Grace Williams (1906-1977): Elegy (1936, rev. 1940)
Arwel Hughes (1909-1988): Gweddi - for soprano, chorus and strings (1944)
Paul Mealor (b. 1975): O Sacred Heart (2023)
Morfydd Owen (1891-1918): Romance for Strings (1911)
Arwel Hughes (1909-1988): Divertimento (based on the tune 'Ebenezer')
Christopher Wood (b. 1945): Aberfan (2016)
William Mathias (1934-1992): Music for Strings (1961)

I believe everyone would concur that British composers have always had a flair for writing highly felicitous, profoundly expressive and evocatively pastoral music for the string orchestra. From Elgar to Holst, Vaughan Williams to Tippett, they've all composed intensely moving pieces for strings. Despite the differing cultural background, Wales shares the same moisture-laden, windswept, North Atlantic coast as does England, so it's not surprising at all to hear a similar rustic idyll within music by Welsh composers.

One of the many standouts on this recording is the Elegy by Grace Williams. It alone is well worth the cost of this CD. As its title suggests, it is elegiac in the truest sense of the word - mournful, desolate - but in a highly poignant and stirring way. As well, and possibly even more engrossing is Paul Mealor's O Sacred Heart composed as recently as 2023. It blends sadness, reverence and faith with elements of Celtic and Welsh lore to great effect. Arwel Hughes, the father of the conductor on this album, gives a gigue the fugal treatment within his Divertimento. Commissioned in 2016 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster when 116 children lost their lives to an avalanche of rain-soaked coal, Christopher Wood's Aberfan is another great addition to 21st century orchestral music.

One of the few upbeat, though a rather short moment at just over two minutes duration in this collection is the Romance for Strings by Morfydd Owen who died tragically at the age of 26. This is an "early work that teems with fresh ideas and finesse" {Booklet Notes}. And last but not least, the Canto second movement from Music for Strings by William Mathias instantly brings to mind, at least to my ears, some of Shostakovich's bleakest, internalized passages.

All of the works on this CD are presented in world premiere recordings. What better way is there, for wearied ears, to hear captivating new music.