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Spirits of the Night
Shades of Grief
Thomas Hewitt Jones
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Cover image Work: Single work for solo harp
Catalogue No: Adlais 181
ISMN: M-57032-164-3
Edition: 2011 A4 stapled
Duration: c. 7' 00" minutes
Suitable for: Advanced Pedal Harp
Price:: £14.00 Go to shop
   
 

'Spirits of the Night – Shades of Grief' is a quirky, wistful journey through different colours, textures and tonalities. It is intended to be an imaginative, emotionally intense piece which aims to draw the listener into a fantasy world which exhibits light and shade: an emotive balance of anguish and hope.

This piece was commissioned by and written in 2009 for harpist Eleanor Turner, who gave its World Premiere on 30th January 2010 at the Sala Incontri, Chiusa Pesio in Italy, and the UK Premiere on 19th July 2010 at Oundle Festival. Eleanor has edited the score with considerable input by Charlotte Seale, to whom she is very grateful. Thanks also to Ann Griffiths for preparing the final version for publication.

Click for further informationA recording of Spirits of the Night - Shades of Grief, performed by Eleanor Turner, is available on the CD Lady of the Lake. This CD of music by Thomas Hewitt Jones also includes the ballet suite from 'Lady of the Lake' performed by members of the Chamber Orchestra of London, and Thomas's oboe sonata 'Sonata Cimarella' performed by James Turnbull, as well as the anthem 'Drop, drop slow tears' and a selection of other luscious choral music sung by vocal group Voces8. Vivum Records VR37603. Available from Creighton's Collection

Thomas Hewitt JonesThomas Hewitt Jones web site: www.thomashewittjones.com

Classically trained and brilliantly gifted, Thomas Hewitt Jones is equally at home in his roles as cellist, conductor and organist as well as composer.

Senior Winner of the BBC Young Composer Competition in 2003, he went on to study music at Cambridge University, where he was organ scholar at Gonville and Caius College.

His range and versatility as a composer go from the innocence of a carol to the sophistication of Hollywood film music; from solo songs and instrumental music to a Christmas fanfare for symphony orchestra. He has written three highly acclaimed ballets on Welsh themes for Ballet Cymru, including ballets based on Richard Llewellyn's 'How green was my Valley', Dylan Thomas's 'Under Milk Wood' and the magical folk-tale 'Lady of the Lake'.

As composer of the brilliant sound-track for the animated films for the 2012 Olympic mascots, Thomas Hewitt Jones’s music is being heard all over the world.

Eleanor TurnerEleanor Turner web site www.eleanorturner.com

Eleanor Turner studied the harp with Daphne Boden and Alison Nicholls. She won First Prize in the Cardiff European Harp Competition 2007 and Third Prize and the Peutz Audience Prize in the Netherlands International Harp Competition 2010. As a recipient of a prestigious Wingate Scholarship for her studies in contemporary music, Eleanor was delighted to edit ‘Shades of Grief’ with the invaluable help of Charlotte Seale.

About the front cover:
Grief - a memorial in marble by William Goscombe John, 1860-1952
St Brynach’s Church, Llanboidy, Carmarthenshire, Wales

Born in Cardiff, Wales, William Goscombe John became one of the most important figures in the New Sculpture movement of the late nineteenth century. In 1881 he left Cardiff to pursue his career and studies in London, Italy and Paris, where he was much influenced by Auguste Rodin. Awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Academy schools in 1887, in 1901 he won the Gold Medal in Paris, becoming a Royal Academician in 1909 and earning a knighthood in 1911.

Conceived as a memorial to former MP W.R.H. Powell, 'Grief' was one of his earliest commissions. The image used on the front cover is taken from Vol.16, The Studio, published in 1899. Sadly, a century of exposure to wind and weather in the churchyard has led to the sculpture's deterioration and its present dilapidated state. An initial grant towards its preservation and removal to a more sheltered position inside the church was awarded by CADW in 2007, but further funds need to be raised. Adlais Music Publishers will donate their profits from the sale of this score to the restoration fund.

from review of the CD "Lady of the Lake" - Premiere recording of Spirits of the Night - Shades of Grief.

It's a work that was written for, edited by and premiered by Eleanor Turner who introduced it on 30 January 2010 in Italy. For those steeped in British music its richly tapestried progress sounds quite like Bax mixed with the bardic associations inextricably bound up with the instrument. Delicacy is a given but so is the finery of drama and beauty. It's a work fully worthy to stand alongside the Grace Williams Hiraeth and William Mathias's Sonata.

Review by Rob Barnett

Read the full review at Music Web International

Recordings of this music
Click CD cover to go to Creighton's Collection for further information & audio clips
Click for further informationLady of the Lake - Music by Thomas Hewitt Jones

Front cover of the score

Sample of the music