Celtic / Irish, Perfect binding, World. Sacred. Book and online audio. 108 pag...(+)
Celtic / Irish, Perfect
binding, World. Sacred.
Book
and online audio. 108
pages.
Mel Bay Publications, Inc
#31036M. Published by Mel
Bay
Publications, Inc
Composed by
Rhian Samuel. String
music. Score. Stainer &
Bell Ltd. #Y228.
Published by Stainer &
Bell Ltd. (ST.Y228).
ISBN
9790220221712.
Shards of Light is
dedicated to Gyorgy Pauk,
and is of Grade 8 to
diploma standard. The
contrast between its
atmospheric main idea of
fleet, ethereal
figurations high on the
E-string and more spiky
and aggressive material
suggests the image of its
title, in music
contemporary in sound yet
accessible in
feeling.
Like
other instrumental works
by Rhian Samuel,
Shards of Light
combines exciting
instrumental virtuosity
with a strongly poetic
impulse, and is a most
effective addition to the
repertoire of new violin
music, whether as an
examination test-piece or
as recital material.
Violin SKU: ST.Y274 Composed by Morgan Hayes. String music. 3 minutes. Sc...(+)
Violin
SKU:
ST.Y274
Composed by
Morgan Hayes. String
music. 3 minutes. Score.
Stainer & Bell Ltd.
#Y274. Published by
Stainer & Bell Ltd.
(ST.Y274).
ISBN
9790220223358.
1st
perf: Keisuke Okazaki,
Tokyo Opera City Recital
Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 22
April 2008 1st UK
perf: Darragh Morgan,
Schott Recital Room,
Bauer & Hieber,
London, 5 February
2009
Though the
jagged figures and
phrases of Lucky's
Dream by Morgan
Hayes are unmistakably
those of a contemporary
musical expressionist,
the shadow of Bach also
falls on this work,
inspired by the
virtuosity of the young
Japanese soloist Keisuke
Okazaki and his playing
of the E major
Partita.
In
fact, though 'standard'
contemporary techniques
are widely used in the
piece - left-hand
pizzicato, harmonics and
microtones, all deployed
in edgy, unpredictable
rhythms - there is also a
classical shape to the
structure. In this
two-part form, lasting
around four minutes, the
first section is
reflective, dwelling on
single notes, phantoms as
it were of pitches that
are subtly deflected
through slow glissandi.
Then a spectral dance
ensues, delivered largely
on plucked strings,
ethereal, disembodied,
strange.
The
'Lucky' in question is a
character from Samuel
Beckett's play
Waiting for
Godot, and
Lucky's Dream is
a complementary work to
the earlier, impassioned
Lucky's Speech
(2006). The two
items can stand alone or
may be performed
consecutively. Both are
to be found on the recent
all-Hayes CD released on
the NMC label (NMC D163),
which also features the
composer's 17-minute
Violin Concerto as
further evidence for his
original approach to
writing for the
instrument.