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ADRIAN WILLIAMS

Works reviews

INDEX
Five Songs of W H Davies (Singing Magazine)
Chaconne for guitar (Classical Guitar Magazine)
Chamber Concerto (The Times)
Concerto for Three guitars (Swedish newspaper)
Chaconne for guitar (SEICORDE, Italy)
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
 JUNE 2000
IMAGES OF A MIND (Met CD 1028)
Adrian Williams (b.1956) calls himself 'your typical late english Romantic', inspired by 'open skies and upland places'. But although this gives some clue to the general tenor of his music, the pieces on this disc spring from different roots: a Serbian Orthodox funeral ceremony (Spring Requiem), a self-portrait by artist Sidney Nolan (Images of a Mind), and composers ranging from Bach and Britten (Sonata for Solo Cello) to Faure and MacDowell (Quatre Cantilenes).
This is music that soon grows on you, aided by repeated motifs and themes, and a tonal centre never too far away. 'I want to communicate,' says Williams in the booklet, and communicate he does.
Spring Requiem (1993) is the most programmatic of the works, opening with the clangour of bells in the piano, with snippets of Orthodox chant and a parody of a Slav folk melody audible. The expressionistic Images of a Mind portrays an unsettled, nervous personality through jagged intervals and fragmented passages.
In a few instances in the early solo sonata, Williams quotes directly from Bach's cello suites. [NO!! - ed.] Like Britten, he uses the cello's expressive palette to the full: slap pizzicato, stopped harmonics, scurrying sul ponticello - the works.
Williams's cello music is fortunate to have such a convincing champion as Wallfisch, technically expert enough to meet its considerable demands, and able to adapt his tone to its myriad mood shifts.
Janet Banks


CLASSIC CD, JULY 2000
IMAGES OF A MIND (Met CD 1028)
Call me cynical, hard-bitten or whatever, but usually I wouldn't expect to be gripped quite so deeply by new works from a comparitively little-known British contemporary composer, though Adrian Williams's (b.1956) music certainly hits the spot decisively throughout this excellent disc. The late Sir John Betjeman wrote of Williams "I can imagine him on those hills plucking sounds from the air". And indeed, after hearing this disc, it's easy to appreciate the composer's own observation that "my inspirational catalyst is the nearness to open spaces, to physical place and landscape..." Williams himself partners cellist Raphael Wallfisch in his Spring Requiem, Quatre Cantilenes and Images of a Mind. These are highly communicative and spontaneous works, most beautifuly played and recorded. I found the solo cello sonata worked best, possibly because of its more regular and predictable structure, but these are impressive additions to the modern cello repertory. Highly recommended.
Michael Jameson

ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF SINGING MAGAZINE
JANUARY 98
ADRIAN WILLIAMS: Five Songs of W H Davies (2nd series) for tenor and piano. Editions Max Eschig 9138. 19pp. £14.60.

These are a curiosity insofar as they are published by Eschig, but I believe the composer (whom I haven't encountered before now) is British. He is the founder of the Presteigne International Festival and lives and works in mid Wales. He studied at the Royal College of Music with Bernard Stevens, Alan Ridout, John Lill and John Russell among others and at 22 received the Menuhin Prize for composition. His output encompasses many genres including film scores and musicals as well as a considerable amount of chamber and vocal music. The texts by W.H.Davies are in English. A note at the beginning of the score says they were first performed by Adrian Thompson and Richard Balcombe on 15 July 1981 at the Madley Festival (which is here in this country - in Hereford). My assumption, therefore, is that they were only recently published (the score bears a copyright date of 1996).

The songs are very good. They are well-written and quite imaginative - both musically and poetically speaking. The piano textures are clear and well-handled, and the music is very accessible. They are in the best tradition of lyrical British song, and often reminded me of Britten. The composer has a sense of theatre: the penultimate song, "the sailor to his parrot", is to be performed with a stuffed parrot on the stage which the pianist is meant to remove before the final song, "in silent groves", which is sung a capella. These are apparently a second set of W.H.Davies settings. I am now curious to find out about the first. These are well worth investigating - they would be interesting in a recital programme (with or without the use of the stuffed parrot, which some might find a bit over the top - however, it would certainly help clarify the point of the song and its text!). All five songs probably last about ten minutes. As usual, the price is fairly high as it is published by a French publisher. Recommended.
_ Eugene Asti

CLASSICAL GUITAR (UK)
 SEPTEMBER 1997
CHACONNE by Adrian Williams Max Eschig. 28 pages

Adrian Williams is not one of the first names which spring to mind in the field of contemporary British music; however, his credentials are good. Williams won the Menuhin Prize in 1978, the Guinness Prize in 1986 and was Composer-in-residence at Charterhouse from 1980 to 1982. To the best of my knowledge Chaconne is his first and only published work for guitar. It was commissioned by Nicholas Hooper who gave it its first performance in 1986. Works of this length for guitar (Chaconne lasts 27 minutes) are very rare, and the task of its composition must be viewed as commendable - if ambitious.
The work is in three parts:Prelude and Chaconne, Air and Dances and Pavane. The dances in the second movement are Polonaise, Gavotte and Corrente. While the style is contemporary, the dance forms are clearly recognisable. Williams gives a short but helpful explanation of the work. In referring to the title he writes that it '...only implies a Chaconne-like figure which reappears throughout the work rather than a strict Chaconne.' He also comments on his use of other thematic ideas; however, it is primarily the Chaconne idea which draws the work together.
In its original form, the Chaconne theme is chromatic, containing ten different notes - almost a 12 note row. Throughout the work, this idea, modified and transposed, underlines changes in the mood and character of the music. The style is not avant garde, there are no aleatoric passages or unusual techniques to master, neither is it reactionary. There is a regard for the tonality of the past together with an open-mindedness to new compositional techniques.
In Chaconne, Williams displays his own distinct compositional style; nevertheless, I cannot help seeing a connection with Benjamin Britten's Nocturnal. This is not really surprising, for what British composer would attempt a serious work for guitar of the length of Chaconne without consulting Britten's extraordinarily influential work? In addition, as a student Williams would almost certainly have studied Britten's methods of composition.
I do not mean to imply that Williams has used Nocturnal as a model; as I have already said, he clearly has his own signature stamped on this music. All I can say is that those who have an affinity with the music of Britten will probably find Chaconne of interest. On the positive side, I am full of admiration for the way Williams maintains a cohesive structure without allowing dullness to creep in. On the other hand, I do feel the music to be somewhat contrived, perhaps because of the composer's unfamiliarity of working with the guitar. Only exposure and time will reveal its true value.
Helen Lohmueller

John Allison, The TIMES, 20th May 1998

CHAMBER CONCERTO 'Portraits of Ned Kelly', Brighton Festival, 16th May 1998.
The highlight was A.W's new Chamber Concerto, another festival commission. Taking Nolan's paintings of the New South Wales bandit as his inspiration, Williams has turned out bracing music that combines softness with swagger in bright, flexibly orchestrated colours.

Swedish review
March and April 1998
reproduced word-for-word!..author unknown 1998


"Haydn was the finale of the concert, and a lot had happened before that. Camerata Roman did not come on their own. They had brought "Pro Arte Guitar Trio' with the British musicians Richard Hand, Tom Dupre and Peter Rueffer. It was Rueffer that started the trio eleven years ago.
A guitar trio in the arms of a string orchestra? It is certainly not commonplace, but Camerata Roman had ordered a special concert for that combination. One of England's most interesting young composer had undertaken the task, and this tour would be the first performance. The creator is Adrian Williams.
He is 42 and has a thirty year old career behind him, because at 12 was he a well known composer and piano virtuos.
The premier was held in Emmaboda Folkets Hus, on the Saturday night.
What a lovely composition it had turned out to be. In my ears, fresh, scented, lyrical theater music with skillfully written rolls for all the instruments and tunes all through the three movements. In the first one, the guitars try to appear at the edge of a forest with the dense sound of the strings like a wall behind. In the second movement, the guitars rebel, asserting themselves against the forest of strings. And in the third one, a sort of integration is taking place; in nature all forms of life are equal. And equally beautiful.
Three different guitars make up the trio: requinton, let me call it sopran guitar, our common guitar and an eightstringed one with deeper tone.

...er, well...(ed.)



WORK OF THE MONTH! July 1998, Italian magazine 'SEICORDE'
LO SPARTITO DEL MESE
CHACONNE POUR GUITARE

Che Poesia in quella suite

Un'opera di grande respiro e di grande unità stilistica, nonchß di notevole impegno da parte del compositore inglese Adrian Williams, noto per la sua [produzione e le sue pubblicazioni per organici diversi: solistici, cameristici e sinfonici. Leggendo questo lavoro si nota la manop sicura ed esperta nel tracciare un percorso creativo ricco di poesia. Il linguaggio è frutto di una personale ricerca nel campo modale e tonale, con l'uso di tutti i mezzi compositivi più consoni all'idea creativa iniziale.
La partitura è concepita in forma di suite anche se il titolo, Chaconne, potrebbe far pensare a una sola forma particolare. Nelle note introduttive l'autore illustra in modo puntuale le varie parti dell'opera e questo facilita molto la comprensione. L'esordio con Prelude and Chaconne serve ad introdurre sia il materiale sia a impostare il percorso poetico.
La successiva Air and Dances amplia il materiale che rimane, però unito al precedente. L'accompagnamento della melodia è affidato a frammenti tratti dalla Ciaocona. Le tre danze che seguono: Polonaise, Gavotte e Corrente sono concepite come variazione delle idee portanti di tutta l'opera.
La Pavane (with Chaconne and Reprise) raissume, come in una sorta di ripresa sonatistica, tutto il materiale ed i ritmi fin qul ascoltati. L'ultima parola è affidata alla Ciaocona, che con maestosità chiude questo brano che porta una durata approssimata di 27 minuti.
La difficoltà di esecuzione è notevole perpoter raggiungere un equilibrio tra la tecnica e l'interpretazione, ma certo non mancano esecutori che siano in grado di apprezzare un'opera che porta la chitarra ad essere sullo stesso piano degli altri strumenti.
La mancanza assoluta di una diteggiatura è una lacuna che la casa editrice avrebbe potuto risolvere, visto che il brano ha come dedicatario il chitarrista Nicholas Hooper, che ne ha curato la prima esecuzione il 9 marzo del 1986 presso il St,Paul's Art Centre di Oxford.