Guto Puw

Guto Pryderi Puw (born 1971) is a Welsh composer, university lecturer and conductor. He is considered to be one of the most prominent Welsh composers of his generation and a key figure in current Welsh music. Puw studied music composition at Bangor University with John Pickard, Andrew Lewis and Pwyll ap Siôn. Puw was awarded with a MMus degree in 1996 and a PhD degree in 2002. He was the founding member and conductor for , a Welsh-language choir based in Y Felinheli near Bangor.

Puw has received commissions from (amongst others) BBC Radio 3, the Welsh baritone Jeremy Huw Williams, the Bangor New Music Festival and the North Wales International Music Festival.

He was a founding member and the artistic director of the Bangor Music Festival, a festival for new music in north Wales founded in 2000. He received the Tlws y Cerddor award from the Welsh Music Guild.

Music

Welsh links Puw's music is rooted in the language and literature of Wales, with a particular affinity to the poetry of R. S. Thomas. Welsh titles and settings of poetry in Welsh, such as Mecanwaith, Dawns y Sêr, and ... onyt agoraf y drws ..., feature in his work. He has won the Composer's Medal at the National Eisteddfod of Wales twice, winning it first in 1995 for a harp piece, Ffantasia II. It takes its inspiration from different qualities of the human voice, including stutters and chatterboxes. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 1 March 2007 as part of a programme of music by Welsh composers to celebrate St David's Day. The concerto won Puw the 2007 BBC Radio 3 Listeners Award at the British Composer Awards. Puw had a particular affinity with the topic as his grandfather lost farmland in the Tryweryn flooding. Nevertheless, he has said that he "decided not to take the poem too literally because as a composer you can be subject to criticism for doing that." The music was used in a BBC2 Wales documentary, "Drowning a Village", broadcast on 9 March 2006.

As part of his association with BBC NOW, Puw was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 to compose for the 2007 Proms. His orchestral piece, ("... unless I open the door ...") was premiered on 9 August 2007, conducted by David Atherton. It is based on a story from the Mabinogion, a collection of medieval Welsh tales, in which a group of warriors, lately returned from Ireland, feast in Harlech for seven years with the severed head of their leader at the head of the table. They then feast in Penfro for eighty years in a hall with three doors, and only remember the dreadful events that happened in Ireland when the third door opens. Each of the three doors in Penfro was represented by an instrument in a box in the Royal Albert Hall. The opera in three acts explores the relationship and emotions between two characters during three specific periods in their lives, during youth, middle age and finally, old age.

Other works Unusual instrumentation and unusual performance techniques, including elements of improvisation, are also important features of his work. In 1998 he composed X-ist, a piece for IST (the Improvising String Trio, consisting of harp, cello and double-bass). It was described by reviewers as a "frighteningly frantic" and "challenging" piece. X-ist uses a graphic score and includes written directions to the players that act as "creative stimuli", containing notes and motifs to be followed. Another piece requiring improvisation by performers was his commission for the 2001 Bangor New Music Festival, , which was written for ensemble (saxophone, guitar, harp, keyboard, cello, piano) and optional dancer. In his performing notes, Puw describes the pieces as a "stimulus for musical improvisation" in which any notes, normal or extended musical techniques and/or percussive effects may be applied. has two contrasting sub-sections, a and b, arranged in the form a-b-a-a-a-b-a-b to match the Welsh poetic measure of the same name, with the strings playing calmly in the "a" sections, and saxophone and keyboard (gradually joined by the other instruments) playing in a more lively manner in the "b" sections. Puw said that in the piece "Freedom is granted to the performers to make any subtle facial expressions that add to the musical interpretation". Puw describes (a piece for solo piano, composed for the 2000 Bangor New Music Festival) as an "intimate reflection" upon the music of, and a tribute to, Robert Schumann, his "intricate compositional style" and "world of delicate expression". The music becomes "simpler and softer" throughout the piece, moving from the "rhythmic complexity" of the opening bars through to slow quavers transforming into triplets. As the picture is moved, it looks the same but is perceived in a different light. His 2005 composition for the Bangor New Music Festival, Stereo Type, was written for amplified typewriters and tape. It was premiered by School of Music students from Bangor University in the Deiniol Shopping Centre, Bangor, on 5 March 2005.

List of compositions A list of Puw's major compositions. 1995 harp Winner of the Composer's Medal at the 1995 National Eisteddfod 1996 Sonata oboe and piano Commissioned by the North Wales International Music Festival 1997 ("Mechanism") string quartet Winner of the Composer's Medal at the 1997 National Eisteddfod 1998 X-ist harp, cello and double-bass Commissioned and recorded by IST (Improvising String Trio) 1998 tenor/high voice and piano Commissioned by the North Wales Music Festival 1998 The Loch Ness Monster's song unaccompanied SATB choir Commissioned by . View selected pages at Orianna Publications 1998–9 Ad Noctum flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano Commissioned by MusicFest Aberystwyth 1999 tenor and piano/harp Recorded by John Eifion (Sain) a version for baritone and orchestra was first performed on 16 March 2007 by Jeremy Huw Williams and BBC NOW conducted by Grant Llywellyn. 2002 Reservoirs orchestral work for BBC NOW Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 2003 (Canon) solo organ Commissioned by North Wales International Music Festival, premiered by Huw Tregelles Williams 2005 Stereo Type amplified typewriters and tape Commissioned by the Bangor New Music Festival 2006 Concerto for Oboe and orchestra oboe and orchestra Commissioned and premiered by BBC NOW, with oboist David Cowley. 2007 ("... unless I open the door ...") orchestra Orchestral work for BBC NOW for 2007 Proms 2009 (Snoring (in NY)) SSAATTBB a cappella choir Commissioned by the Bangor New Music Festival. Premiered by Exaudi, directed by James Weeks, during the BNMF at Bangor Cathedral on 18 March 2009. 2009 narrator, mezzo-soprano and harp Commissioned by the 2009 National Eisteddfod, Y Bala 2009 orchestra Commissioned by Bangor University as part of their 125th anniversary celebrations, premiered by BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Listen to an extract here 2010 two percussionists Commissioned by The Bangor New Music Festival, 20 March 2010 2010 orchestra Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, premiered during the Bangor New Music Festival, Prichard-Jones Hall by BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Grant Llywellyn on 26 March 2010 2010 (Bonfire Night) baritone and piano Commissioned by Jeremy Huw Williams and premiered at the North Wales International Music Festival, St Asaph Cathedral 22 September 2010 2012 (Vacuum Event) three performers Premiered by the Bangor New Music Ensemble at the Bangor New Music Festival, Powis Hall, 15 March 2012 2012 (Ski Jump) one performer Premiered by the Bangor New Music Ensemble at the Bangor New Music Festival, Powis Hall, 15 March 2012 2013 (Trio (colour)) violin, cello and piano Premiered by the Mozart-Vienner Trio, North Wales International Music Festival, St Asaph, 23 September 2013 2012–2014 (Violin Concerto – Soft Stillness) solo violin and chamber orchestra Commissioned by Madeleine Mitchell and Ty Cerdd for the Bangor New Music Festival. Premiered by Madeleine Mitchell and Orchestra of the Swan, conducted by David Curtis, Bangor New Music Festival, Prichard-Jones Hall, Bangor, 14 March 2014 2014 (Three Dylan Thomas Poems) I - Light breaks where no sun shines II - Should lanterns shine III - Sometimes the sky's too bright SATB choir a cappella Commissioned by The School of Music, Bangor University and Pontio. Premiered by the Bangor University Singers during the 'My Friend Dylan Thomas' Festival, Powis Hall, Bangor, 29 October 2014 2016 (My pure bough, my warm embrace) flute, clarinet, violin, cello Commissioned by Reuben Pace for the 'Hearing Orpheus Today' event. Premiered by the Orpheus Ensemble at the Gozo Ministry Hall, Malta on 28 May 2016 2011–17 (The Tower) chamber opera in 3 Acts Commissioned by Music Theatre Wales and Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru. Premiere at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff during the Vale of Glamorgan Festival on 19 May 2017 2017 ('Sustained Clusters (March)') for brass quintet and fairground organ Commissioned by The Vale of Glamorgan Festival. Premiered by Onyx Brass at the Eastern Shelter, Barry during the Vale of Glamorgan Festival on 21 May 2017 2017 ('And the outcry of the boys...') flute, clarinet, harp Commissioned by Community Music Projects with financial support from Tŷ Cerdd. Premiered by Ellie Lighton, Sioned Eleri Roberts and Mared Emlyn at Beaumaris Parish Church, Anglesey on 18 November 2017 2017–18 ('Cuddliw') full orchestra A co-commission by BBC Radio 3 and Tŷ Cerdd. Premiered by BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Jac van Steen as part of the Contemporary Evenings series at Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff on 28 March 2018 2018 (Ultrasonic) ensemble A commission by UPROAR. Premiered by UPROAR under Michael Rafferty at Chapter, Cardiff on 26 October 2018 2019 street organ A commission by Vale of Glamorgan Festival. 2020 (String Quartet #1 - 'Your paths overflow with plenty') string quartet A commission by The Bangor Music Festival. Premiered by the Solem Quartet on 12 March 2021 during the festival. 2022 large ensemble Commission by UPROAR. Premiered by UPROAR under Michael Rafferty at the Bangor Music Festival, Pontio, Bangor on 12 February 2022.

Awards and nominations 1995 – Winner of the Composer's Medal at the National Eisteddfod of Wales for (harp) 1997 – Winner of the Composer's Medal at the National Eisteddfod of Wales for (string quartet) 2005 – Reservoirs (orchestral) nominated in the Large-Scale Composition category of the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards 2007 – Winner of the BBC Radio 3 Listeners Award at the British Composer Awards for his Oboe Concerto 2013 – Sir Geraint Evans Award presented by the "for his significant contribution to Welsh music" 2015 – '…onyt agoraf y drws…' was chosen as the 2nd finest orchestral work by a Welsh composer, Gramophone magazine

Recordings Reservoirs – Orchestral Works by Guto Pryderi Puw, Signum Records (May 2014). Tracks includes ...onyt agoraf y drws..., Concerto for Oboe, Reservoirs, Hologram and 'Break the Stone' Overture. Violin Concerto – Soft Stillness, included on the CD Violin Muse performed by violinist Madeleine Mitchell and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Edwin Outwater, Divine Art (October 2017). Visages, included on the CD Earth and Moon performed by Tubalaté.