morley, at St James’s, Piccadilly, in November 2011. Rhian Samuel has taught at the St Louis Conservatory of Music, USA, and Reading University, and since 2010 has been Emeritus Professor of Music at City University, London. She is also a tutor in composition at Magdalen College, Oxford. Rhian Samuel co-edited the Norton/New Grove Dictionary of Women Composers (1994). A CD of her music, Light and Water, is available on the Deux-Elles label. 

 

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Works

These titles can be ordered in our online shop, or, in the case of rental works, through our Hire Library. The items with [PDF] after them are links to free sample pages in the Adobe Actobat format.


Woodwind | Brass | Strings | Piano | Organ | Choral | Chamber | Voice & Solo Ins | Voice & Ensemble | Orchestral

Woodwind

Ariel 1988 [7'] (Ref. Y149) [PDF]
Flute and Piano
Dance in the Light 1997 [4'] (Ref. Y157) [PDF]
Two Flutes
...et Lamentable Joye 1998, rev. 2002 [6'] (Ref. Y193) [PDF]
Solo clarinet
Little Duos 2006 (Ref. Y233) [PDF]
Two Clarinets in B flat. (Two copies supplied.)
Shaping the Air 2000 [11'] (Ref. Y181) [PDF]
Oboe and Piano
Shaping the Air 2000, 2002 [11'] (Ref. Y195) [PDF]
Soprano and Alto Saxophones and Piano
Songlines 2002, [8'] (Ref. Y199) [PDF]
Alto Saxophone and Piano
Stepping Out
1996 [9'] (Ref. Y144) [PDF]
Clarinet and Piano
Traquair Music
1989 [7'] (Ref. Y146) [PDF]
Solo Oboe
Wherever I Go 1995 [5'] (Ref. Y147)
Solo Flute

Brass

Brass Express 1995 [6'] (Rental Ref. HL323)
Trumpet and Orchestra
Dovey Junction 2005 [4'30''] (Ref. Y224) [PDF
Brass Quintet
Three Pieces for Trumpet and Organ 1999 (Ref. AC170, AC171 & AC172)
Eryri [4'] [PDF] ; Black Mantillas [3'] [PDF] ; Threnody with Fanfares [5'30''] [PDF
Variations 2002 (Ref. Y197) [PDF]
Trombone Quartet  

Strings

Blythswood 1996 [10'] (Ref. H398) [PDF]
Three Pieces for Viola and Piano
Dance of the Curlews 2008 [5'] (Ref. Y245)
Two Harps

Far across the sea (Ymhell dros y môr) 2009 (Ref. Y259) [PDF]

Solo Harp
Little Serenade for Skaila 2004 [5'] (Ref. Y217) [PDF]
Solo Harp
Naming the Flowers 1999 [12'] (Ref. Y175)
Three Pieces for Solo Guitar
Sky Blue Chicory and Purple Angelica [PDF]; The Shell-Frail Colour of Harebells [PDF]; Foxglove Balsam and Pods of Sweet Cicely [PDF]; 
One Charming Night 1998 [6'] (Ref. H423) [PDF]
Duo for Violin & Piano
Shards of Light 2005 [7'] (Ref. Y228) [PDF]
Solo Violin
Summer Path (Llwybr Hâf) 2000 [8'] (Rental Ref. HL346)
Solo Harp and String Orchestra
Time out of Time 2001 [12'] (Ref. Y192) [PDF
Little Suite arranged for Viola and Piano
Time out of Time 2001[12'] (Ref. Y184) [PDF
Little Suite for Cello and Piano

Keyboard

A Garland for Anne (2003) [10'] (Ref. Y200) [PDF]
Solo Piano
Copper Ribbons (2006) (Ref. Y231) [PDF]
Harpsichord
Dream-Images 1997 [15'] (Ref. H438) [PDF]  
Solo Piano
Gaslight Square II 2005 (Ref. Y223) [PDF]
Piano Duet

Mechanical and Fantastical Studies Five pieces for solo piano (2011) (Ref. Y288)

Mechanical Study I; In the Air; Mechanical Study II; Falling Star; Mechanical Study III

Off to Narita 2002 [13'] (Ref. Y194) [PDF]
Solo Piano
Serenade Duo
2004 [5.5'] (Y219) [PDF]
Two Pianos
Silver Threads (2006) [6'] (Y232) [PDF]
Harpsichord
Ymddiddan (Dialogue) 1998 [13'] (Ref. AC166) [PDF]
Two Pianos

Organ

Fel Blodeuyn (Like a Flower) 1992, rev. 1993 [10'] (Ref. AC145) [PDF]
Solo Organ

Choral

La Belle Dame Sans Merci 1982, rev. 1987 [14'] (Rental Ref. HL321)
SATB Choir, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, timpani, percussion (2), celesta, harp & Str(s) 4.4.3.3.2.
Changes 1973, rev. 1978 [8'] (Ref. AC158) [PDF]
SATB and Vibraphone
Dear Night 1998 [6'] (Ref. Y163) [PDF]
SATB and Organ
Jacobean Lyrics 1979 [6'] (Ref. Y151) [PDF]
SATB
Jolly Wat the Shepherd 1970 [3'] (Ref. Y155) [PDF]
SATB [Included on the Christmas CD from the Joyful Company of Singers, Peter Broadbent, conductor, with
Gabriel Woolf and Felicity Lott, 'Christmas Pudding'. Issued by White Line.]

Lovesongs and Observations 1989 [9'] (Ref. W201)
SATB

Opposites (2011) (Ref. Y280) [PDF]

SATB

Age and Youth; Sun and Shadow

Pan ddaw ust y nos/When the calm of night 2005 (Ref. Y222) [PDF]
SATB and Organ
So Long Ago 1979 [5'] (Ref. Y154) [PDF]
SATB

What Cheer? 2011 [3'] (Ref. Y287) [PDF]

SATB and Organ

Chamber Works

Emerging (lightly) 2008 (Ref. Y244) [PDF] [REVIEW]
Solo Viola and Chamber Ensemble (Flute, Clarinet in B flat, Two Violins, Cello and Harp)
Every Day Dancing
2003 [10'] (Ref. Y216) [PDF]
Clarinet Quartet
Fantasy Quintet 1998 [15'] (Ref. Y164) [PDF]
Five Flutes
Five Miniatures 2001 (Ref. Y182) [PDF]
Piano Quintet
Mist on the Hills 2011 (Ref. Y279) [PDF]
Accordion and string quartet

Moon and Birds 2011 (Ref. Y292)

Medium voice and chamber ensemble (flute, harp and string quartet)

Phantasy Trio 2010 (Ref. Y273) [PDF]

Violin, Cello and Piano
Preludes & Dances 1997 [13'] (Ref. Y148) [PDF]
String Quartet
Primavera 1984, 2001-2002 (Ref. Y196) [PDF]
Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon
Quartet: Light and Water 2003 (Ref. AC211) [PDF]
Piano and Strings
Shadow Dance 1984, rev. 1985 [7'] (Ref. AC150) [PDF]
Flute, Oboe and Piano
Through Windows and the Balustrades Beyond 1998 [8'30''] (Ref. Y167) [PDF]
Flute, Harp and Viola
Trio: Stepping Out II 2000 [8'] (Ref. Y179) [PDF]
Clarinet, Viola and Piano

Voice & Piano/Solo Instrument

Before Dawn 1988 [9'30''] (Ref. H406) [PDF]
Medium Voice and Piano
Cerddi Hyfanol/ Ancient Songs
2001 (Ref. Y183) [PDF]
Mezzo-Soprano and Piano
The Flowing Sand 2006 (Ref. Y230) [PDF]
Five songs to poems by Samuel Beckett for baritone and piano
The Hare in the Moon 1978 [9'] (Ref. H412)   [PDF
Soprano and Piano
Nantcol Songs 2003 (Ref. Y213) [PDF]
The Wind, the Sun and the Moon; A Perfect View
Medium/High Voice and Piano

Moon and Birds 2011 (Ref. Y291)

Blackbird; The Moon is Distant; Bird in Hand; On not being able to Look at the Moon

Medium voice and piano

Songs of Earth and Air 1983, rev. 2002 (Ref. Y204, Y205, Y206, Y207)
April Rise [PDF]; The Kingfisher [PDF]; Snowdrop [PDF]; A Warm Rain [PDF]  
Medium Voice and Piano

Spring Diary 2010  (Ref. Y272) [PDF]
Five songs for baritone and piano to poems by Anne Stevenson
1. Arrival Dream  2. Snow Squalls  3. It Happens   4. East Wind  5. A Clearer Memory

Trois Chansons de Francois Villon 1969, rev. 1998 [4'30''] (Ref. Y168) [PDF]
Voice and Flute/Piccolo
The White Amaryllis 1991 [23'] (Ref. AC162) [PDF]
Medium Voice and Piano

Yr Alarch (The Swan) 2009 (Ref. Y258) [PDF]

Solo Baritone

Voice & Ensemble/Orchestra

Clytemnestra 1994 [27'] (Rental Ref. HL328)
Soprano soloist; 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contra bassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, bass guitar, timpani, xylophone, vibraphone, marimba, percussion (2) and Str(s) 8.8.6.6.4.
Colours 2007 [14'] (Ref. AC239) [PDF]
Two songs for high voice, trumpet and organ to texts by Anne Stevenson
Daughters' Letters 1996 [22'] (Rental Ref. HL326)
Soprano, percussion (1) & Str(s) 4.4.3.3.2.
The Hare in the Moon 1978 [9'] (Ref. AC159) [PDF]
Soprano, Vibraphone, Marimba and Double Bass
Intimations of Immortality 1978 [8'] (Rental Ref. HL324)
Tenor soloist, solo violin, oboe, clarinet, horn, timpani and Str(s) 4.4.3.3.2

Moon and Birds 2011 (Ref. Y292)

Blackbird; The Moon is Distant; Bird in Hand; On not being able to Look at the Moon

Medium voice and chamber ensemble

Nantcol Songs 2003 (Ref. AC212) [PDF]
The Wind, the Sun and the Moon; A Perfect View
Medium/High Voice and Harp Ensemble
Path 1995 [7'] (Rental Ref. HL327)
Medium voice & Str(s) 4.4.3.3.2.
A River 2008 (Ref. Y243) [PDF]
Soprano, Baroque or Modern Oboe, Harpsichord and Bass Viol or Cello
Song for the Divine Miss C 1986 [15'] (Rental Ref. HL329)
Soprano & tenor soloists, SATB Choir; 4 flutes, alto flute (doubling piccolo), oboe, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, timpani and Str(s) 8.8.6.6.4.
Trinity 2005 (Y220) [PDF]
Three Songs for High Voice, Flute and Piano to texts by Anne Stevenson
The White Amaryllis
1991 [23'] (Rental Ref. HL325)
Medium voice, 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (3), harp and Str(s) 8.8.6.6.4.
The Witch's Manuscript 1985 [10'] (Ref. Y156) [PDF]
Soprano and Brass Quintet

Orchestra

Brass Express 1995 [6'] (Rental Ref. HL323)
Solo trumpet, 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (2), vibraphone, piano and Str(s) 8.8.6.6.4.
Dawnsiau'r Nant (Dances of the Stream) 1999 [15'] (Rental Ref. HL335)
2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, percussion (3), xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, timpani, piano and Str(s) 8.8.6.6.4.
Elegy-Symphony 1981 [22'] (Rental Ref. HL322)
3 flutes (1 doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contra bassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (4), celesta, 2 harps and Str(s) 8.8.6.6.4.
Lights in the City 2010 [9'] (Rental Ref. HL393)

2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion (3), piano and Str(s) 8.8.6.6.4.

The Path through the Woods 2011 [12'] (Rental Ref. HL400)

Solo recorder (alto and tenor) and strings (4.4.3.3.1. minimum) with descant recorder group. [If a descant recorder group is unavailable, its material may be played by a solo instrument, e.g. oboe (at the correct octave) or muted trumpet (an octave lower), possibly off-stage.]

Scenes from an Aria 1996 [12'] (Rental Ref. HL317)

Solo oboe, 2 horns, marimba and Str(s) 4.4.3.3.2.
Summer Path (Llwybr Hâf)
2000 [8'] (Rental Ref. HL346)
Solo harp and Str(s) 4.4.3.3.2.
Tirluniau (Landscapes) 2000 [24'] (Rental Ref. HL345)
2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, double bassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, percussion, harp, piano, timpani and Str(s) 8.8.6.6.4.   

 

Discography

 

Light and Water

The Hare in the Moon (Lucy Crowe, soprano, Simon Lepper, piano) [MP3 Clip - beginning]
Time out of Time (Gemma Rosefield, cello, Simon Lepper piano) [MP3 Clip - beginning of "Mechanical Doll"]
A Garland for Anne (Chenyin Li, solo piano) [MP3 Clip - beginning]
Trinity (Joana Seara, soprano, Adam Walker, flute John Reid, piano) [MP3 Clip - beginning]
Piano Quartet: Light and Water (Fidelio Quartet: Michael Dussek, piano, Tamás András, violin, Sarah-Jane Bradley, viola, Gemma Rosefield, cello) [MP3 Clip - ending]
Gaslight Square II (Duo Antithesis: Dimitris Karydis and Petros Moschos) [MP3 Clip - beginning]
'Rhian Samuel: Light and Water'
Deux-Elles DXL 1128 www.deux-elles.co.uk [REVIEWS]

 

Ariel
Catherine Handley (flute), Andrew Wilson-Dickson (piano)
'Ariel'
HAL 004 www.creighton-griffiths.co.uk

 

Jolly Wat the Shepherd
Joyful Company of Singers
'Plum Pudding'
White Line CDWHL2150 www.sanctuaryclassics.com

 

Nantcol Songs: A Perfect View
Gillian Keith (soprano), Simon Lepper (piano)
'A Garland for Presteigne'
Metronome METCD 1065 www.metronome.co.uk

 

Shadow Dance
Nancy Ruffer (flute), John Anderson (oboe), Helen Crayford (piano)
'British Music for Flute, Oboe and Piano'
Dutton CDLX 7181 www.duttonvocalion.co.uk

 

Songs of Earth and Air: The Kingfisher and April Rise
Sharon Mabry (mezzo-soprano), Rosemary Platt (piano)
'Music by Women'
Capstone CPS-8714 www.capstonerecords.org

 

Threnody with Fanfares
Deborah Calland (trumpet), William Whitehead (organ)
'North Star' [REVIEWS]
Deux-Elles DXL 1097 www.deux-elles.co.uk

 

Traquair Music
Cynthia Green Libby (oboe)
'Daystream Dances'
Hester Park CD 7707 www.vivacepress.com

Recent and Forthcoming Performances


Moon and Birds for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble PREMIERE

Frances Bourne with chamber ensemble, Andrew Morley (conductor)

4 November 2011 St James Piccadilly, London


What Cheer? for SATB chorus and organ PREMIERE

Choir of New College, Oxford, Edward Higginbottom (director), Stephen Grahl (organ)

4 & 11 December 2011. New College Chapel, Oxford  http://www.new.ox.ac.uk/chapel-and-choir/listen-to-chapel-services


Summer Songs (In Summer and A Dragonfly in the Sun) PREMIERE

James Gilchrist (tenor), William Vann (piano)

The Hare in the Moon

Aiofe Miskelly (soprano), William Vann (piano)

Three songs from Spring Diary

Robert Rice (baritone), William Vann (piano)

10 May 2012, 7.30 pm. (Rhian Samuel gives a pre-concert talk at 6.45 pm). The Forge, Camden, London. (London English Song Festival 2012)


Quartet: Threaded Light  PREMIERE

Mavron Quartet, 10th anniversary concert.  

29 May 2012. 1.00 pm.  St David’s Hall, Cardiff. (PRS Women Make Music Award.)


Haze and the Absence of Clouds PREMIERE 

Alison Pearce (soprano), Mark Packwood (piano) and string quartet

2 June 2012. 7.00 pm Reading Town Hall, Reading, Berks. Reading WAM (Weather, Art, Music) Festival


Mechanical and Fantastical Studies 

Jennifer Lee (piano)

2 July 2012. 1.00 pm Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London


The Hare in the Moon

Ruby Hughes (soprano), Joseph Middleton (piano)

15 July 2012. 11 am (for Radio 3 broadcast) Pittville Pump Room, Town Hall, Cheltenham'Songs of the Exotic': Cheltenham Festival


Quartet: Threaded Light

Mavron Quartet
26 July 2012. 7.30pm. The Gate, Cardiff
19 October 2012. Theatr Stiwt, Wrexham
21 October 2012. Galeri, Caernarfon
26 October 2012. Canolfan Ucheldre, Holyhead
10 February 2013. 3pm. The Great Hall, Aberystwyth
3 May 2013. Norwegian Church, Cardiff

Two songs from Moon and Birds

Diana Moore (mezzo-soprano), Elizabeth Burgess (piano) 

29 July 2012. 3.00 pm Tardebigge, Birmingham (Celebrating English Song Series)

Naming the Flowers

Fabricio Mattos
29 November 2012. 7.30pm. David Josefowitz Recital Hall,  Royal Academy of Music, London  http://www.ram.ac.uk/events?event_id=1554

 

For further information about Rhian Samuel and her works,
please e-mail Caroline Holloway caroline@stainer.co.uk

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