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Length / Year
18' / 2000
Instrumentation
harp with string quartet
Performance History
First performance (Quartet version)
University of Wales, Lampeter, Wales
17th October 2000
Maggini String Quartet
Elinor Bennett - harp
First
performance (Orch. version)
Vale of Glamorgan Festival, Cowbridge Leisure Centre, Wales
11th September 2001
English String Orchestra
William Boughton - conductor
Marshall McGuire - harp
European
premiere (Orch. version)
Music Academy Hall, Daugapils, Latvia
21st September 2001
Rigas Kammermusiki
Normunds Sne - conductor
Catrin Finch - harp
World
premiere (version with piano)
Theatr Ardudwy, Harlech
25th April 2003
Celticana String Quartet
Iwan Llewelyn Jones - piano
Subsequent
performances
Vagnera Sale, Riga, Latvia
22nd September 2001
Rigas Kammermusiki
Normunds Sne - conductor
Catrin Finch - harp
State Art Gallery,
Sofia, Bulgaria
June 9th 2002
Bulgarian Chamber Orchestra
Orpheus Ensemble
Raicho Kristov - conductor
Anna Maria Dobroskaya - harp
Swansea Festival,
Wales
4th October 2002
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Shirley Laub - leader
Catrin Finch - harp
Recorded for subsequent broadcast on BBC Radio 3
Programme Note
Mapping Wales (Endless Song)
is a set of variations played continuously. The theme is the short original
piano work entitled Endless Song. Aspects of the theme are heard throughout
the work and the song is first heard in entirety at the end of the piece.
The title refers to the journeyings and paintings
of Welsh artist Catrin Webster and draws similar inspiration from the
landscape of Wales and from metaphysical ideas connected with travelling.
The piece is just under 20 minutes in length. Recent works by John Metcalf
like Dances from Forgotten Places
for String Orchestra have explored aesthetic areas not commonly associated
with contemporary art. Similarly, the mood of Mapping
Wales is both tender and joyful.
It was commissioned to mark the Millennium by Lampeter Music Club, the
composer's local music society with funds made available in part by the
Arts Council of Wales and received its premiere on October 17th, 2000.
The harpist Elinor Bennett who gave the premiere assisted John with the
preparation and editing of the solo part. Early in 2001 the composer prepared
a version for harp and string orchestra.
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