John Metclaf : Winter Journal 
I. Journey     V. Cân i Ystrad Ffur

Two short sections from a new string quartet are to be heard in this concert.  As the title suggests the quartet is a musical diary of this last winter. In that sense it is comparable with Llyfr Llofion y Delyn/Harp Scrabook (1992). 

The quartet was commissioned by and is dedicated to a private commissioner, Carol Nixon. Her request was that the extinction of species be in some way reflected by/in the music. I have sought to do this in an extended second movement which presents three iterations of the same material progressively thinned out until the fabric of the music no longer holds together. This movement is still, like the piece as a whole, a work in progress and is not yet ready for performance

The two sections to be previewed in this concert are the opening Winter Journey comprising a slow ascent into nothingness and the consolatory final section  Cân i Ystrad Fflur – a version for quartet of a song setting the well-known poem Ystrad Fflur by T Gwynn Jones. I drew inspiration particularly from the closing stanza :

‘Ond er mai angof angau prudd
Ar adfail ffydd a welaf,
Pan rodiwyf ddaear Ystrad Fflur
O’m dolur ymdawelaf’

(‘Not here the absent void of death
And ruins of our faith
My sorrow quietens, then is gone
When Ystrad’s soil I stand on’)

Guto Pryderi Puw : String Quartet #1 – Your paths overflow with plenty 
The title for this piece is taken from the Book of Psalms, 65:11, where the scripture invites us to rejoice and appreciate God’s provision from Earth’s abundance (You crown your year with Your bounty,/and Your paths overflow with plenty). In recent times, I have also been thinking much about what the Cherokee elder Stan Rushworth said regarding the difference between the Western settler mindset of ‘I have right’ and the indigenous mindset of ‘I have an obligation’. Earth will continue to be rich and fertile as long as humans halts the destructive exploitation of its natural resources before it’s too late.

Much of this destruction can be heard through the music in the fast rhythmical passages, while the contrasting calmer sections reflects upon the beauty and splendour of this wonderful creation within which we are so honoured to be able to inhabit.

String Quartet #1 – Your paths overflow with plenty was commissioned by the Bangor Music Festival and will be premiered by the Solem Quartet for broadcast during the Festival on 12 March 2021. The piece is dedicated to John Metcalf for his enthusiastic support, his encouragement and friendship over the years.

Jasmin Kent Rodgman : 28 #Lunar_man5i0ns 
for string quartet and tape
preserve | prɪˈzəːv |
verb
1 maintain (something) in its original or existing state: all records of the past were zealously preserved.
• retain (a condition or state of affairs): a fight to preserve local democracy.
• maintain or keep alive (a memory or quality): the film has preserved all the qualities of the novel.
• keep safe from harm or injury: a place for preserving endangered species.

memoir | ˈmɛmwɑː |
noun
1 a historical account or biography written from personal knowledge: in 1924 she published a short memoir of her husband.
• (memoirs) an account written by a public figure of their life and experiences: a revealing passage from Khrushchev’s memoirs.

environmental | ɪnvʌɪrənˈmɛnt(ə)l, ɛnvʌɪrənˈmɛnt(ə)l |
adjective
1 relating to the natural world and the impact of human activity on its condition: acid rain may have caused major environmental damage.
• aiming or designed to promote the protection of the natural world: environmental tourism.
2 relating to or arising from a person’s surroundings: environmental noise.

28 #Lunar_man5i0ns is a five-movement work investigating the nexus between memoir and preservation, the performance links personal memory and belonging(s) with time and climate. 28 #Lunar_man5i0ns also challenges our concepts of ‘reality’ at a time when our lives are overwhelmingly experienced and catalogued online and looks at how our singular vs collective behaviour has affected our relationship with the environment.

Field recordings of the deep sea and protests are weaved into chapters of storytelling, string quartet and electronics. Audiences are presented with artefacts to engage with as the performance unfolds, a museum of personal and environmental histories. Captured and streamed online, the quartet will serve as memoir, and digital installation of music, research, diary and sound.

Thomas Whitcombe : Micro
Micro is a reaction to the current damage we are doing to the environment with micro-plastics.
Micro-plastics are pieces of plastic approximately 5mm in length that are polluting our environment all around the world. To reflect the sizes of the pieces, I have split the work into five small movements.
In order to reflect the damage of micro-plastics on the seas, I have based the work on the folk song ‘Ar Lan y Mor’. I used the folk tune in two main ways; the first being fragments of the melody that try to break through the harsh and dissonant harmonies smothering them, and the second being a version of the melody with the repeated notes and rests removed, leading to a distorted echo of something familiar. There are some direct quotes of the melody itself, with the most obvious being in the first and final movements, but there is a stark contrast between the beautiful melody and the intense dissonances surrounding it.