Several years ago, I wrote a short blog post/review about
the Welsh composer Gareth Glyn’s evocative Anglesey
Sketches for string
orchestra. After a recent trip to the Island, I decided to revisit this work
and to include a little ‘reception history’.
The Sketches,
which were completed in 2001, are conceived in five movements, each bearing the
title of a location on the beautiful and mysterious island of Anglesey. The
mood is ‘light’ rather than profound – except for the last movement which
explores deeper matters. They were
specifically composed for the original CD release (British String Miniatures
Volume 2, CD WHL 2136).
The composer told me that the Anglesey Sketches have been misnamed on the CD cover! In
fact, they were originally called the Anglesey
Seascapes. They were ‘very deliberately conceived as five views of
the sea from the Anglesey coastline, and not various snapshots of parts of the
island itself.’ The error was corrected when the work was partially re-issued
on the Halcyon Days compilation (CD WLS 501). Personally,
I find ‘sketches’ more appropriate– but obviously bow to Glyn’s original
intent, however, the composer’s website gives both titles and the only full
recording the work is cited as Anglesey Sketches. I retain that title in my essay.
The first live performance was during the FEVA (Festival of
Entertainment and Visual Arts) in Knaresborough, West Riding, Yorkshire on 17
August 2003. It was performed by the Knaresborough Pro Musica. The Sketches have subsequently been given by the
Ensemble Cymru Chamber Orchestra in Pwllheli (28 January 2005), Bangor (29
January 2005), the Llandudno Festival Strings at the Llandudno Festival (9 July
2005) and by I Musici de Montréal (10 May 2007) in the Pollack Concert Hall,
Montréal.
The composer has told me that there have been other concert
performances resulting from hearing the CD or one of the numerous radio
broadcasts. The work seems particularly popular in Australia, New Zealand and
the USA.
Anglesey Sketches has not been published, but Gareth Glyn will supply the full score and parts to anyone who wishes
to perform it. Other versions of the work exist: string nonet, string quartet
and symphonic wind band. Glyn told me that this last incarnation was a
bit unexpected, but leading USA wind band conductor and arranger Paul Noble –
having heard a radio broadcast of the Sketches
– decided to make a version for wind band. It is available for hire from J.
W. Pepper
The liner notes (CD WHL 2136) suggest that the Anglesey Sketches are ‘infused…with the
Celtic spirit - lyricism, expressiveness and extremes of temperament.’
The first movement is a ‘reverie.’ It is subtitled
‘Llanddwyn’ which is a magical and secretive place associated with St Dwynwen.
‘Llanddwyn’ translates as ‘The Church of St Dwynwen’, who is the Welsh
equivalent of St Valentine - the patron saint of lovers. His festival is
celebrated on 25 January. Topographically, Llanddwyn is a small tidal island,
located on the west coast of Anglesey, near the village of Newborough. There is
a lighthouse and ruins of a church dedicated to the saint. The score is
dominated by a romantic melody supported by pizzicato strings which opens and
closes the proceedings. The middle section is a little variation on this theme.
It is an extremely beautiful, but never sentimental, piece of music.
The second Sketch,
‘Malltraeth’ is much more expansive, with its depiction of a brisk stroll along
The Cob beside the sands and the sea. It is typically a happy, jaunty, breezy
movement with just a touch of wistfulness. ‘Malltraeth’, which translates as
‘desolate beach’ is a small community on the south coast of Anglesey. It lies
at the head of a long and narrow bay which makes deep inroads into the island.
The third movement is an ‘intermezzo’, entitled ‘Penmon’.
This is located on the south-east coast of the island, a few miles from the
impressive Georgian town of Beaumaris with its World Heritage Site castle built
by Edward I. At Penmon there is an ancient priory dating from the 6th century
and containing traces of Saxon work. There is also a well-known wishing well,
which was originally use by St Seiriol to baptise converts to the Christian
faith. From the abbey, a track leads down to Penmon Point off which lies Puffin
Island, also known as Ynys Seiriol or St Seiriol’s Island. There is an iconic lighthouse,
Trwyn Du, complete with tolling fog bell, sounding every 30 seconds, to warn
sailors of the dangerous reefs. From this vantage, can be seen a vast sweep of
North Wales, including the Great and Little Orme and parts of Snowdonia.
Gareth Glyn’s score is reflective, with just a hint of ‘broad canvas’ as
the yachts tack at the entrance to the Menai Straits. It is sad music that
seems to embrace the wide-ranging history of Penmon.
The mood is lightened with the ‘scherzo’ which is a
representation of the wonderful sea-side resort of Cemaes Bay on the northern
coast of the island. We sense the mood of happy holiday-makers, watching the
boats moored in the quaint harbour, shrimping in the rock pools or paddling in
the sea from one of the delightful beaches. This movement acts as a foil for
the finale, the sad but memorable ‘Moelfre’, which translates as ‘barren hill.’
The music, which is deeply felt, reflects on this dangerous but very beautiful
coast which has claimed many lives and has caused so much grief and sadness.
The piece features a haunting cello solo which contributes to the elegiac mood
of the finale. The first four movements are good music – the last is great.
Two reviews appeared in the Fanfare magazine. The first (September 2003)
suggested that ‘an unassuming set of Anglesey
Sketches…[are] unaggressively tonal, [with] a couple of neat and sweet
cadences.’ Gareth Glyn is a man who ‘knows how to end a piece.’ Two months
later, (November 2003) Fanfare reported that the Anglesey Sketches were ‘somewhat muted’ and ‘lacked the
energising scope and spirit’ of the composer’s earlier Snowdon Overture.
Andrew Lamb, reviewing British
String Miniatures Volume 2 for The Gramophone (August 2003), noted the
approachability of the music and the ‘contrasted portraits of coastal points of
the island.’ He was particularly impressed with the ‘scherzo’ which he thought
depicted ‘donkey rides’ on the beach at Cemaes Bay. Equally satisfying was the
‘moving final elegy in memory of the many lives lost in the shipwrecks near
Moelfre.’ The cello part of this movement offered ‘eloquent and rewarding
material.
The same CD was reviewed on MusicWeb
International (3 July 2003) by Jonathan
Woolf. He wrote that the ‘opener is open-spaced and lyric, one that rises and
falls over pizzicati underpinning in a gently effortless way.’ Woolf
considered that the pastorale ‘Malltraeth’ ‘is by contrast jaunty and blustery
and just mildly capricious too but with some gorgeous melodies embedded into
it.’ After an ‘evocative’ ‘Intermezzo’ the composer contrives the ‘frolicsome
naughtiness’ of the ‘Scherzo’ before ‘a keening solo cello adds even more
plangency to 'Moelfre', the final movement, one that alludes to the treacherous
stretch of coast of the same name that has cost so many lives.’
Discography:
British String Miniatures Volume 2 White Line CD WHL 2136 includes works by Purcell, Warlock,
Delius, Curtis, Elgar and Lane (now deleted) (2003)
Halcyon Days: A Treasury of British Light Music [‘Malltreath’ and ‘Cemaes’ only] White Line CD WLS 501, 5
CDS (2004) (now deleted, but available as download)
With thanks to the composer for providing additional
information.
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