Sea Sketches

English Chamber Orchestra
David Atherton
1970

PremiereDate31 March 1947 (1947-03-31)ConductorMansel ThomasPerformersBBC Welsh Orchestra

Sea Sketches is a suite of five movements for string orchestra, composed by Grace Williams in 1944, and dedicated to her parents. It is one of the composer's most popular works.

Composition history

Grace Williams composed Sea Sketches in 1944, while living in Hampstead, London.^[1] Shortly after completing the work Williams wrote to Gerald Cockshott, in 1945, saying "I don't want to stay in London – I just long to get home and live in comfort by the sea." She returned to her home town of Barry in south Wales, two years later.^[2]

The suite was premiered by the BBC Welsh Orchestra conducted by Mansel Thomas in 1947.^[3] Since then Sea Sketches has become one of her most popular works, second only to her Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes.^[1]^[4] and has been performed three times at the BBC Proms.^[5]

Music

The suite is composed for string orchestra and comprises five movements depicting various moods of the sea.^[1] The movements are:

High Wind (Allegro energetico)
Sailing Song (Allegretto)
Channel Sirens (Lento misterioso)
Breakers (Presto)
Calm Sea in Summer (Andante tranquillo)^[1]

Publication

Sea Sketches was published in 1951 by the Oxford University Press (OUP). It was Williams' first substantial work to be published and the OUP subsequently published a number of her other works.^[1] Williams dedicated the suite to her parents "who had the good sense to set up home on the coast of Glamorgan".^[3]^[6]

Recordings

Sea Sketches was first recorded by the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by David Atherton in 1970 (Decca SXL6468), and re-issued in 1995 (Lyrita SRCD323). It was later recorded by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra conducted by Roy Goodman (CBC SMCD5227).^[3]

The first recording was one of a series of recordings of Williams' works in the 1970s to promote her work, made with the help of the Welsh Arts Council.^[7]^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Boyd, Malcolm (1980). Grace Williams. Composers of Wales. Vol. 4 (1st ed.). Cardiff: University of Wales Press, on behalf of the Welsh Arts Council. pp. 26–27. ISBN 0-7083-0762-0. OCLC 7547501.
^ Cotterill 2012a, p. ^{[page needed]}.
^ ^a ^b ^c Cotterill 2012b, p. ^{[page needed]}.
^ Cotterill 2012a, p. 78.
^ "BBC Proms – Works Grace Williams Sea Sketches". BBC. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
^ Cotterill 2012a, p. ^{[page needed]}.
^ Cotterill 2012a, p. 32.
^ Boyd, Malcolm (1995). "The Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes". Grace Williams (CD booklet). Burnham, Buckinghamshire: Lyrita. OCLC 883978208. UPC: 502092603234.

Sources

Cotterill, Graeme James (2012a). Music in the Blood & Poetry in the Soul? (National identity in the life and music of Grace Williams) (PDF). eBangor (PhD). Bangor: University of Wales. p. 79. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
— (2012b). A catalogue of the works of Grace Williams (PDF). eBangor (PhD). Bangor: University of Wales. p. 12. Retrieved 1 May 2016.^{[permanent dead link]}