Rhian Samuel[Works] ~ [Discography] ~ [Performances] ~ [Brochure - PDF]
An important group of pieces within the overall body of her work relates to writings nuanced by the presence of a woman's point-of-view, either as lyrical utterance or as narrative, in terms of women 'telling their own stories'. Of the former category, the song-cycle The White Amaryllis is exemplary. May Sarton's three reflections on transience and loss speak with equal eloquence to both genders, yet their unique voice is inseparable from the poet's experience of writing from a female perspective. Of the latter, the two movements of Daughters' Letters, one of Samuel's most popular scores to date, are explicitly concerned with the plight of a pair of nineteenth-century women, drawn in scenas of Ibsenesque power by the poet Anne Stevenson, and drawing the listener inexorably into political and historical judgements as part of their powerful effect. The same might be said of Clytemnestra, for all the epic resonance of its Aeschylian scenario. In contrast, in the quiet intensity of another Stevenson setting, Path, time, memory and passion are subsumed into a musical symbol, a fragment of the aria Bois epais ('Lonely Woods') from Lully's tragédie lyrique Amadis - material which in the purely instrumental Summer Path is further refined in a rapt dialogue of harp and strings.
Within the sensibility of Samuel's music nature, locality and landscape are also important subjects whose spell, conversely, is frequently evoked through the medium of instrumental or orchestral colour. The most striking examples to date are two major scores, Dawnsiau'r Nant (Dances of the Stream) and Tirluniau (Landscapes). The Welsh titles form part of a shared Celtic resonance, though the composer for her inspiration casts her net more widely than the boundaries of her homeland: 'The Old Man of Storr', second movement of Tirluniau, is to be found on the Scottish Isle of Skye, a region that has also inspired the viola-and-piano pieces of Blythswood. Likewise, Eryri, first of the Three Pieces for trumpet and organ, takes a distant view of the vista of Mount Snowdon, while the distinctly Cambrian topography of the song-set Cerddi Hynafol / Ancient Songs neatly combines a medieval Welsh 'setting' with stories told from a woman's viewpoint.
No less adept in the handling of small as of large forms, Samuel is an accomplished miniaturist whose talent for incisive statement is displayed in a variety of instrumental suites, including Time out of Time, for cello and piano, the Five Miniatures for piano quintet, and Shaping the Air, for oboe or soprano and alto saxophones and piano. Each number in these sequences of character pieces focuses on a particular compositional challenge, conceived of and executed in accordance with the playful, reflective or sombre idea implicit in its title. To the last category belong a number of memorable pieces concerned specifically with lamentation, including Threnody with Fanfares, from the Three Pieces for trumpet and organ, and Galar ('Grief') from Ymddiddan (Dialogue) for two pianos. Other powerful stele to be found in Samuel's output are the second song of the Cerddi Hynafol cycle, Galarnad Heledd ('Heledd's Lament'), the solo organ meditation Fel Blodeuyn (Like a Flower), and the grief-laden arabesques of the final piece, 'Weeping Trellises', from the five-movement cycle for piano, Dream-Images.
Samuel's sensitivity to the
practical needs of singers and instrumentalists lends her music an
enduring appeal to performers and their audiences. Tin Soldier
for cello and piano was commissioned by the Associated Board for the Spectrum
for Cello collection, published in January 2004. A variety of
her pieces feature on current examination syllabuses. Approaching
repertoire status, too, are several vocal works, for example, the
atmospheric narrative of The Hare in the Moon for
soprano and piano. With The Witch's Manuscript for
soprano and brass quintet, it is singled out for praise in Sharon
Mabry's essential guide for singers, Exploring
Twentieth-Century Vocal Music, and is one of a number of
acclaimed works by a composer whose diverse output and continuing
creativity point to increasingly impressive achievements still to come. © 2004 Stainer and Bell Ltd |
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.
WoodwindAriel 1988 [7'] (Ref.
Y149) [PDF] BrassBrass Express 1995 [6']
(Rental Ref. HL323) StringsBlythswood 1996 [10']
(Ref. H398) [PDF] Far across the sea (Ymhell dros y môr) 2009 (Ref. Y259) [PDF] Solo Harp KeyboardA Garland for Anne (2003) [10']
(Ref. Y200) [PDF] 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
OrganFel Blodeuyn (Like a
Flower) 1992, rev. 1993 [10'] (Ref. AC145) [PDF] ChoralLa Belle Dame Sans Merci 1982,
rev. 1987 [14'] (Rental Ref. HL321) 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] What Cheer? 2011 [3'] (Ref. Y287) [PDF] SATB and Organ Chamber WorksEmerging (lightly) 2008 (Ref. Y244) [PDF]
[REVIEW]
Violin, Cello and Piano Voice & Piano/Solo InstrumentBefore Dawn 1988 [9'30'']
(Ref. H406) [PDF] Spring
Diary 2010
(Ref. Y272) [PDF] Trois Chansons de Francois Villon 1969,
rev. 1998 [4'30''] (Ref. Y168) [PDF] Yr Alarch (The Swan) 2009 (Ref. Y258) [PDF] Solo Baritone Voice & Ensemble/OrchestraClytemnestra 1994 [27']
(Rental Ref. HL328) OrchestraBrass Express 1995 [6']
(Rental Ref. HL323) 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.
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Discography
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The Hare in the Moon (Lucy
Crowe, soprano, Simon Lepper, piano) [MP3
Clip - beginning] |
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
Lingering (Movement II) from Mist on the Hills for two accordions PREMIERE
AccordDuo: Milos Milivojevic, Zivorad Nikolic
13 March 2011, 7.30 pm. Old Library, Dulwich College. Dulwich Subscription Concerts.
www.dulwichsubscriptionconcerts.com/
Time out of Time for cello and piano
Inari Trio (Jenna Sherry, violin; Richard Birchall, cello; Clare Hammond, piano)
2 April 2011, 7.30 pm. Pre-concert talk 6.45pm. Cossington Concerts, Somerset
http://www.cossingtonconcerts.com/
The Path through the Woods for recorder and strings PREMIERE
Pamela Thorby
(recorder),
Welsh Sinfonia (Mark Eager, conductor)
10 April 2011, 4.30pm. Pre-concert talk 4.00 pm. Temple of Peace, King
Edward VIII
Avenue, Cardiff, Wales
http://www.welshsinfonia.co.uk/
Pan ddaw ust y nos (When the calm of night)
for SATB chorus and organ
National Youth Choir of
Wales, Ben Parry (director)
28 July 8.00pm. Llanbadarn Church, Aberystwyth (Aberystwyth
MusicFest)
Pan ddaw ust y nos (When the calm of night)
for SATB chorus and organ
National Youth Choir of
Wales, Ben Parry (director)
29 July 7.30pm. St David’s Cathedral, Pembrokeshire (Fishguard International Music Festival)
Mechanical and
Fantastical Studies for solo piano PREMIERE
Jennifer Lee (piano)
5 August 2011.
Mist on the Hills for accordion and string quartet PREMIERE
Milos Milivojevic and the David Juritz quartet. Machynlleth Festival
22 August 2011. 7.30 pm
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
A String of Quartets PREMIERE
Mavron Quartet
29 May 2012. St David's Hall, Cardiff
Weather Songs PREMIERE
Alison Pearce (soprano), David Syrus (piano) and string quartet.
3 June 2012. Reading Town Hall, Reading
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For further information about
Rhian Samuel and her works,
please e-mail Caroline Holloway caroline@stainer.co.uk |
