Guto Puw

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Guto Pryderi Puw (born 1971)[1] is a Welsh composer, university lecturer and conductor. He is considered to be one of the most promising Welsh composers of his generation and a key figure in current Welsh music.[1] His music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and been featured on television programmes for the BBC and S4C. He has twice been awarded the Composer's Medal at the National Eisteddfod. His works include pieces for unusual combinations of instruments, such as a tuba quartet or a trio consisting of harp, cello and double-bass, as well as more traditional forces such as solo baritone and piano, choir or orchestra. He is particularly associated with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales as Resident Composer, the first holder of this title, from 2006 to 2009. He has written an Oboe concerto as part of this association, and his latest composition for the orchestra was premiered at the 2007 Proms. His Welsh identity is a recurrent theme in his music: some of his pieces set Welsh-language poetry to music and one of his pieces, Reservoirs, is written about the flooding of Welsh valleys to provide water for England.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born in Parc (a village in Gwynedd near Bala),[2] Puw studied at Bangor University with John Pickard, Andrew Lewis and Pwyll ap Siôn.[3] He was awarded a M.Mus. degree in 1996 and a Ph.D. degree in 2002.[3] He was then awarded an Arts Council of Wales bursary and studied with the composer John Metcalfe.[4] He was appointed in 2006 as a Lecturer in Music at Bangor University; prior to that he was a Teaching Fellow in Music from 2004.[3] He is a Welsh speaker and is the Welsh Medium Teaching Fellow for the School of Music.[5] In addition, he is Chairman and Artistic Director of the Bangor New Music Festival.[2] He conducts Cor Cyntaf i'r Felin, a Welsh-language choir based in Y Felinheli near Bangor.[6]

He has received commissions from (amongst others) BBC Radio 3, the Welsh baritone Jeremy Huw Williams, the Bangor New Music Festival and the North Wales International Music Festival.[3] He was appointed the first Resident Composer with BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) in 2006 and will hold this position until 2009. During this time he will write three works for the orchestra: the first, an oboe concerto, was premiered in 2006; the second was performed at the 2007 Proms; and the third will be performed in 2008.[4]

[edit] Music

Puw's music is rooted in the language and literature of Wales, with a particular affinity to the poetry of R. S. Thomas.[1] Many of his compositions have Welsh titles, or are settings of poetry in Welsh. He has won the Composer's Medal at the National Eisteddfod of Wales twice. He first won it in 1995 for a harp piece, Ffantasia II.[2] In 1997, when the Eisteddfod was held in Bala, he won the Medal for a string quartet, Mecanwaith ("Mechanism") – this piece was later featured in S4C's television series Y Cyfansoddwyr ("The Composers").[2] Mecanwaith has also been performed by the Duke Quartet at the 1998 Bath International Music Festival and the 1999 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.[7]

Many of Puw's compositions have unusual instrumentation and performance techniques, some of which require elements of improvisation from the performers. In 1998 he composed X-ist, a piece for IST (the Improvising String Trio, consisting of harp, cello and double-bass). It was described by reviewers as a "frighteningly frantic" and "challenging" piece.[8][9] X-ist uses a graphic score and includes written directions to the players that act as "creative stimuli", containing notes and motifs to be followed.[8] The piece also requires the cellist and double-bassist to tap their instruments, as well as use normal playing methods.[8] Another piece requiring improvisation by performers was his commission for the 2001 Bangor New Music Festival, Trioled, which was written for ensemble (saxophone, guitar, harp, keyboard, cello, piano) and optional dancer. In his performing notes, Puw describes the pieces as a "stimulus for musical improvisation" in which any notes, normal or extended musical techniques and / or percussive effects may be applied.[10] Trioled has two contrasting sub-sections, a and b, arranged in the form a-b-a-a-a-b-a-b to match the Welsh poetic measure of the same name, with the strings playing calmly in the "a" sections, and saxophone and keyboard (gradually joined by the other instruments) playing in a more lively manner in the "b" sections.[10] The musicians and the dancer are required to react to each others' contributions in each section to create a "multi-media" experience.[10]

Visages, his 1999 piece for 2 tubas and 2 euphoniums, was described as "astringent, often whimsical but well written for these instruments".[11] Puw said that in the piece "Freedom is granted to the performers to make any subtle facial expressions that add to the musical interpretation".[12] Puw describes Ffantasia III (a piece for solo piano, composed for the 2000 Bangor New Music Festival) as an "intimate reflection" upon on the music of, and a tribute to, Robert Schumann, his "intricate compositional style" and "world of delicate expression".[13] The music becomes "simpler and softer" throughout the piece, moving from the "rhythmic complexity" of the opening bars through to slow quavers transforming into triplets.[13] An ensemble piece, different light (for clarinet, violin, cello and piano) was "inspired by the idea of moving a picture from one place to another, be it to another house, or from one room to the next, or even from one wall to another."[14] As the picture is moved, it looks the same but is perceived in a different light.[14] Puw attempts to convey this in musical terms by having each instrument enter separately with its own musical phrase in the first part of the piece. Then, in the second part of the piece, all the thematic material is repeated with the instruments playing simultaneously, so that the music is similarly perceived in a different light.[14] different light was featured at the 2001 UKwithNY festival at the Angel Orensanz Arts Centre in New York.[7] His 2005 composition for the Bangor New Music Festival, Stereo Type, was written for amplified typewriters and tape. It was premiered by UWB School of Music students in the Deiniol Shopping Centre, Bangor, on 5 March 2005.[3]

As well as his pieces for unusual ensembles, he has also written for more traditional combinations and for full orchestra. The oboe concerto was commissioned by BBC NOW and was premiered by them at Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon, on April 27, 2006, with the orchestra's principal oboist (David Cowley) as the soloist.[15] It takes its inspiration from different qualities of the human voice, including stutters and chatterboxes.[15] Puw has said that "The second movement is inspired by talkative people who won't let you contribute to a conversation", represented by a repeated row of 13 notes played until "it gets rather unbearable".[15] It was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 1 March 2007 as part of a programme of music by Welsh composers to celebrate St David's Day.[16] His orchestral piece Reservoirs was inspired by a 1968 poem [1] by R. S. Thomas about the drowning of Welsh valleys such as Tryweryn (a few miles from where Puw grew up) and Clywedog to provide water for England.[17] Puw had a particular affinity with the topic as his grandfather lost farmland in the Tryweryn flooding.[18] Nevertheless, he has said that he "decided not to take the poem too literally because as a composer you can be subject to criticism for doing that."[15] It was nominated in 2005 in the Large-Scale Composition category of the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards.[19] The music was used in a BBC2 Wales documentary, "Drowning a Village", broadcast on 9 March 2006.[18] A performance by BBC NOW was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of the 2005 Vale of Glamorgan Festival.[20]

As part of his association with BBC NOW, he was commissioned by the BBC to compose for the 2007 Proms. His orchestral piece, ... onyt agoraf y drws ... ("... unless I open the door ...") was premiered on 9 August 2007, conducted by David Atherton.[21] It is based on a story from the Mabinogion, a collection of medieval Welsh tales, in which a group of warriors, lately returned from Ireland, feast in Harlech for seven years with the severed head of their leader at the head of the table. They then feast in Penfro for eight years in a hall with three doors, and only remember the dreadful events that happened in Ireland when the third door opens. Each of the three doors in Penfro was represented by an instrument in a box in the Royal Albert Hall.[21]

[edit] List of compositions

A list of Puw's major compositions.[2][3]

Date Composed Title Instrumentation Notes
Ffantasia violin
1993 Becoming soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass Words by R. S. Thomas. First performed by the London Sinfonietta Voices on 27 March 1994.[22]
1994–5 Consierto (Concerto) violin and orchestra
1995 Ffantasia II harp Winner of the Composer's Medal at the 1995 National Eisteddfod.
1996 Sonata oboe and piano Commissioned by the North Wales Music Festival.
1997 Mecanwaith ("Mechanism") string quartet Winner of the Composer's Medal at the 1997 National Eisteddfod.
1998 X-ist harp, cello and double-bass Commissioned and recorded by IST (Improvising String Trio).
1998 Capel Celyn tenor/high voice and piano Commissioned by the North Wales Music Festival.
1998 The Loch Ness Monster's song unaccompanied SATB choir Commissioned by Adlais.
1998–9 Ad Noctum flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano Commissioned by the Aberystwyth Musicfest.
1999 Iddi Hi tenor and piano/harp Recorded by John Eifion (Sain)[7]
1999 Visages tuba quartet Commissioned and recorded by Tubalaté.
1999 Cylch Gwag
("Empty Cycle")		 piano
2000 Blodeuwedd baritone and piano Words by Nesta Wyn Jones. Commissioned by Jeremy Huw Williams and recorded by him on "Songs for Jeremy" (Sain, 2000).
2000 "Swyn i estyn bywyd..." harp
2000 Ffantasia III solo piano Commissioned by the Bangor New Music Festival, premiered by Ian Pace.
2000 different light clarinet, violin, cello and piano Commissioned by the Vale of Glamorgan Festival.
2001 Trioled ("Triolet") Improvisation for saxophone, guitar, harp, keyboard, cello, piano and optional dancer Commissioned by the Bangor New Music Festival.
2001 Dawns y Sêr
("Dance of the Stars")		 baritone and piano Words by Nesta Wyn Jones. Commissioned by Jeremy Huw Williams and the Arts Council of Wales.[23] A version for baritone and orchestra was first performed on 16 March 2007 by Jeremy Huw Williams and BBC NOW conducted by Grant Llywellyn.[23]
2002 Reservoirs orchestral work for BBC NOW Commissioned by BBC Radio 3.
2003 Ffantasia IV (Canon) solo organ Commissioned by North Wales International Music Festival, premiered by Huw Tregelles Williams.
2005 Stereo Type amplified typewriters and tape Commissioned by the Bangor New Music Festival.
2006 Concerto for Oboe and orchestra oboe and orchestra Commissioned and premiered by BBC NOW, with oboist David Cowley.
2007 ... onyt agoraf y drws ... ("... unless I open the door ...") orchestra Orchestral work for BBC NOW for 2007 Proms

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Vale of Glamorgan Festival composers 2005
  2. ^ a b c d e Puw's entry on the Composers of Wales website
  3. ^ a b c d e f Puw's profile on the Bangor University website
  4. ^ a b BBC National Orchestra of Wales website
  5. ^ Bangor University staff list
  6. ^ Cor Cyntaf i'r Felin website (in Welsh)
  7. ^ a b c Puw's profile at the Welsh Music Information Centre
  8. ^ a b c Review by Ken Waxman, Jazzword.com, of the recording of X-Ist by IST
  9. ^ Review by Walter Horn, Cadence, of the recording of X-Ist by IST
  10. ^ a b c Notes on Trioled on the Welsh Music Information Centre website
  11. ^ Review by Philip Scowcroft, MusicWeb International, of the recording of Visages by Tubalaté
  12. ^ Notes on Visages from the Welsh Music Information Centre website
  13. ^ a b Notes on Ffantasia III from the Welsh Music Information Centre website
  14. ^ a b c Notes on different light from the Welsh Music Information Centre website
  15. ^ a b c d Western Mail article 21 April 2006
  16. ^ BBC Radio 3 listings for 1 March 2007
  17. ^ Vale of Glamorgan Festival programme notes 2005
  18. ^ a b "Tryweryn reservoir 'unnecessary'", BBC News website, 9 March 2006
  19. ^ Royal Philharmonic Society press release 11 April 2005
  20. ^ BBC Radio 3 listings for 1 October 2005
  21. ^ a b BBC Proms Guide 2007 ISBN 978-1-84607-256-7
  22. ^ Notes on Becoming from the Welsh Music Information Centre website
  23. ^ a b Notes on Dawns y Sêr from the Welsh Music Information Centre Website

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Puw, Guto Pryderi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Composer
DATE OF BIRTH 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH Parc, Bala, Gwynedd
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Languages