Grace Williams

[Roasted Swan]

Why do Welsh composers get a rough ride!?  Not sure any of the following (all very fine) composers really get the praise and attention their music deserves....

William Mathias
Alun Hoddinott
Daniel Jones
Grace Williams

[relm1]

Why do Welsh composers get a rough ride!?  Not sure any of the following (all very fine) composers really get the praise and attention their music deserves....

William Mathias
Alun Hoddinott
Daniel Jones
Grace Williams

The same could be said of all composers.  Most don't get the praise and attention their music deserves.  Check out Norwegian composers for example, some very fine music isn't even premiered let alone available commercially.  This is a common problem across geographies. 

[Maestro267]

As long as you enjoy it, that's all that matters. It's impossible for everyone deserving to get the praise and attention their music deserves; we simply don't have time for it.

[Irons]

What about composers who receive no attention at all - performance or recording. I wager there is much worthwhile music that has slipped into oblivion.

[Maestro267]

Again, there is too much music and not enough time. Trust me, I wish we could completely discard the established classics for a year or two (I think their reputation can survive not being heard a hundred times a week for a bit) and fill those spaces with "neglected" composers instead but that's never gonna happen so get used to it.

[Irons]

Again, there is too much music and not enough time. Trust me, I wish we could completely discard the established classics for a year or two (I think their reputation can survive not being heard a hundred times a week for a bit) and fill those spaces with "neglected" composers instead but that's never gonna happen so get used to it.

I find this forum to be the bastion of the "neglected" composer. Unless I miss them I don't come across too many Beethoven/Brahms posts. The great advantage of the digital era over analogue is the availability of "neglected" music on that format. My point was not neglected but unheard.

[Maestro267]

Unhearing is the ultimate form of neglection. It still comes under that umbrella as the extreme example of such.

[calyptorhynchus]

BBC Radio 3 broadcast Grace Williams' Concert Overture, an early work from 1932, on 1 June 2023.

Link to a download of the performance:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/9vlaco5lt72h01p/Williams_Concet_Overture.mp3/file

[calyptorhynchus]

BBC Radio 3 broadcast a performance of the Symphony No.2, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martyn Brabbins conducting, today (3 July 24).

I hope this is a prelude to a recording being issued (and I hope that one of the GW's lesser-known/unrecorded works is included as filler).

Here is a link to an off-air recording:

Grace Williams Symphony No.2

[Alex Bozman]

BBC Radio 3 broadcast a performance of the Symphony No.2, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martyn Brabbins conducting, today (3 July 24).

I hope this is a prelude to a recording being issued (and I hope that one of the GW's lesser-known/unrecorded works is included as filler).

Here is a link to an off-air recording:

Grace Williams Symphony No.2

It would be great if this happened. Would love the filler to be Castell Caernarfon, which I heard broadcast a few times in the 70s, an attractive piece.

[Symphonic Addict]

To be released on October 18th:



- Four Illustrations for the Legend of Rhiannon
- Castell Caernarfon
- Ballads
- Sea Sketches for String Orchestra

[Maestro267]

I'm gonna assume Castell Caernarfon was written for the 1969 investiture...

[vandermolen]

To be released on October 18th:



- Four Illustrations for the Legend of Rhiannon
- Castell Caernarfon
- Ballads
- Sea Sketches for String Orchestra

Definitely on my wish list! I greatly enjoyed the two Lyrita releases of her orchestral music but, at £17, this may be a bit expensive for me.

[Maestro267]

Missa Cambrensis is finally coming out in March 2025, on Lyrita. The performance from Cardiff on St. David's Day of 2016, which I listened to live on Radio 3.

[calyptorhynchus]

Grace Williams is featured this week on BBC Radio 3 in a series of afternoon concerts with the National Orchestra of Wales: works include the Sinfonia Concertante, the Symphnies 1 & 2, Rhiannon.

Wow, Radio 3 for once doing what it should be doing (featuring quality, but neglected music).

[foxandpeng]

Grace Williams is featured this week on BBC Radio 3 in a series of afternoon concerts with the National Orchestra of Wales: works include the Sinfonia Concertante, the Symphnies 1 & 2, Rhiannon.

Wow, Radio 3 for once doing what it should be doing (featuring quality, but neglected music).

Thanks for the heads up!

[calyptorhynchus]

Thinking that perhaps another disc is in the offing (Symphony No.1 and Sinfonia Concertante).

[calyptorhynchus]

For those who can't access BBC 3 or can't be bothered to listen through the programs to get to the desired piece I am uploading some of the Grace Williams pieces from this week. Today the Overture Hen Walia (1930). Like the Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes, it is based on a traditional Welsh tune, a lullaby.

click here

To come: the Sinfonia Concertante and the Symphony No.1

[calyptorhynchus]

For those who can't access BBC 3 or can't be bothered to listen through the programs to get to the desired piece I am uploading some of the Grace Williams pieces from this week. Today the Overture Hen Walia (1930). Like the Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes, it is based on a traditional Welsh tune, a lullaby.

click here

Sorry, forgot the attribution:

BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Martyn Brabbins (conductor), broadcast BBC Radio 3, 9 June 2025

To come: the Sinfonia Concertante and the Symphony No.1