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Updated 17/11/2008* * * *
Available from November 2008 GZ 068 Twenty-five variations Giles EasterbrookPiano. The long-overdue publication of these intensely concentrated variations for piano, which were premiered by Raphael Terroni in May 1983 during the Lennox Berkeley 80th birthday celebrations. This "characteristically eccentric gem" (Hampstead & Highgate Gazette) has been widely performed in Britain and abroad, and in 2009 will feature on a CD of Giles Easterbrook's music, to be released by Campion. GZ 078 The coming of the Year David Blake SATB, piano. A new carol by one of Britain's most distinguished composers. Worlds away from the tinsel-and-angels kitsch often produced at Christmas, this setting of a poem by Keith Warner focuses on the healing and renewal of winter, and is suitable for both church and secular performance. GZ 079 O my dear heart Giles Swayne Solo counter-tenor, lute, SATB. Commissioned by the great counter-tenor James Bowman, this new carol by "the finest choral composer writing today" (The Times) will be premiered on 14th December 2008 at the Queen's Chapel, St James' Palace by James Bowman, Dorothy Linell (lute) and the choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal conducted by Andrew Gant. They will also perform it in a concert in the Ballroom of Buckingham Palace, to be recorded by Classic FM and broadcast on Christmas Day. GZ 080 In the stillness Sally Beamish SATB a cappella. A setting of original words by Katrina Shepherd, this short carol beautifully captures the hushed rapture of a small parish church in a snowbound landscape, just before the celebration of the Nativity. Couched in a highly accessible style, it is simple for any choir to sing, and is likely to prove very popular with choirs in Britain and abroad.
22nd November 2008 Giles Swayne Bagatelles 1-4 Mizuka Kano (piano) Ständehaus, Kassel, Germany (7.30 pm) (Kasseler Musiktage 2008) 23rd November 2008 Giles Swayne Magnificat II and Nunc dimittis II Clare College Choir, Ashok Gupta (organ), directed by Tim Brown Clare College Chapel, Cambridge (6.15 pm) 14th December 2008 Giles Swayne O my dear heart WORLD PREMIERE James Bowman (counter-tenor), Dorothy Linell (lute), Choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, directed by Andrew Gant; St James' Palace, London (11.15 am & 3.30 pm) 17th December 2008 Giles Swayne O my dear heart * James Bowman (counter-tenor), Dorothy Linell (lute), Choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal directed by Andrew Gant; Buckingham Palace, London (6 pm) * To be broadcast on Christmas Day by Classic FM 2nd January 2009 Giles Swayne Threnody LONDON PREMIERE Solstice String Quartet St. Martin-in-the-fields, Trafalgar Square, London (1.00 pm) 6th January 2009 Giles Swayne Squeezy WORLD PREMIERE Rafal Luc (accordion) Purcell Room, London (7.45 pm) 7th January 2009 Giles Easterbrook Twenty-five variations James Kreiling (piano) Purcell Room, London (6.15 pm) 9th January 2009 Giles Swayne Threnody SOUTH BANK PREMIERE Solstice String Quartet Purcell Room, London (7.45 pm) 6th April 2009 Giles Swayne Leonardo's dream Hannah Marcinowicz (alto sax), Daniel Swain (piano) Wigmore Hall, London (7.30 pm) 25th April 2009 Giles Swayne Bagatelles 1-3 Renee Reznek (piano) Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, Hampstead, London (7.30 pm) 7th November 2008 Giles Swayne Agnes Wisley's Chillout Fantasy Birmingham Conservatory Wind Orchestra, conductor Guy Woolfenden; Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham 2nd November 2008 Giles Swayne Missa brevissima Choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, directed by Andrew Gant; St James' Palace, London 1st November 2008 Giles Swayne Mr Bach's Bottle-bank LONDON PREMIERE Tom Corns (organ) St John's, Islington, London 31st October 2008 Giles Swayne The Coming of Saskia Hawkins Tom Corns (organ) St Dominic's Priory, London 29th October 2008 Giles Swayne Threnody Endellion String Quartet West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge 15th October 2008 Giles Swayne Bagatelles 1-3 Mizuka Kano (piano) Musikinstrumentmuseum, Philharmonie, Berlin 18th March 2008 17th March 2008, 7.30pm Sophie Bevan (soprano), Kate Symonds-Joy (mezzo-soprano), Ben Alden (tenor), George Humphreys (bass) St. John's, Smith Square 15th March 2008, 7.30pm Giles Swayne Stabat Mater The Dmitri Ensemble (Jamie Campbell, leader) conducted by Graham Ross, Sophie Bevan (soprano), Kate Symonds-Joy (mezzo-soprano), Ben Alden (tenor), George Humphreys (bass) Norwich Cathedral, Norwich, UK 14th March 2008, 8pm The Dmitri Ensemble (Jamie Campbell, leader) conducted by Graham Ross, Sophie Bevan (soprano), Kate Symonds-Joy (mezzo-soprano), Ben Alden (tenor), George Humphreys (bass) Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge, UK “ . . . the highlight of the evening was Swayne’s Stabat Mater. . .” Gill Redfern, Classical Source, March 18th 2008 8th January 2008 10th December 2007 1st December 2007 28th November 2007 27th and 28th November 2007
27th November 2007 23rd November 2007 17th November 2007 14th November 2007 11th November 2007
The Mitteldeutscher Rundfunkchor, an outstanding 80-strong professional radio choir based in Leipzig, under their musical director Howard Arman plans to release a CD of Giles Swayne's choral music, including his powerful Stabat Mater, his 1995 setting of Blake's The Tiger and his 1997 requiem-cum-cello concerto, The silent land.
GILES SWAYNE – MUSIC FOR CELLO AND PIANO Delphian Records (DCD34073) Robert Irvine (cello), Fali Pavri (piano) Four lyrical pieces, Op. 6 (1970)
This new CD of Swayne’s complete work for cello (to date) contains two recent pieces published by Gonzaga - Sonata for cello and piano (GZ 060) and Suite no. 1 for solo cello (GZ 074). Both are world premiere recordings, and the CD as a whole – apart from presenting sensationally good performances recorded in the highest possible sound quality, is a fascinating overview of the development of Swayne’s music over nearly forty years. “Two challenging examples of Swayne’s recent chamber work make their mark. Delphian follows up its disc of Giles Swayne’s characterful and accomplished choral music . . . with this survey of his compositions for solo cello and cello and piano. Superbly played by . . . Robert Irvine and Fali Pavri . . it projects that positive tone and enquiring spirit which represent this composer at his considerable best” The Gramophone, March 2008 “This is a really delightful disc . . . One of its main effects was to remind me of how distinctive and intriguing a musical voice Swayne has, and to want to listen again to Cry (available on NMC) and Havoc, premiered enjoyably as a late-night Prom.” Julie Williams Gonzaga Music price: £13.00 plus P & P To order this CD find GA 003 in ORDERS
CRY, Swayne’s monumental work for 28 amplified and electronically treated voices, was commissioned by the BBC in 1978 and first performed by the BBC Singers under John Poole in October 1980. It was hailed almost immediately as an important landmark, and has since received three very successful London performances - at the Proms in 1983 and 1994 (one of the few works by a living composer to be given an entire Prom to itself) and at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1988. CRY has been performed worldwide, notably at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in 1982, the Wien Modern Festival (Vienna) in 1997, and at Indiana University in 1997 and 2005. This CD, recorded in 1983 and released on vinyl in 1985, was transferred to CD by the excellent record company NMC, which has done a vast amount to further the cause of modern British music during a period when it has been undermined by chronic lack of public subsidy. Special Gonzaga Music price: £10.50 plus P & P To order this CD find GA 002 in ORDERS  CONVOCATION (Delphian Records) Giles Swayne: The coming of Saskia Hawkins, Magnificat I, The Tiglet, Four Passiontide Motets, A convocation of worms, Winter solstice carol, Midwinter, Missa Tiburtina. National Youth of Great Britain; Laudibus; Stephen Wallace (counter-tenor), Michael Bonaventure (organ); Philippa Davies (flute); Mike Brewer (conductor) Gonzaga Music price: £10.75 plus P & P To order this CD find GA 001 in ORDERS Some reviews of Convocation: “This is big music, employing the widest possible resources of rhythm, tuning and characterisation . . . I struggle to think of groups that could do it better . . . The Passiontide Motets and the Mass, with its elision of visceral atonality and balm-like chording both hit the solar plexus pretty hard, and that is what will make this disc hard to forget.” “Swayne pushes at the boundaries of choral singing to create works of excitement and beauty. The extract from his 1995 setting of Blake’s the Tiger crackles with dark, dangerous mystery in a thrilling performance by Laudibus . . . for whom it was written . . . the counter-tenor Stephen Wallace expresses the terrifying madness in the solo cantata A convocation of worms with almost psychopathic feverishness. Swayne is undoubtedly the finest choral composer writing today.” Rick Jones, The Times, October 2006 “The National Youth Choir and Laudibus . . . easily deal with the challenges . . . whilst also revelling in the passages with intense harmonic interest . . . a rendition with rhythmic bite and enthusiasm . . .a real gem, The Tiglet (part of Swayne’s work The Tiger) features some wild syllabic interjections . . . which have to be heard to be believed! Other highlights include the Four Passiontide Motets and a complete Missa Tiburtina, both of which are mindblowing, contrasting moments of awesome power coupled with poignant emotion . . . This disc is staggeringly good . . .These are committed and astonishing performances that deserve to be heard widely. Church Music Quarterly, December 2006 “His music never stays still: its rhythms are complex and multi-layered; its protean melodies respond directly to the texts; its harmonies restlessly surf the continuum between extreme dissonance and consonance. Yet there is always clarity. . . The Missa Tiburtina . . . playing gorgeous harmonies against rhythmically intricate passages of great vitality. The final, refulgent Dona nobis pacem . . . is magical, bringing both the Missa Tiburtina and the disc to a restful end. The performances are equally magical. Bonaventure’s sense of drama matches countertenor Stephen Wallace’s in A convocation of worms to perfection, while the National Youth Choir and Laudibus . . . under the direction of . . .Mike Brewer, exhibit a precision and exuberance that are further enhanced by a rich, vibrant sound. This is choral singing of the very first rank. Excellent recorded sound and superb booklet notes by Anthony Burton complete a virtually perfect release.” Robert Levett, International Record Review, January 2007 |
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