BBC National Orchestra of Wales to team up with renowned harpist to put together iconic live recording

Nation.Cymru staff

BBC National Orchestra of Wales and virtuoso harpist Catrin Finch are coming together on a live recording of Gareth Glyn’s Vita Davidis.

The EP follows on from the album Yr Oriau Oll a Welsom, a collection of works from across Gareth Glyn’s illustrious career, also released on Tŷ Cerdd Records earlier this year.

Vita Davidis was originally performed as part of BBC National Orchestra of Wales’s St David’s Day celebrations in 2019 and the work’s namesake, (transl. ‘A Life of St David’), was written by Rhygyfarch ap Sulien in about 1090, half a millennium after the death of Wales’s patron saint.

Gareth Glyn explains: “[the] concerto makes musical reference to certain elements in the Vita, beginning with a prophecy by St Patrick of the coming of his successor (a solo horn call, giving out the main theme of the work), followed by the fierce storm which raged as David’s mother, Non, was in labour in a forest.

“The full orchestra depicts the blaze of sunshine which shone on her at the moment of birth, and the dove’s song (played by an alto flute) marks the start of the concerto’s slow section, in which the main theme is developed.

“A slowly climbing orchestral passage portrays the hill which grew under David’s feet so that his followers could better see and hear him preach, and this is followed by a passage, mostly for solo harp, reflecting the description of his voice from the hill being ‘as loud as a trumpet’.

“A new, delicate, theme corresponds to the saint’s reference to the ‘little things’, and the closing, lively, section is a response to another, less familiar, part of the sermon, namely the instruction for his followers to ‘be joyful’.

Glyn adds: “despite its Latin title and religious source, the piece doesn’t take itself too seriously. It is essentially a celebratory work and showpiece for the harp, in the skilful hands of Catrin Finch, allowing it to display all its varied qualities from the expressive and delicate, to the tempestuous and virtuosic.”

Catrin Finch says: “it’s always so wonderful to have the opportunity to perform new works. This fantastic piece by Gareth will be a superb addition to the harp’s repertoire, and will sit alongside his other harp works ready for future harpists to learn and enjoy.”

TCR064: Catrin Finch – Vita Davidis will be released on Tŷ Cerdd Records, available to stream and download on all major platforms on 29 May.

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