Light and Darkness
Bangor University Chamber Choir
Conductor: Guto Pryderi Puw
Accompanist: Harry Sullivan
This concert was originally scheduled to take pace in late March 2020, but had to be postponed with the onset of the pandemic. It is therefore a pleasure to be able to rearrange the event and present various choral pieces under the theme 'Light and Darkness'.
There is a wide cross-section of composers in the programme, which includes Rheinberger's well-known 'Abendlied' and the lively unpublished part-songs by an early Delius. The still setting by Saint-Saëns' comprises only of two contrasting short verses, with the first dealing with darkness and the second with the poet's reaction to light.
A serene evening forms the backdrop to Samuel Barber's short setting while the moon is the focus of Einion Dafydd and Katherine Betteridge's more expansive pieces. Artificial light on an Egyptian tomb is the inspiration behind Guto Pryderi Puw's piece. The concert draws to a close with the early settings by Delius, so that the audience are guided on a sensual journey from ‘darkness to light’.
Free entry (retiring collection)
Full Programme:
Josef Rheinberger: ‘Abendlied’ from Drei Geistliche Gesänge Op.69
Camille Saint-Saëns: Calme des nuits (‘Stillness of the Night’)
Katherine Betteridge: The Ones Who Live Beneath (2nd performance)
Samuel Barber: ‘Sure On This Shining Night’ from Four Songs Op.13
Einion Dafydd: Awr Cwsg (Nightfall)
Guto Pryderi Puw: ‘Should Lanterns Shine’ from Three Dylan Thomas Poems
Frederick Delius: selection from Six Early Part-Songs
(no interval)
Biographies
As a small group of twenty singers the Chamber Choir, under the direction of Guto Pryderi Puw, is one of the most resourceful vocal ensembles within Bangor University. Their repertoire consists of a broad range of music from the Middle Ages right up to the present day while featuring in regular concerts in Bangor and other locations in North Wales. During November 2017 the Choir (under Stephen Rees) featured in the Ordinary Men concert at Beaumaris Parish Church. The Choir has also featured during the Returning concert in Pontio as part of the 2020 Bangor Music Festival and performed alongside the talented bass Jeffrey Williams and pianist Iwan Llewelyn Jones in the Christmas Concert at St Mary’s Church, Conwy during December 2022.
Guto Pryderi Puw graduated in Music at Bangor University in 1993 and later, through the Parry Williams Scholarship, completed his PhD in Composition in 2002. He was appointed as a Music Lecturer at the School of Music, Bangor University in 2006, specialising in Composition and Contemporary Music. He has been active in the promotion of new music in North Wales through his involvement with the Bangor Music Festival, being its Artistic Director and founding member since 2000.
As a composer, Puw first came to prominence after winning the Composer's Medal at the National Eisteddfod both in 1995 and 1997. In 2006 he became the inaugural Resident Composer with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with his Concerto for Oboe winning the Listeners’ Award category at the British Composer Awards in 2007 and ‘…onyt agoraf y drws…’ (‘unless I open the door’) being premiered at the Proms during the same year. A selection of his recent orchestral works was released on the CD Reservoirs by Signum Records label in 2014.
He was one of the founding members of Côr Cyntaf i’r Felin in 2003, also being its Conductor until 2015. In 2007 he was appointed as the Conductor and Artistic Director of the Bangor University Chamber Choir.