BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
John Andrews conductor
Resonus Classics RES10349
Grace Williams, born in Barry, south Wales, was a Welsh composer through and through and felt most comfortable in her homeland. But she spent many years away, studying notably in London with Vaughan Williams and later in Vienna with Egon Wellesz. The rigorous though very different methods of training both demanded can be heard translated through her brilliance in the works on this well-filled disc.
The quality of her music is apparent even in the early works such as the Four Illustrations for the Legend of Rhiannon (1939), a masterful 25-minute suite that vividly brings to life episodes from the Mabinogion. The sheer brilliance of the recorded sound is extraordinary and from the outset, the vividness of the orchestra under the ever-excellent John Andrews leaps out of the speakers. The rhythms are highlighted with a dance like precision. By the time Sea Sketches were completed in London in 1944 we can hear the sound world of a significant voice. It is full of longing for her home, and in the expertise of the scoring and the memorable melodic material the sound world of her great friend Britten comes to mind. The sea of course influenced them both, but Williams has her own melodic voice.
This individual voice is fully formed in the later works. Castell Caernarfon is an appropriately regal though unsettling work, composed for the investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1969. It is delivered here with great dignity and integrity. The strikingly dramatic Ballads, from 1968 are magnificent. Not a note is superfluous. The melodic material shaped by the sounds of Welsh language and song and orchestrated with such extraordinary attention to orchestral detail have an ambience unique to Williams. In the solo lines for oboe and trumpet in number 1 marked ‘alla canzone’ one can hear the voice of a bard intoning at an Eisteddfod, at once timeless in feeling and modern in thought. Material from this movement appears transformed in the third movement which although marked ‘calmante’ is quite disturbing. Mr Andrews with his substantial experience in the opera house shapes these quasi-vocal lines perfectly. The orchestra have seldom sounded better.
The well-written liner notes by Leah Broad provide a useful introduction to Ms Williams and her estimable work. This is a superb disc in every way. Let us hope there will be more of Ms Williams’ magnificent music to come. Oh, and please play it in the concert hall.
Review by Paul RW Jackson