Rhian Samuel[Works] ~ [Discography] ~ [Performances] ~ [Brochure - PDF]
 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.
© 2012 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]
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 Voice & Piano/Solo InstrumentBefore Dawn 1988 [9'30'']
(Ref. H406) [PDF] 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) 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) 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 ensembleNantcol Songs 2003 (Ref. AC212)
[PDF] 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
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)
Quartet: Threaded Light PREMIERE
Mavron Quartet, 10th anniversary concert.
29 May 2012. 1.00 pm. St
David’s Hall,
Alison Pearce (soprano), Mark Packwood (piano) and string quartet
2 June 2012. 7.00 pm
Jennifer Lee (piano)
2 July 2012. 1.00 pm
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,
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,
Naming the Flowers
Fabricio Mattos29 November 2012. 7.30pm. David Josefowitz Recital Hall, Royal Academy of Music, London http://www.ram.ac.uk/events?event_id=1554
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For further information about
Rhian Samuel and her works,
please e-mail Caroline Holloway caroline@stainer.co.uk |
