* SHORTLISTED: GRAMOPHONE AWARDS 2025 *
* FINALIST: PRESTO RECORDINGS OF THE YEAR 2024 *
* FINALIST: PRESTO RECORDINGS OF THE YEAR 2024 *
Grace Williams: Orchestral Works
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This album illuminates four of Grace Williams’ orchestral gems, spanning three decades of her career. It opens with Four Illustrations for the Legend of Rhiannon (1939), vividly bringing the Welsh goddess to life with cinematic flair. The Sea Sketches (1944), composed during World War II, evoke the longing for her native Glamorganshire, and cement her status among Britain’s compositional elite. The Ballads mark a return to Welsh mythos, with movements inspired by the emotional and cultural essence of her homeland. The regal Castell Caernarfon (1969), originally scored for the investiture of HRH Prince Charles, showcases Williams’ grandiloquent style. Buy from Resonus here. |
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Reviews
‘An essential release’ (Gramophone)
‘Marvellous… a welcome reminder of her strengths.’ (Limelight, editor’s choice)
Sea Sketches ‘is an important work in our heritage and I hope this performance allows many more people to recognise this… I have never heard it so perfectly done.’ (MusicWeb International)
‘Breaks over you with the force of a Snowdonia rainstorm… The BBC Philharmonic strings give what must be the finest account on record of Williams’s masterpiece, the surging, impressionistic Sea Sketches.’ (The Spectator)
‘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… This is a superb disc in every way. Let us hope there will be more of Ms Williams’ magnificent music to come.’ (British Music Society)
‘Andrews and the BBC Philharmonic seem energized by this unfamiliar music and deliver appropriately moody performances captured in fine studio sound. Listeners will likely be delighted to discover this music.’ (AllMusic)
‘This programme is full of attractive and highly imaginative music which is well worth getting to know. The performances by John Andrews and the BBC Philharmonic present Grace Williams’s music in an ideal fashion and the recorded sound… presents both music and performances in the best possible light. As you may have inferred from the extent to which I’ve drawn on Leah Broad’s booklet essay, it is ideal as an introduction to Grace Williams and to these particular compositions.’ (MusicWeb International)
‘Vivid playing and striking drama.’ (The Guardian)
‘Most stimulating collection of pieces, excellently performed by an orchestra and conductor absolutely at home with her colourful instrumentation and fondness for long melodic lines.’ (BBC Music Magazine)
‘An essential release’ (Gramophone)
‘Marvellous… a welcome reminder of her strengths.’ (Limelight, editor’s choice)
Sea Sketches ‘is an important work in our heritage and I hope this performance allows many more people to recognise this… I have never heard it so perfectly done.’ (MusicWeb International)
‘Breaks over you with the force of a Snowdonia rainstorm… The BBC Philharmonic strings give what must be the finest account on record of Williams’s masterpiece, the surging, impressionistic Sea Sketches.’ (The Spectator)
‘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… This is a superb disc in every way. Let us hope there will be more of Ms Williams’ magnificent music to come.’ (British Music Society)
‘Andrews and the BBC Philharmonic seem energized by this unfamiliar music and deliver appropriately moody performances captured in fine studio sound. Listeners will likely be delighted to discover this music.’ (AllMusic)
‘This programme is full of attractive and highly imaginative music which is well worth getting to know. The performances by John Andrews and the BBC Philharmonic present Grace Williams’s music in an ideal fashion and the recorded sound… presents both music and performances in the best possible light. As you may have inferred from the extent to which I’ve drawn on Leah Broad’s booklet essay, it is ideal as an introduction to Grace Williams and to these particular compositions.’ (MusicWeb International)
‘Vivid playing and striking drama.’ (The Guardian)
‘Most stimulating collection of pieces, excellently performed by an orchestra and conductor absolutely at home with her colourful instrumentation and fondness for long melodic lines.’ (BBC Music Magazine)