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  • Hugh Wood

  • Paraphrase on 'Bird of Paradise' (1985)

  • Chester Music Ltd (World)
  • pf
  • clarinet
  • 11 min

Programme Note

This piece is a paraphrase of a song that I wrote between 30 January and 1 February 1983 to a poem by Robert Graves called ‘Bird of Paradise’. The music is continuous, but falls into five sections, of which the first three are variations on the emerging material of the song. In the fourth (which is the loudest), the original vocal line may most clearly be heard: it has been somewhat extended both in length and in register. In the fifth and final section, the pianoforte plays the song line in the manner of a chorale; and later the clarinet recapitulates the closing phrase of the song quite fairly exactly. The opening of the song is heard on the highest register of the clarinet before the close.

PARAPHRASE was written for Nicholas Cox, which gave the first performance with Vanessa Latarche at the Wigmore Hall on 4 March 1985. It was composed during 1984/85.

(Th work was commissioned by Nicholas Cox with funds made available from the Arts Council of Great Britain: it was composed during 1984-85.


Hugh Wood

Media

Paraphrase on Bird of Paradise, Op. 26

Reviews

The developing communication of Hugh Wood’s Paraphrase on Bird of Paradise was a constant pleasure.
Colin Anderson, www.classicalsource.com
13th January 2010

Discography

20th Century Music from the British Isles

20th Century Music from the British Isles
  • Label
    Metier Sound & Vision
  • Catalogue Number
    MSVCD92013
  • Soloist
    Kate Romano, clarinet; Alan Hicks, piano
  • Released
    1996

Chamber Music

Chamber Music
  • Label
    Toccata
  • Catalogue Number
    TOCC 0075
  • Ensemble
    The London Archduke Trio
  • Soloist
    Paul Silverthorne (viola), Roger Heaton (clarinet)

The Thurston Connection

The Thurston Connection
  • Label
    British Music Society
  • Catalogue Number
    BMS440CD
  • Soloist
    Nicholas Cox (clarinet), Ian Buckle (piano)