大象传媒

L'脡loignement, meaning remoteness or estrangement, a work for 34 strings, was composed on commission from the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. The composer Qigang Chen quotes a Chinese proverb which says: 'When a man is uprooted, he gains vital force. If he remains stationary, he cannot flourish. Renewal of his surroundings brings new opportunities; whatever changes there may be, large or small, are always experienced like a great rebirth.' In the form of a rondo with variations, L鈥櫭塴oignement depicts separation, disorder, imagination, and yearning. The music is both happy and sad, nostalgic and exciting, all of which account for the conflicting moods of the departing one.
Bent S酶rensen's three-movement Trumpet Concerto moves from the muted trumpet crawling in and out of the orchestra鈥檚 running melodies and layering noise textures through a Venetian barcarole to a staggering finale in which the trumpet, at last, escapes. On hearing the concerto for the first time the Norwegian composer Arne Nordheim remarked 'It reminds me of something I鈥檝e never heard'! The orchestra's Principal Trumpet Philippe Schartz is soloist.
Composer, organist and improviser Thierry Escaich's Psalmos for orchestra displays recurring thematic elements in the style of a symphonic poem or concerto for orchestra. It's based on three Lutheran Chorales which, the composer says, are used as motivation without any real reference to their religious symbolism.
Vale of Glamorgan Festival focuses on highlighting the talents of living composers and was set up by the Welsh/Canadian composer John Metcalf in 1969. Presented by Penny Gore.

Qigang Chen: L' Eloignement for string orchestra
Bent S酶rensen: Concerto for trumpet and orchestra
Thierry Escaich: Psalmos for orchestra
Philippe Schartz, trumpet
大象传媒 National Orchestra of Wales
Alexandre Bloch, conductor