Samuel, Rhian: Tirluniau (Landscapes). Rental
Duration: 24 minutes
For two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, double bassoon, four horns, three trumpets, two trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, piano and strings
2002 [24′] Full score and instrumental parts
Commissioned by the BBC for the BBC Promenade Concerts
1st perf: BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Tadaaki Otaka (cond), Royal Albert Hall, London, 25 July 2000. Simultaneous broadcast on BBC Radio 3
Reviews
In the opening movement, ‘Cromlech’, the piquant combination of xylophone and piccolo hovered over sighing strings that in the second movement (‘The Old Man of Storr’) seemed to be reassembling shards of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande … the effusive melody that had spread through the orchestra [in the third movement] … prepared the way for the exuberantly urban, almost minimalist surge of the final section, ‘Lights in the Bay’.
Nick Kimberley, The Observer, 30 July 2000
Given the dark portentous visual images expected, Samuel’s use of the orchestra is surprisingly crisp and bright-edged. Her melodic and harmonic style is similarly bold, far from pastel impressionism.
Matthew Rye, The Daily Telegraph, 27 July 2000
The orchestra gave the world premiere of Rhian Samuel’s colourful Tirluniau or Landscapes. Each of the four movements is inspired by a remote Welsh or Scottish scene. Rhythms are craggy. The largo misterioso breathes druidic solemnity in the lowing of a cool alto flute.
Rick Jones, The Evening Standard, 26 July 2000