Bernard Rands: Chains like the Sea

Featuring

Clark Rundell
Johannes Moser
BBC Philharmonic
Bernard Rands

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Bernard Rands' music is characterized by directness, brilliant orchestration, and a scintillating sound world that immediately defines a distinctive and colorful musical landscape.

Composer Biography

Bernard Rands moved to the USA in 1975 and never returned to live in the UK, developing his music through high-profile commissions and a seven-year residency with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Compositional Technique

The Cello Concerto subtly incorporates the traditional Welsh folk song 'Hiraeth,' which connotes 'nostalgia' or 'deep longing for the homeland,' in its first and third movements.

Composer Biography

Bernard Rands, who came to prominence in the UK in the 1970s, was initially seen as an ambassador for the European avant-garde, influenced by figures like Boulez and Berio.

Composition History

The work 'Chains Like the Sea' draws its two movement headings, 'the Sabbath rang slowly' and 'rivers of the windfall light,' from the poem 'Fern Hill' by Dylan Thomas, one of Rands's heroes.

Composition History

The Cello Concerto, the earliest piece on this album, was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1996 for the celebrated cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovitch to celebrate his 70th birthday.

Composition History

The piece 'Danza Petrificada' was commissioned by Riccardo Muti for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2010 to pay tribute to the centenary of the Mexican revolution.