Welsh Incident

Jonathan Pryce heads a stellar list of performers on a double album of orchestral music by the celebrated Anglesey composer Gareth Glyn. Movie superstar Jonathan Pryce (Pirates of the Caribbean, Tomorrow Never Dies) tops the list of guest performers on a double album of popular orchestral music by the acclaimed composer from Anglesey, Gareth Glyn, released to celebrate his 60th birthday. Jonathan narrates the title track, where he’s joined by double-bassist Dominic Seldis (from BBC 2’s Maestro). Also on the bill are trumpeter Philippe Schartz and organist Jane Watts, joining the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Royal Ballet Sinfonia in a wide-ranging selection of pieces including the cinematic Enduring City, commissioned to celebrate the 300th anniversary of New Bern, North Carolina Welsh Incident – released to mark the 60th birthday of the celebrated Anglesey composer Gareth Glyn – is a double album packed with famous names. Jonathan Pryce narrates the title track, the world-première recording of a setting of Robert Graves’s iconic (and hilarious) poem about aliens on a North Wales beach. He’s joined by a virtuoso double bass soloist – dubbed the “Simon Cowell of classical music” after his appearances on the BBC-2 hit Maestro – Dominic Seldis, who also performs the brilliant Microncerto on the album. The music – all composed in Gareth Glyn’s delightfully approachable style – is nothing if not international, with pieces inspired by his native Wales (organist Jane Watts pulls out all the stops in Gwylmabsant) as well as the grandeur of North Carolina, portrayed in the panoramic Enduring City, played by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Grant Llewellyn, and the Trumpet Concerto, a dazzling tour-de-force for the instrument, is given an astonishing performance by the sensational trumpeter from Luxembourg, Philippe Schartz. Also on the bill are the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, conducted by Gavin Sutherland and Julian Bigg, who play music on the lighter side – like the Little Suite for Strings, which includes a ‘Hoedown’ acclaimed as being “better than Copland’s” in a recent LSO performance (Classic FM listeners will love this track), and Cariad, a sequence of beautiful Welsh folksongs on the theme of love. Together with the colourful Stag’s Leap and the witty A Night at the Opera, these captivating works by Gareth Glyn are sure to appeal to a wide range of listeners. Gareth Glyn has made Anglesey his home since 1978, an island whose history, mythology and landscape have been important influences on his work as a composer. His works have been commissioned and performed by, among others, the London Symphony Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Strasbourg Philharmonic, the Ulster Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, I Musici de Montréal and the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, as well as by eminent soloists and choirs. His music has also been widely broadcast by radio stations in many parts of the world.