Programme Note

The word ‘Gêmdis’ combines the Welsh words for ‘game’ and ‘dice’. Morgan-Williams’s Gêmdis was composed in 2020 for Carl Rosman and Musikfabrik. Gêmdisyn – the suffix -yn designating in Welsh a singular thing found in the natural world – is based on the solo E-flat clarinet part of that piece. It is more like a new piece made from recycled materials than a mere extraction, however: sections have been reordered, reshaped and in some cases discarded entirely. While Gêmdis took several rolls through different emotional states, Gêmdisyn alternates between just two: a whimsical, skipping chatter, like a child talking to itself, and a fiery, flashing loss of control. A new central section of fragile harmonics and deliberately audible leaks of air – ironically marked ‘mechanical’ – breaks the pattern and despite its delicacy adds a degree of certainty to the random shakes of the dice. As the game comes to its end and the different temperaments depart, it is this atmosphere that remains.

Gêmdisyn was commissioned by Musikfabrik and written for Carl Rosman.

Tim Rutherford-Johnson

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Programme Note

Reverie took its motivation from the seventh stanza of The Teak Forest, by Violet Nicolson (pseud. Laurence Hope). It reads:

Whilst every gust of the Jungle night
Was fanning the flame you have set alight.
For these things have power to stir the blood
And compel us all to their own chance mood.
And to love or not we are no more free
Than a ripple to rise and leave the sea. 

The poem features in Nicolson’s inaugural volume titled The Garden of Kama And other Love Lyrics from India. The material for these poems is not derived from any identifiable Indian source but rather, is reminiscent of Sufi poetry by way of its spiritual undertone and rhythmic flow. These are poems that summon powerful imagery while communicating an overriding impression of peace, love and kindliness.

The piece looks to reflect Nicholson’s words, which were chosen with the dedicatee – Bethan’s sister, Elen – in mind. The creative process was very much a collaborative one, with both parties contributing to the circulation of ideas: first through discovery; then development; and finally, detail. Needless to say this was a particularly special project, with Reverie ultimately being the product of a series of exchanges between two sisters.

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Lyrics

My faithful friend you have escaped me,
I close my eyes to you.
But I find myself in waking dreams
Of zebras huddled on the cool road.

The Earth has split and scarred in steps,
Bridging tight pink skin.
Taught beneath my somnolent feet
As they shuffle the missing streets.

Thin filaments glow in glass cases,
Slow dancing with the shift of night.
As I watch the shadows lean easy
Against crumbling walls.

The post <b><i>Sleepwalking<br></b></i>for soprano & piano appeared first on Bethan Morgan-Williams.

Lyrics

Rocks as old as the mountains,
Mountains as old as the rocks;
Trees are fragile saplings,
Girth thicker than a drill pipe,
Weaker than a twig

Hills are moving with the
Buzz of machines,
Vibrating as with the breath of life
Or the gasping shudders of death.

You see this world?
What you want is underneath,
Wear out the entrails and
Toss them to the skies,
Block out the sun.

For what?
For a handful of years longer
Before the crash.
For a handful of years longer
Before you are forced by necessity
To do what you should be doing by choice.

Walk with me, please walk with me.
Do not close your eyes and sit where you can’t see.

The post <b><i>Walk With Me<br></b></i>for mezzo-soprano & piano appeared first on Bethan Morgan-Williams.

Percussion List

Tambourine
Shaker
Tin foil

Lyrics

Coming ’round again
It seems so long
Since I’ve seen your light
Can’t wait to feel your warmth

Though we’re kept apart
And that may be wise
I’m just glad you’re back
So we can end this night

But before I know
It’s the morning’s rise
I get pulled away
Pushed to the other side

Then when it’s dark its calm
I’ve never felt so safe
Like I could shake these skies
Held in your strong embrace

Now we move as one
Turning time to stone
So serene we dive
Through the great unknown

But still you make me glow
You bring the world to life
We’re coming ’round again
It’s the same each time

Somehow you spin me out
But I come right back in
Just waiting for the day
The day the light goes dim

The post <b><i>Coming ‘Round Again<br></b></i>for SSA choir appeared first on Bethan Morgan-Williams.

Programme Note

Made famous by Cilla Black, Liverpool Lullaby has been through a series of transformations since being lifted from an early 19th-century folk song. The music that forms Robert Nunn’s Sandgate Dandling Song (composed ca. 1830) is the same music that Stan Kelly chose to base Liverpool Lullaby on (some 130 years later). In 1965, Liverpool Lullaby was recorded by Marian McKenzie (The Three City Four) and has since been covered by many musicians including Hughie Jones (The Spinners), Judy Collins, Val Doonican, the Ian Campbell Folk Group and of course, Cilla Black. Bethan’s arrangement uses Nunn’s melody and Kelly’s text, while presenting a new accompaniment that tempts the music into the classical realm. Described as “a haunted miniature music-drama” [Richard Bratby, Gramophone], the new arrangement provides yet another transformation of this poignant song.

Lyrics

Oh you are a mucky kid
Dirty as a dustbin lid
When he hears the things you did
You’ll get a belt from yer dad

Oh, you have your father’s nose
So crimson in the dark it glows
If you’re not asleep when the boozers close
You’ll get a belt from yer dad

You look so scruffy lying there
Strawberry jam tats in your hair
In all the world you haven’t a care
And I have got so many

It’s quite a struggle every day
Livin’ on yer father’s pay
The blighter drinks it all away
And leaves me without any

But though you have no silver spoon
Better days are coming soon
Our Nelly’s working at the Lune
And she gets paid on Friday

Perhaps one day we’ll have a splash
When Little Woods provide the cash
We’ll get a house in Knotty Ash
And buy your dad a brewery

Oh you are a mucky kid
Dirty as a dustbin lid
Now when he hears the things you did
You’ll get a belt from yer dad

Oh you have your father’s face
You’re growing up a real hard case
But there’s no one can take your place
Go fast asleep for your mummy

The post <b><i>arr. Liverpool Lullaby<br></b></i>for mezzo-soprano & piano appeared first on Bethan Morgan-Williams.

The piece is in two movements –
i. Adagio più mosso
ii. Allegro con brio

The post <b><i>Two Shadows Taking Pictures</b></i><br>for string orchestra appeared first on Bethan Morgan-Williams.

Arrangements of traditional folk tunes for string orchestra. The three pieces are:
i. Atlantic Wave
ii. The Braes Of Glenorchy
iii. The Foxhunter’s Jig

The post <b><i>arr. Three Pieces for Beginner String Orchestra</b></i> appeared first on Bethan Morgan-Williams.

Full Lineup

Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Cor Anglais in F
2 Clarinets in Bb (2=B. Cl. in Bb)
2 Bassoons

2 Horns in F
2 Trumpets in Bb
Percussion (2 players)*
Piano

Strings (10.8.6.4.2)

*Percussion List

Player I: Xylophone, Marimba (shared), Tubular Bells
Player II: Whip, Marimba (shared), Tambourine

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