Notes and Editorial Reviews
Although from a non-musical family, Birtwistle's mother "wanted me to learn the flute from somebody round the corner; turned out to be clarinet, that was my way into music." Birtwistle played in the local miliitary band and various amateur orchestras - "very badly and not realizing how bad it was; consequently I didn't realize the significance of the music. As a schoolboy I went to Halle concerts. I head Mahler for the first time, Daphnis and Chloe, L'apres-midi and Vaughan-Williams. The BBC Northern seemed to play lots of music." Birtwistle agrees that he rejected pastoralism. This CD of chamber music? "Occasional music, but not all." Indeed, Refrains and Choruses is Birtwistle's opus one. "I wrote it in the army, National Service, about
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'56. I was a bandsman. I'd put myself into compositional exile but I knew I would start writing again." Birtwistle had wanted to compose since he was seven - "I always had a music in my head, it never corresponded to the music that I played." He doesn't though concern himself with an audience: "I wouldn't know how to do that, I don't know who it is. I speak directly to myself." Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Hoquetus Petrus by Harrison Birtwistle
Performer:
Mark Law (Piccolo Trumpet),
Kathryn Thomas (Flute),
Robert Manasse (Flute)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Galliard Ensemble members
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1995; England
2.
Refrains and Choruses by Harrison Birtwistle
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Galliard Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1957; England
3.
Hector's Dawn by Harrison Birtwistle
Performer:
Richard Shaw (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1987; England
4.
Duets (6) for Storab by Harrison Birtwistle
Performer:
Kathryn Thomas (Flute),
Robert Manasse (Flute)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Galliard Ensemble members
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1983; Scotland
5.
Linoi I by Harrison Birtwistle
Performer:
Richard Shaw (Piano),
Katherine Spencer (Clarinet)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Galliard Ensemble members
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1968; England
Notes: Ver: for clarinet and piano (1968)
6.
Berceuse de Jeanne by Harrison Birtwistle
Performer:
Richard Shaw (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1985; England
7.
Chorale from a Toy-Shop by Harrison Birtwistle
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Galliard Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1967; United Kingdom
8.
Sad Song by Harrison Birtwistle
Performer:
Richard Shaw (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1971; United Kingdom
9.
An Interrupted Endless Melody by Harrison Birtwistle
Performer:
Owen Dennis (Oboe),
Richard Shaw (Piano)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Galliard Ensemble members
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1991; United Kingdom
10.
Oockooing Bird by Harrison Birtwistle
Performer:
Richard Shaw (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
11.
Five Distances by Harrison Birtwistle
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Galliard Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
12.
Verses for Clarinet and Piano by Harrison Birtwistle
Performer:
Richard Shaw (Piano),
Katherine Spencer (Clarinet)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Galliard Ensemble members
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1968-1969; England
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