Grace Williams (1906-1977)
Part One
This year marks the centenary of the birth of Grace Williams, the most significant Welsh composer of her generation, and a maverick voice in 20th century British music. During her lifetime she was criticised for a lyrical style that was out of step with fashionable trends, and subsequently her work has fallen into the sort of posthumous lull that has befallen many great composers.
Donald Macleod visits South Wales to begin a week tracing the course of Grace Williams' life and music, talking to those who knew her, including Welsh musicologists Heward Rees and Rhiannon Mathias.
Playlist
Yr Eos, The Nightingale
Stephen Betteridge (piano)
BBC Singers
Ronald Corp (conductor)
BBC RECORDING
Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Charles Groves (conductor)
Lyrita SRCD 323
CD1 t1
Violin Concerto
Matthew Trusler (violin)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Jason Lai (conductor)
BBC RECORDING
Watching the Wheat
Jeremy Huw Williams (baritone)
Iain Burnside (piano)
BBC RECORDING
