Grace Williams: Welsh Music For Strings – Owain Arwel Hughes

Most listeners will be familiar with works for strings by Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Tippett – they are some of the most famous works in the repertoire. The works on this album reveal that composers in Wales were also writing outstanding works for strings at the same time. Grace Williams was taught by Vaughan Williams, and her haunting Elegy leaves a deep impression on the listener. Morfydd Owen’s brief Romance reflects her all to short life – tragically cut short in 1918 at just 26. Her trajectory as a composer was set high. William Matthias, one of the better known of Welsh composers, studied with Lennox Berkeley and was a child prodigy. Best known for his music for choir, he also wrote three symphonies and three piano concertos. His deft and polished Music for Strings displays his technical prowess to the full.

Paul Mealor is one of the current generation of composers from Wales, studying with Mathias. His music was performed at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011, and ‘Wherever You Are’ was the Christmas No.1 single in the UK in the same year. Arwel Hughes studied with Vaughan Williams and was a key player in the establishment of music at BBC Wales, becoming Head of Music in 1965. He composed in all fields, from oratorios, religious music, chamber and orchestral music – the latter often drawing on Welsh legends and history.

Christopher Wood’s powerful ‘Aberfan’ is a musical memorial to the 21st October 1966 harrowing tragedy that occurred when coal spoil tip engulfed a school killing 116 children and 28 adults in surrounding streets.