David Braid: Chamber and Instrumental Music
The British composer David Braid, born in North Wales in 1970, studied in London, Oxford and Kraków, and his music shows something of that double inheritance, bringing together the lyricism of such English composers as Dowland and the dynamism of the Polish school of Lutosławski. This debut CD of his music presents chamber and instrumental works written between 2006 and 2011. Steve Reich described the raga-like Morning for soprano and string quartet — the Pablo Neruda setting which opens this disc — as 'beautifully done — very honest stuff’; the other works here encompass a divergent range of moods, from the melancholy of Infinite Reminiscence to the energetic drive of Music for Dancers.
Grace Davidson, soprano
Peter Cigleris, clarinet
Yuri Kalnits, violin
Julia Morneweg, cello
John Paul Ekins, piano
Sergei Podobedov, piano
Jelena Laković, piano
Tippett Quartet, string quartet
Erato Piano Trio, piano trio
Rossitza Stoycheva and Mikako Hori, piano duo
Listen To This Recording:
- Morning (Pablo Neruda) for soprano and string quartet, Op. 3 (2006)
- No. 1 Lyrical Toccata
- No. 2 Aria
- No. 3 Three-Part Invention
- Invention for violin and piano, Op. 11 (2010)
- Sonata for Quartet, Op. 13 (2011)
- Infinite Reminiscence for two pianos, Op. 4 (2007)
- Music for Dancers for piano trio, Op. 9 (2009)
- Postlude for solo piano, Op. 10 (2010)
Three Pieces for solo piano, Op. 8 (2008)
Michael Cayley :
Contemporary chamber and piano music by a composer new to me. Much of the musical language is tonal, but with often dissonant harmonies and, at times, clashing and jagged rhythms, sometimes set against a ground of a rising scale. Some small motifs recur in several pieces, treated differently in each, giving a greater unity than I had expected to the collection. David Braid combines a strong intellectual structure with emotional power and some memorably haunting passages. All in all an enjoyable and approachable set of pieces, well performed.
Fanfare Magazine :
‘The use of counterpoint in the hypnotic setting of Neruda in Morning is gripping.The composer stipulates a “Baroque/Early” soprano, intending the vocal part to be realized by a pure, free from vibrato voice. And that is exactly what is on offer here. Grace Davidson is simply superb […]She sings with a luminous intensity that seems entirely right for Pickard’s score, so that the overall impression is of a music infused with the light of dawn. […]
Invention […] emerges as an engaging piece. […] The clarinettist Peter Cigleris is superb, his BRAID Chamber and Instrumental Music tone positively endearing, his tuning excellent.
There is something fascinating about this score [Music for Dancers], something slightly off-the-wall that is difficult to put the finger on. Its very elusiveness is its charm. […]the work’s [Postlude] simplicity of utterance is absolutely delightful, and a perfect way to end a stimulating disc.’
—Colin Clarke, Fanfare Magazine March/April 2013
Oxford Today :
‘The debut CD of chamber and instrumental pieces by Welsh composer David Braid avoids the demanding compositional density of much contemporary music, and has instead a more direct quality, generating atmosphere with a sparse, textural clarity, while demonstrating a keen interest in form.’
—Josie Dixon, Oxford Today
Records International Team :
‘These recent chamber works represent the mature style of an intensely self-critical composer who acknowledges a wide diversity of enthusiasms and influences, which have been thoroughly absorbed into a personal idiom.’
—Records International Team
The Classical Reviewer Team :
‘I am really glad to have heard these attractive works and hope to hear more from this fascinating composer. The performers are first rate and the recordings, made at a number of locations, are generally excellent. There are first rate booklet notes from the composer.’
—The Classical Reviewer Team
Classical CD Review :
‘Yet another fascinating discovery from Toccata Classics […]
his style is unified and distinctive. Harmonic invention is his strongest suit, and the harmonic language in each of these works is engaging and adventurous, revealing a deep sensitivity to colour and texture […]
This music [Invention] is Braid at his most reflective and Impressionistic, and the colours he draws from the piano through its simple sequence of chords are elegant indeed. […]
His writing for the voice, […], is clearly highly sensitive and idiomatic.’
—Gavin Dixon, Classical CD Review